Ed Baker FLS ARCS

Karen James wanted the sordid story of this photo I added to Flickr. This is a robber fly (family Asilidae). It has a short, sharp proboscis that it uses to inject chemicals into its prey, first to paralyse them and then to digest them before it sucks out the resulting nutrient rich juice. You can see the two large compound eyes clearly, and the moustache of stout hairs (the mystax) which protects these eyes when dinner isn't too keen on being eaten.

Tags: diptera