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Asilus crabroniformis
I never seen this insect before. It flew beside me while I was in the meadow and initially I thought it was a hornet. But it is larger, about 6 cm, and it had caught a grasshopper. The hornet robberfly, Asilus crabroniformis, is a species of predatory insect. It is one of the largest flies in the United Kingdom. and feeds on grasshoppers, dung beetles and other flies. Unlike an actual hornet, the robberfly only has one yellow patch on its abdomen and one pair of wings. The larvae are believed to feed on dung beetle larvae and other detritivores.
It can be found in woodland clearings and well-drained areas of heaths and downs covering Southern England and South & West Wales. It is reliant on the availability of rabbit or cattle dung.
Spotted on Sep 22, 2013
Submitted on Sep 22, 2013
8 Comments
Nature is always surprising, therefore I avoid to use the word "impossible", but, as I already said, personally I don't know any species that large. Which does not mean that it could not exist.
Thank you both for the suggestions. Indeed it looks like a Asilus crabroniformis, but I read that the maximum size it reaches is 3 cm. Even if I had estimate the wrong size, I'm sure it was length at least 5.5 / 6 cm (the grasshopper that it had captured was at least 4 cm long). Is it possible? Do you know if there're species so large in Italy?
Oops, I did not see your photo n° 3 with a view of the upper side.
Yes, I do think that must be Asilus crabroniformis.
@Bayucca: I don't know any European species that size.
7 cm Robberfly?? Could that really be??
Difficult to say without a view of the upper side, but in my opinion, the closest match would be Asilus crabroniformis (see: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilus_crab...), but that does not match with the length of 7 cm you reported. Nevertheless, A.crabroniformis is among the largest species of robber flies in Europe, with about 25 mm length. Maybe someone has a better idea?
Thank you Emilie! Do you now what species?
Asilidae, could be a Machimus sp., but I am not sure.
This is a robber fly!