Leaping Robber Fly

Robber flies are fast, fearless, and ferocious predators of the insect world. I thought it might be interesting to get a few photos of these little guys flying since they were fairly common where I was working in the high-desert of Washington.

Interesting yes, easy no.....

For an insect that has extremely agile flight capabilities, it sure is stubborn about not flying when ever I had my camera around. I did manage to get one leaping into flight from a patch of soil, but it took two days...

Predacious robber fly (Efferia sp.)

I had to take an occasional break from the frustrating robber flies, so I took advantage of the wild mariposa lilies that were making their annual appearance.

sagebrush Mariposa lily (Calochortus macrocarpus)

Sagebrush Mariposa lily (Calochortus macrocarpus)

Sagebrush Mariposa lily (Calochortus macrocarpus)

And managed to photograph a small native anthidium bee near a Salt heliotrope (Heliotropium Curassavicum) flower.

Anthidium bee (Anthidium sp)