Bumble bee Robber fly

[Galapoheros]

O.K. I know this it a really bad picture. But I didn't want to trespass.... And when I did, it flew off a fraction of a second before I could take the picture. It is a species of robber fly that looks like a big, hairy bumble bee. I used to know the name of it. Can't remember. I would like to see the larval stage of this huge species of Robber Fly. I have a great appreciation for these insects. I was hiking on a ranch a long time ago and a huge, black horse fly was searching for an opportunity to get my blood. Then a huge Robber Fly flew by my head and captured this horse fly. Took care of my problem. Does anyone have a picture of the larval stage?

 

[Empi]

I don't see it, Oh is it that little black thing on the agave plant. :?

 

[girlsfavtoy]

it's on the third pointy thing on the cactus. from the left

 

[Galapoheros]

Yea, that was a worthless picture. Here is someone else's I found. I was curious to know what the larva look like.
http://www.images.on.ca/Cossey/images/Fly_Robber_Bumble_Bee_mimic.jpg

 

[Empi]

Oh wow! That is very cool.

 

[Anthony]

Here in Oregon we have Sacken's Bee Hunter( Laphria sackeni) which is up to one inch long. They will take adult bublebees and Carpenter bees. They are fast and impressive.

 

[Wade]

Surely you haven't forgotton this one:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=49257&highlight=robber

The mimic eating the mimicked!

Wade

 

[Galapoheros]

Oh, that's a pretty good photo! I did miss that post. I bet the larva are pretty ruthless too. Sure would like to see a larva.

 

[LHP]

I googled it...here is a link to a pic of a larval robber fly and some more info.

http://www.key-net.net/users/swb/laphriini/laphriini.htm

 

[Anthony]

Great photo, yes, there it is in action.

 

[Galapoheros]

I googled it...here is a link to a pic of a larval robber fly and some more info.

http://www.key-net.net/users/swb/laphriini/laphriini.htm

Thanks allot for finding that link! That is one weird looking larva. I assumed the larva would be predacious but from what I can see of the head, which isn't much, looks like it might be designed for chewing and eating dead wood and fungus.

 

[crotaline]

From my understanding of bee flies and robber flies, the adults are all predatory, and the larva of most species are either predatory or parasitic. The bee fly larva preys almost exclusively on bee larva. The robber flies have a few species in which the larva eat rotting wood, some which are predatory, and some that are omnivorous, eating soil insects, decaying plant matter, and roots. They tend to not be as specilaized as the bee flies.