Gold Coast Flies (Diptera)Blow Fly (Calliphora ochracea) Drone Fly (Eristalinus sp) Odontomyia hunteri Robber Fly (Asilidae) Vinegar Fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
The Robber Flies (family Asilidae), also commonly known as Assasin Flies, are a large group of insects in the order Diptera, with some 600 described species in Australia. They are a large and conspicuous group that are often seen resting on convienent looking posts such as on the branches of shrubs and trees.
The Asilidae are aggresive predators, that often catch their prey on the wing. Their prey include bees, wasps, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and other fly species. They have even been known to catch spiders.
The legs of the robber fly have a pair of strong claws to catch their prey. Once they seize their prey, they will inject them with saliva that contains neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes. This immobilises the prey and will liquify the prey body content. After consuming the meal, all that will remain is the discarded exoskeleton.
The Robber Fly larvae are also predacious, feeding on eggs, larvae and other soft-bodied insects.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Diptera
- Suborder: Brachycera
- Informal: Orthorrhapha
- Superfamily: Asiloidea
- Family: Asilidae
- Subfamily:
- Asilinae
- Bathypogoninae
- Brachyrhopalinae
- Dasypogoninae
- Dioctriinae
- Laphriinae
- Leptogastrinae
- Ommatiinae
- Phellinae
- Stenopogoninae
- Stichopogoninae
- Trigonomiminae
- Subfamily: Ommatiinae
- Genus: Ommatius
- Species:
- Ommatius aquilonaris Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius burwelli Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius coeraebus Walker, 1849
- Ommatius dimidiatus Macquart, 1850
- Ommatius distinctus Ricardo, 1918
- Ommatius fimbriatus Hardy, 1949
- Ommatius flavicaudus Malloch, 1929
- Ommatius imaginis Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius lema Walker, 1849
- Ommatius limbatus Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius mackayi Ricardo, 1913
- Ommatius melasmus Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius musselbrookensis Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius obscurus White, 1918
- Ommatius queenslandi Ricardo, 1913
- Ommatius radamnis Daniels, 2017
- Ommatius vitticrus Bigot, 1877
Footnote & References
- Photographs © Stefan Jones
- Asilidae Latreille, 1802, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/50de8172-6f3c-4c0a-821a-eab0ccf24936
- Ommatius Wiedemann, 1821, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/f419fff3-eb74-42ed-84b7-f79be0aa5f3b
- Robber flies, Australian Musuem, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/robber-flies/
Gold Coast Flies (Diptera)Blow Fly (Calliphora ochracea) Drone Fly (Eristalinus sp) Odontomyia hunteri Robber Fly (Asilidae) Vinegar Fly (Drosophila melanogaster)
Gold Coast InsectsAntlions, Lacewings, and Allies (Neuroptera) Ants Bees Beetles Bugs (Hemiptera & Heteroptera) Buterflies & Moths Flies (Diptera) Wasps
QueenslandGold Coast Region Lamington National Park Southern Downs QLD