Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • While mostly harmless to humans (they might bite is self-preservation), robber flies are fierce ambush predators that wait perch patiently for a flying insect to fly by, then launch into the air, overpower then dispatch their prey mid-flight. They hunt grasshoppers, bees, wasps, butterflies and even other flies! This one was found hunting in the Oak Creek State Wildlife Area, just outside of Yakima, Washington on a hot, late-spring day.
    Robber Fly (Efferia sp.)
  • Robber flies (also known as assassin flies) are one the coolest insect predators in nature. Bristling with long stiff hairs, these vicious specialists typically hunt a particular kind of prey, based on their species, such as ants, bees, dragonflies, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps or spiders. The stiff hairs on the face act as a protective shield to help protect their eyes against their struggling and potentially harmful meal as it forces its sharp proboscis through the exoskeleton of its victim. This unidentified species was photographed near the El Malpais National Monument in Cibola County, New Mexico.
    Robber Fly