My Second Encounter with Robber flies at the Maleha Trail in Sharjah

A Robberfly gearing up for position as it awaits its next victim

This Robberfly jumps like a grasshopper, flies in circles and makes a loud buzzing sound

The bulbous tip of the abdomen reveals that this is a male

A curious threesome: a female mating while clasping another male 

The female Robberfly is distinguished by its pointed abdominal tip  

In my recent expedition at the Maleha Trail in Sharjah, I experienced a new encounter with the super agile insect predators making its presence felt in the desert sand. I got to observed again the ferocious Robberflies! What really got my attention was that these large flies were jumping like grasshoppers in the sand,  they fly around in a circular pattern and makes a distinctly loud buzzing sound. I was also able to observed a "special pair" of Robberflies mating. This love team was a curious one, wherein as the male and female were still "in the act", the female was clasping on a dead male. A Robberfly femme fatale! 

Robber Flies (ASILIDAE)

Robber flies are robust, powerful dipterans with sharp eyes, strong spiny legs, quick reflexes and agile flight capability. These true flies are fierce predators of other insects. They got their name from their behavior of pouncing on unsuspected insect victims. Literally "robbing the insects of their lives"! This is done while the insect prey is in-flight!

The large compound eyes provide the Robberflies specialized vision that allows them to see virtually in a 360 degree angle. (Now that's what you call the eyes of a hunter!) 

There are 7000 species reported to belong to the family ASILIDAE worldwide. 

This is my second encounter and feature on these awesome insect predators, I have featured them first on my July 03, 2021 article. An exciting bonus on this second encounter is witnessing a mating pair!  

Awesome creatures! Awesome CREATOR!

Thanks for your support and careful attention. 

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