Orange-legged Slender Robber Fly - Leptogaster sp.

Family Asilidae

This page contains pictures and information about Orange-legged Slender Robber Flies that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.

Body length 15mm 

 

This Slender Robber Fly has the orange-brown colour legs. The body is grey to dark-grey in colours. 

 

 

 

Unlike most robber flies in other subfamily, the robber flies in this family do not attack prey during flight. They attack prey that are not on the wings. The pictures show the fly just captured a Katydid nymph.  

 

 

This fly has the extraordinary long hind legs to grab the prey. Other subfamilies the robber flies have long "beard" of setae around the face. It is believed that those "beard" serve as protection to their face from damage by the prey. Robber flies in this subfamily do not have those long "beard", actually they don't need them. They hold the prey by their extraordinary long hind legs, move the prey to a "safe" position and then punch them with the mouth.

Their tarsus are extraordinary long too. The Slender Robber Flies use their tarsus as our human hand, for holding prey and stems.

 

 

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Reference:

1. Family ASILIDAE Robber Flies - Australian Biological Resources Study, Australian Faunal Directory.

2. Australian Asilidae - Dr. Robert Lavigne, Honorary Research Associate, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA.

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Last updated: May 04, 2013.