|
Blepharotes coriarius
Blepharotes coriarius, the giant yellow robber fly, is a species of large predatory fly from Australia in the family Asilidae (robber flies). It was described by the German naturalist Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann in 1830.[1] DescriptionBlepharotes coriarius is one of the largest known robber flies.[2] It can measure up to 48mm in length (including proboscis).[2] Both sexes have orange abdominal tergites, with patches of black setae along the sides of segments 1–5 and mostly white setae along the sides of segments 6 and 7.[3] DistributionThe giant yellow robber fly is found in the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.[4] BehaviourAdults can be found from December to February.[3] They are usually seen resting on dead plants, with the body aligned vertically and the head pointing upwards.[3] Insect prey are taken in the air after the fly launches itself from a vantage point.[3] Recorded prey items include beetles, bees, wasps and flying ants.[3] Feeding time varies from less than two minutes (for a large ant) up to 17 minutes (for a scarab beetle).[3] Males of B. coriarius attempt to mate with any member of the same species (whether male or female) that enters their territory, which is usually the area around a dead tree.[3] Intruding males are driven off by this.[3] A few minutes after successful copulation, females begin laying eggs into gaps of dead eucalypts, or into cracks in the ground at the base of such trees.[3] She generally begins oviposition in the top soil, before gradually flying up the tree, depositing more eggs as she goes.[3] Pupae first emerge from the soil at the beginning of December.[3] The pupal cases are around 35mm long, with reddish brown spines and processes glistening reddish brown to dark brown.[3] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_with_prey.jpg)
