Asilidae Temporal range:
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Robber fly (Promachus leoninus) with honeybee prey | |
Scientific 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.