To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Robber Fly with prey
I had heard of Robber Flies before, but not until yesterday had I seen one in action. In a forested area in the Coast Range foothills of Yamhill Co., this one landed nearby with a Yellowjacket in her grasp. At any rate, according to one internet source I found, this one appears to be a female Laphria flavicollis. The Yellowjacket was still moving slightly, but the "neurotoxins" that it was receiving appeared to be effectively paralyzing it, and presumably the"proteolytic enzymes" that will dissolve its innards were beginning to work. Not a pretty picture, but not much sympathy for the Yellowjacket, either, I suppose.
I had heard of Robber Flies before, but not until yesterday had I seen one in action. In a forested area in the Coast Range foothills of Yamhill Co., this one landed nearby with a Yellowjacket in her grasp. At any rate, according to one internet source I found, this one appears to be a female Laphria flavicollis. The Yellowjacket was still moving slightly, but the "neurotoxins" that it was receiving appeared to be effectively paralyzing it, and presumably the"proteolytic enzymes" that will dissolve its innards were beginning to work. Not a pretty picture, but not much sympathy for the Yellowjacket, either, I suppose.
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