Beelzebub Bee-eater - Mallophora leschenaulti

Robberfly

That's because it's a robberfly, and probably a bumblebee mimic.

… Lynette Elliott, 20 August, 2006 - 7:05pm

Robberfly

Thanks much, Lynette. Would that make it a Laphria species of some kind?

....Ed....

… Ed Johnson, 20 August, 2006 - 7:34pm

Ed, Lynette, this is Mallop

Ed, Lynette, this is Mallophora leschenaulti ('belzebul bee-eater'), an impressive robber fly - which is nicely treated here .
Eric

… Eric Fisher, 20 August, 2006 - 8:09pm

Hmm, my URL reference didn't

Hmm, my URL reference didn't appear in previous reply: see - node/view/55192/bgimage
Eric

… Eric Fisher, 20 August, 2006 - 8:12pm

Moved

Eric: Please, tell us a little about yourself on your account page. It helps to know who you are when you are IDing images.
Ed: No need to type the scientific name in the title, it is done automatically when moved to species page. I deleted it to avoid repetition.

… Beatriz Moisset, 21 August, 2006 - 6:21am

Dr. Fisher

Is the author of the 'Catalog of Robber Flies of the Nearctic Region' and one of the foremost Asilid scientists in the US. His catalog is what got myself and several others started studying robbers.

His information and location is:

Eric M. Fisher, Ph.D.
Senior Insect Biosystematist
Calif. Dept. of Food & Agriculture
Plant Pest Diagnostics Lab.
3294 Meadowview Road
Sacramento, Calif. 95832 U.S.A.

… Herschel Raney, 21 August, 2006 - 7:05pm

Yes, I know

I found all that when I googled his name, but it is nice when people put that kind of info on their account page for anybody to see, I cannot do that for him and your comments will get buried in this page so nobody will find them. Like Eric Eaton said several times, it would be nice if people stopped being so shy, especially the ones with top credentials.

… Beatriz Moisset, 21 August, 2006 - 7:28pm