Little Monsters - Part 24: Cranes and Robbers

Flies are remarkably diverse with an estimated 1,000,000 species of which only 125,000 have been described! Everything from the little fruit flies that appear if you leave your fruit out too long, to the big bodied horseflies and even the deadliest of all the mosquito. That's not an exaggeration, mosquitoes though mosquito borne disease have killed more humans than anything, ever. You can read more about that on Bill Gates blog! He also funds and does incredible work for the poor.

This post features two flies, the crane fly and the robber fly, they aren't particularly closely related but in the images one of the defining features of flies, a single pair of wings and the second pair, now reduced to club like structures called "halteres" for balance is clearly visible.

The Robber Fly is a fearsome predator, on par with the more popular Dragonfly.

They employ very similar hunting methods, using large well developed eyes to spot and long grasping legs to snatch prey out of the air. The Halteres, seemingly vestigial wing stubs can be seen as small yellow spheres just below the wing/body joint. The Robber above has captured a smallish beetle, whose insides will be liquified and slurped up as a smoothie. Dragonflies are much more elegant, prefering to chew their food. Perhaps, that is one aspect that earns Robber flies an unsavoury reputation. As they live in similar habitats they often compete over the same food sources. They also serve as food sources for each other! Large Dragonflies eating smaller Robber Flies as well as the opposite: large Robbers dining on Dragonflies. If they are close to the same size they will quite evenly matched and a fight between two often takes several minutes ending when one becomes dinner for its opponent.

Chasing down airborne prey can be quite tiring, this Robber Fly takes a rest on a fence post, affording it a good view of the surrounding area as to scan for its next meal.
The fringe of hair around the mouth obscured part of the neck joint, this image gives a clear separation and we can see just how massive the thorax is compared to the rest of the fly: large muscular legs and a giant hump of a back housing the muscles it uses to power its large wings, throwing the bulky creature through the air to tackle its next victim.
What a marvelous mustache!

It just needs a Hawai'ian shirt and a friend named Higgins!

In stark contrast to the brawny bulk of the Robber Fly, Crane Flies are whispy creatures, seeming to be merely legs with a pair of wings attached. While the larvae dine on dead plant matter; the adults, despite looking like huge mosquitoes, dine on plant nectar during their brief lives. Japan Times Article

To provide greater balancing effect, the halteres of the crane fly are much longer than that of the Robber Fly.
The wings are very much like beatiful glass windows.

A slightly different shot featuring the full length of the legs!

They are so long that lens distortion comes into play and renders an absurdist, surreal aspect to the photograph much like the melted and distorted figures in Daly's famous works:

Facts, stats and terminology sourced from Fly: Wikipedia

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Also, if you like macro photography, check out some of the earlier posts in this series.

Little Monsters - Part I: Wolf Spiders
Little Monsters - Part II: Golden Orb Weaver
Little Monsters - Part III: Lynx Spiders!
Little Monsters - Part IV: Decorator Orb Weaver
Little Monsters - Part V: Black Back Paper Wasp
Little Monsters - Part VI: Dragonfly
Little Monsters - Part VII: Indian Fritallary
Little Monsters - Part VIII: Giant Japanese Hornet
Little Monsters - Part IX: Praying Mantis!
Little Monsters - Part X: Harlequin Ladybird!
Little Monsters - Part XI: Dragons!
Little Monsters - Part XII: Snails!
Little Monsters - Part XIII: Evil Weevils!
Little Monsters - Part XIV: Fantastic Phasmids!
Little Monsters - Part XV: To Bee or not to Bee?
Little Monsters - Part 16: Jumping Spiders!
Little Monsters - Part 17: Hawkmoth Caterpillars and Hawkmoths
Little Monsters - Part 18: Evil Doppelgangers - The Ant Mimic Spider
Little Monsters - Part 19: Hummingbird Hawkmoth!
Little Monsters - Part 20: Loud and Proud the Cicada!
Little Monsters - Part 21: Great Green Caterpillars!
Little Monsters - Part 22: Vespa mandarina japonica
Little Monsters - Part 23: Little Black Ants

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