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Hanging thief robber fly

FILE - A hanging thief robber fly.
FILE
/
Wikimedia
FILE - A hanging thief robber fly.

Diogmites neoternatus, commonly known as the hanging thief robber fly, use their front legs to hang from plants in order to catch prey with the other four legs.

Transcript (edited for clarity):

Hi, this is Rudy Mancke from USC for NatureNotes.

Daniel lives in the Summerville, South Carolina area and sent me a photograph of a crazy looking thing up by the window in his house: one of the robber flies. You call them robber flies because they're predacious and robbing other insects of their lives.

This particular one is called the hanging thief, because with the front pair of legs, it grips something, and then hangs down and grabs its prey with the four legs that are free in the back. Wow.

I mean, robber flies come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Many of them mimic bees and wasps, but they're no problem to people at all. And the face on robber flies, no matter which one you see, are really worth magnification.

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Rudy Mancke served as naturalist and co-host of South Carolina ETV's <i>NatureScene</i>, which began its long run in 1978. His field trips, broadcast nationwide, earned him a legion of dedicated viewers. Rudy's knowledge of the complex inner-workings of different ecosystems and his great admiration for the natural world make him the perfect guide. In fact, the National Wildlife Federation and the Garden Club of America honored his commitment to resource conservation with special awards. After retiring from SCETV, Rudy went on to become naturalist-in-residence at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He hosted SC Public Radio's <i>NatureNotes</i> from 1999 until his death in 2023 at age 78.