Violet black-legged robber fly
The violet black-legged robber fly is a slim fly, about 1 centimetre long, that hunts other insects. It has short feelers and black legs. You can spot it in grassy meadows from May to July.
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Fun facts
It sits on low grass stems and waits. When an insect flies past, it zooms out to grab it.
Its young grow up in dung piles, in rotting plant bits or in the soil.
The male does a little dance in front of the female. If she does not like it, she flutters her wings fast or flies away.
In the United Kingdom it is protected in 24 places, most of them in England.
It is very hard to tell apart from its close cousins, so experts use special books to name it.
Most asked questions about Violet black-legged robber fly
?How big is the violet black-legged robber fly?
It is about 9 to 12 millimetres long, around 1 centimetre.
?What does a robber fly eat?
Other insects, mostly smaller flies and wasps that it catches in the air.
?Is the violet black-legged robber fly dangerous?
No need to worry. It hunts little insects, not people.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dioctria atricapilla
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Asilidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Asilidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Dioctria atricapilla (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 Richard Bartz , Munich aka Makro Freak. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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