Robber Fly - Hanging Thief

"Don't you put me on that internet!"

Thanks for coming to my blizzog! This post is about one of my cats warding off a dangerous thief (sort of), so hopefully lots of unwitting Googlers will end up here!

Recently, my wife saw one of our cats standing at the back window, looking out onto our deck and pawing at the glass.

Since this obstinate feline flat-out refused to sign the release, I'll attempt to maintain her anonymity by referring to her as P.

When my wife went over to see what all the hubbub was, she spotted the creeper pictured below - most likely "casing the joint."

"Get that camera away from me - I've
already got two strikes!"

My wife snapped this pic with her BlockBerry. This charming lady, who's probably making mental notes of where I keep all my best stuff, is a Robber Fly. I can't confidently identify the exact species from this picture. But I am fairly confident that she's from the genus Diogmites.

Robber Flies of this genus are commonly called Hanging Thieves. This adorable name comes from the  interesting way that they often end up eating their prey. Not to send people away from my site, but if you image search this genus, you'll see some cool pics her and her kin holding and eating bugs twice their size while they hang onto a plant or stem with only one leg! Some of those pics may give the impression that they hunt by grabbing other bugs as they fly by, and stop them by holding on to perch and prey. This is not the case, though. They catch their prey (often bees, wasps, flies, dragonflies, or other robber flies) in mid-air, then they fly to a perch that they choose to dangle from. Does this seem a little dumb to anyone else? Unless doing this gives them some significant advantage in say, fleeing from bigger predators who see their catch, it seems like they're just showing off. And no one likes a show-off. Not cool, robber flies.

Now it's easy for me to act all tough and totally like whatever from the safety of the interwebs, but robber flies are not to be trifled with. Although I'm proud of P for being brave, I'd prefer that she not go nose to rostrum with one sans-glass. They can inflict a nasty bite, if handled (they don't hunt people...yet). Although they do not sting, their bite is more like a sting, than your typical bite. They use a bristly, stabbing proboscis to inject digestive juices and a paralyzing toxin (probably won't paralyze you, unless you're another insect).

By the size of her abdomen, this Hanging Thief looks like she's got some eggs to lay (do these shoes make me look fat?). She'll lay her eggs in the ground, using dexterous digging tools at the tip of her abdomen - Go, Go Gadget Ovipositor! Once they hatch, the larvae will prey on other insect larvae (larvae-on-larvae crime). In a post on NormanLavers.net, Norman makes a comment about robber fly mating that I think we can all relate to.
Diogmites mate tail to tail, as do most of the more "primitive" robber fly species (many of the more "modern" species mate facing the same direction, with the male above the female - generally holding her by the eyeballs).
Thanks for that tidbit, Norman!

Regarding doing it Diogmites-style (just coined, boo-yah!), I'm offering extra-special props to any movie-buffs who can identify this emoticon: ))<>((
Leave your guesses in the comments. If no one gets the answer, I'll explain it in a future post.

Also, P is doing fine. My wife says that, following the whole robber fly incident, she walked to the middle of the room and slept in the sun for a while (P did, not my wife...but I wasn't there to confirm).

Reputation for tasting. I'm killin' 'em hoes like Jason.
 - Dwayne Carter Jr. (Petite Wayne), 2012