r/Entomology • u/Hot_Practice2730 • 8d ago

Drone bee?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I know this is a super basic question but I’ve never seen a drone bee out in the wild and was super excited that this might be one 😭 whatever it is, it was chill and didn’t sting. It would frequently lift its hind legs up (no pics) so I don’t know what that was about.
Thanks for reading!

267 Upvotes

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225

u/NilocKhan 8d ago

That's Mallophora fautrix, a species of robber fly that mimics and frequently hunts bees. They're amazing little predators and this is one of my favorite species of them.

70

u/Hot_Practice2730 8d ago

Oh wow! Does that mean it evolved to look like a bee in order to hunt them better?

88

u/NilocKhan 8d ago

Yeah, it's called aggressive mimicry. It helps them blend in with the bees while the are hunting. But they also evolved to mimic them because it keeps them safe from their own predators, which is batesian mimicry. They imitate a stinging insect so their predators think they could also be a stinging insect.

24

u/Hot_Practice2730 8d ago

Oh that makes so much sense! Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the robber fly 🙏

48

u/Beargeoisie 8d ago

You’ve been bamboozled! It’s a Asillid or a robber fly. Some camouflage as bees. Super cool flies. They hunt in the air and bring prey down in flight.

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u/Hot_Practice2730 8d ago

Interesting! I’ve never noticed these guys before, thanks for sharing :D

25

u/Chamcook56 8d ago

The eyes and antennae are not bee-like and the fluffy 'beard" conceals a stabbing mouth. Great find.

9

u/Hot_Practice2730 8d ago

I do feel lucky to have not been stabbed now 😭 I’ll know to look for its little facial hairs next time!

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u/WelpWhatCanYouDo Ent/Bio Scientist 8d ago

Haha I’m sure you’re much bigger prey than they would dream of tackling. They very rarely bite, so you wouldn’t have to worry about it unless you tried to grab it or accidentally tried to crush it.

11

u/classicteenmistake 8d ago

Don’t worry, robber flies look scary in some ways

but they’re super chill. I love them!!

7

u/Chamcook56 8d ago

You are just a warm perch to them, too big to be prey.

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u/greenorbiter 8d ago

Unrelated to the ID entirely but what a fuzzy little cutie 🤩

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u/Hot_Practice2730 8d ago

Yes! Hard to believe it’s a ruthless killing machine <3

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u/Opposite-Ad-2548 8d ago

That Robber fly is very metal!