Red-footed Cannibal Fly

A bumble bee, genus Bombus. Mild-mannered but large and somewhat intimidating, most critters give them a wide berth. They can sting, you know. So, for the most part these big fuzzy bees bumble about the flower patch with impunity, not probably giving a lot of thought to danger. After all, who is going to tussle with one of these black and yellow behemoths?

This. It's a Red-footed Cannibal Fly, Promachus hinei, and there are few insects higher up on the predator chain. As you can see, it has captured a bumble bee and is enjoying the fruits of its kill. If these things ever evolve to the size of Trumpeter Swans, I pity the humanoids that walk the earth in that grim future landscape.

The consumate killer, this robber fly misses nothing and seemingly can take out nearly any other insect. I once saw an amazing photo of one that had captured an Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly. Well, pondhawks are pretty much the goshawks of the dragonfly world, routinely snagging and eating other dragonflies up to their own size if not larger. For a fly, of all things, to take one out is amazing.

While exploring some Adams County prairies last Sunday, our group encountered several cannibal flies, but none so cool as this one. It was something to watch it lug that bee around, and after a bit of patient stalking, I was able to get my lens within a foot or so. It's perched on a Little Bluestem grass, Schizachyrium scoparium.

The world of flies is indeed wacky, wonderful, and diverse in the extreme. They can be annoying, such as the common houseflies that haunt your garbage. Some are mimics extraordinaire, looking all the world like bees or wasps. Many are harmless pollinators of flowers. Some are dangerous and insidious death-dealers - parasitoids - laying their eggs on other insect hosts which will eventually be eaten alive by the larvae.

Then there is this - the Red-footed Cannibal Fly. It gets my vote as King of Fly World, at least in these parts.