Asilidae

Asilidae
Temporal range: Aptian–Present
Robber fly (Promachus leoninus) with honeybee prey
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Infraorder: Asilomorpha
Superfamily: Asiloidea
Family: Asilidae
Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies

The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx.[1][2] The name "robber flies" reflects their expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.

  1. ^ http://www.geller-grimm.de/genera15.htm[full citation needed][permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Wood, Grace C. (1981). "Asilidae" (PDF). In McAlpine, J. F.; Peterson, B. V.; Shewell, G. E.; Teskey, H. J.; Vockeroth, J. R.; Wood, D. M. (eds.). Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Vol. 1. Ottawa: Biosystematics Research Institute. pp. 549–73. ISBN 978-0-660-10731-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2016-04-18.