Robber fly with mite!

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:05 am

Golden robber fly (Laphria sobria?) with a mite on it.

Check out my Asilidae collection here: http://orionmystery.blogspot.com/2010/0 ... ction.html

Mosc · Post by **Mosc** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:40 am

Super

tails · Post by **tails** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:01 pm

Awesome.

That red/orange thing which I'm assuming is the mite looks crazy.

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:49 pm

Thank you Mosc, tails.

Cactusdave · Post by **Cactusdave** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:49 am

Lovely pictures, especially the last two.

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:56 am

Cactusdave wrote:Lovely pictures, especially the last two.

Thank you cactusdave.

Eric F · Post by **Eric F** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:58 am

Absolutely beautiful Kurt (though not the mite: too disfiguring)! Yes, this is the female of Laphria (Choerades) sobria -- the male of which I identified for you last year.

Cheers, Eric

oxkarthemighty · Post by **oxkarthemighty** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:38 pm

Magnificent! On the facial shot (the fourth one down) what lens and aperture did you shoot this feller at, if you don't mind me asking? Or did it possibly give you enough time to get some hand stacks in?

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:19 am

Thanks Eric, oxkarthemighty.

Eric, wow..you've got excellent memory! I don't even know which one in my collection is male

oxkarthemighty - exif intact, you can check it out...F13 i think. Windy...and i am ok with this kind of DOF.

Eric F · Post by **Eric F** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:41 am

Kurt,

In female robber flies, the abdomen generally tapers to a more or less pointed structure (the ovipositor). Male abdomens generally end with bulbous genitalia (especially the case with your male Laphria sobria -- the one with the winged ant prey).

orionmystery · Post by **orionmystery** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:14 pm

Eric F wrote:Kurt,

In female robber flies, the abdomen generally tapers to a more or less pointed structure (the ovipositor). Male abdomens generally end with bulbous genitalia (especially the case with your male Laphria sobria -- the one with the winged ant prey).

Thank you Eric. Yes, after reading your previous post, i went back to check all my Laphria sobria images and came to the same conclusion