giany horse fly

[Galapoheros]

I just got back from the dump, a fixer-upper I'm messing with in e tx. I saw one of these on the porch, I haven't seen one in 30 years. When I was a kid I picked a larvae up next to a pond when I was looking for tadpoles, that was a mistake, that hurt pretty bad, felt like a wasp sting. sorry, btw "giant", not "giany", is there any way to edit titles? I've only been able to edit posts over here.

 

[spotropaicsav]

That doesn't look real

 

[schmiggle]

Horseflies are the worst, but I still think they're pretty cool looking. I'm impressed that you caught it without getting bitten.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Whoa

 

[Galapoheros]

Horseflies are the worst, but I still think they're pretty cool looking. I'm impressed that you caught it without getting bitten.

The larvae are banded and live in the mud especially around ponds, I'd like to find some of those again, they are hard to find. My experience has been that they don't bite in defense, only to get a meal. I don't think they have a defensive mech other than trying to fly away.

 

[MatisIsLoveMantisIsLyf]

Found one of those ysterday, I'm scared

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Horse flies are generally just annoying, its robber flies you have to watch out for

 

[MossMan]

Horse flies are generally just annoying, its robber flies you have to watch out for

Robber flies hunt other insects, why do you need to watch out for them?

 

[Draketeeth]

It's so big and velvety looking. I wouldn't touch it though. You're a brave soul for grabbing it.

 

[Galapoheros]

Robber flies hunt other insects, why do you need to watch out for them?

True there, robber flies won't bite in self defense, at least that's been my experience, horse flies won't bite in self-defense either, ime. Others may have had different experiences, I'd like to hear them. I like robber flies. Once I was hiking around and this big horse fly was trying to land on me and all of a sudden a big robber fly came out of nowhere and slammed that that horse fly to the ground, "Way to go Robber McGregor!". I gave it a pat on the head and then it flew off with the horse fly.

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Robber flies hunt other insects, why do you need to watch out for them?

They tend to attack you if you go near them, and if you make them mad they are prone to bite ime, I am more scared of handling them than a tarantula

 

[MossMan]

They tend to attack you if you go near them, and if you make them mad they are prone to bite ime, I am more scared of handling them than a tarantula

Really? They're always on my fruit trees in summer waiting for flying insects to go past and they've never attacked me, they always fly away. Maybe they're more skittish due to the amount of predators in the area

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Really? They're always on my fruit trees in summer waiting for flying insects to go past and they've never attacked me, they always fly away. Maybe they're more skittish due to the amount of predators in the area

I hunt them for my mantises, just earlier today a huge female flew on me, they have no fear of people in my area, I think they are just curious, but if you swat them they will bite, needless to say, that female was a nice snack for my mantis anyway so I wont complain

 

[MossMan]

I hunt them for my mantises, just earlier today a huge female flew on me, they have no fear of people in my area, I think they are just curious, but if you swat them they will bite, needless to say, that female was a nice snack for my mantis anyway so I wont complain

Maybe I should start using them for orb weavers and maybe carnivorous katydids if I get some. Sounds like they make good feeders

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Maybe I should start using them for orb weavers and maybe carnivorous katydids if I get some. Sounds like they make good feeders

They do, and they are easy to catch, I just use a ziplock bag and catch them one by one

 

[Redmont]

I would love to attempt to breed them, has any one bred them successfully in captivity? I may be interested in buying some adults or larvae. What do the larvae pacifically eat when they are larvae?

 

[TylerFishman5675]

I would love to attempt to breed them, has any one bred them successfully in captivity? I may be interested in buying some adults or larvae. What do the larvae pacifically eat when they are larvae?

Horse flies?

 

[Galapoheros]

TylerFishman, if you ever get a chance to post robber flies that attacked you, I'd like to look at it. I've had some land on me but it looks like it's only that they were clueless of what they landed on. Catching robber flies around here with a ziplock bag would be like trying to catch a dragon fly with a ziplock, it's sounding more and more strange to me, are you sure these are robber flies?

 

[TylerFishman5675]

Yep, 100% its usually the females that are more daring their ovipositor looks like a giant stinger, I can catch blue dahsers by hand, the insects here are pretty used to humans. Its easy to catch a lot of insects with plastic bags, if your quick that is

 

[Galapoheros]

I'd like to see the species you're catching, any idea what it is?