Robber Fly with prey
Diogmites sp., I believe. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in east-central Kansas. Chase County, Kansas, USA.
Early evening I was walking back toward preserve HQ along a two-track dirt road. Several of these flew up and landed before me as I walked along. I stopped to photograph this individual. I took a couple of pics of it (without prey) and was interrupted by another nearby robber fly. As I was photographing that other robber I saw this one hover and snatch an immature tree cricket from the ground.
Enlarged you can see bubbles within the crickets liquefying body.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
Robber Fly with prey
Diogmites sp., I believe. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in east-central Kansas. Chase County, Kansas, USA.
Early evening I was walking back toward preserve HQ along a two-track dirt road. Several of these flew up and landed before me as I walked along. I stopped to photograph this individual. I took a couple of pics of it (without prey) and was interrupted by another nearby robber fly. As I was photographing that other robber I saw this one hover and snatch an immature tree cricket from the ground.
Enlarged you can see bubbles within the crickets liquefying body.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.