Stripe-legged robber fly

Dioctria hyalipennis

Eats: Other bugs and small animals Flies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The stripe-legged robber fly is a slim, shiny black fly with a humped back. Its front and middle legs are yellow with black streaks. It is a quick little hunter that catches other insects.

Lives in

Europe, northern Asia and North America, in meadows, hedges and forest edges

Length

1 to 1.4 cm (0.39 to 0.55 in)

Top speed

about 11 km/h (6.8 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless to people. It is a small fly that hunts other insects.

What does it eat?

It mostly catches small wasps and bees, and sometimes small flies and tiny grasshoppers.

Photo of Stripe-legged robber fly — Picture by janet graham. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 34 secondsmoves 220 times its own body length every second

How big is Stripe-legged robber fly compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

Stripe-legged robber fly about 11 km/h (6.8 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Its face has a silvery white beard of hair.

Its back legs are black with a fat first foot segment.

It flies from May to July.

It is very hard to tell apart from its close cousins.

you asked

Most asked questions about Stripe-legged robber fly

?What does the stripe-legged robber fly eat?

It catches small wasps, bees, flies and pygmy grasshoppers.

?Is the stripe-legged robber fly dangerous?

No. It is harmless to people.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Dioctria hyalipennis
Named by: Fabricius, 1794
Group: Flies and mosquitoes
Family: Asilidae
Classification: Insecta > Diptera > Asilidae
Lives on: Europe, Asia, North America

Where the facts come from

Dioctria hyalipennis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by janet graham. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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