Big Bad Fly - _TNY_1834
The bumblebee robberfly (Laphria flava) is a large one. Like all robbers, it is an aerial predator which intercepts other flying inscts mid-air and kill them.
That cylindrical snout is called a rostrum and the fly punch that one into the prey and inject a venom which quickly kills it and also somewhat dissolves the insides of the prey so the robber can land and enjoy a delicious bug smoothie. Yummy!
I found this particular one in a piece of pine forest next to lake Långsjön in the Paradiset nature reserve in Huddinge, Sweden. The area had been damaged by a small forest fire so I was walking around there looking for some of the bugs that appear in fire-damaged areas, but didn't find many that day. These ones are alway nice when you can capture a shot of though.
Big Bad Fly - _TNY_1834
The bumblebee robberfly (Laphria flava) is a large one. Like all robbers, it is an aerial predator which intercepts other flying inscts mid-air and kill them.
That cylindrical snout is called a rostrum and the fly punch that one into the prey and inject a venom which quickly kills it and also somewhat dissolves the insides of the prey so the robber can land and enjoy a delicious bug smoothie. Yummy!
I found this particular one in a piece of pine forest next to lake Långsjön in the Paradiset nature reserve in Huddinge, Sweden. The area had been damaged by a small forest fire so I was walking around there looking for some of the bugs that appear in fire-damaged areas, but didn't find many that day. These ones are alway nice when you can capture a shot of though.