Perched Red-footed Cannibalfly

 Here's one of the area's most terrifying predators ... at least if you're a smallish arthropod. This is one of our Red-footed Cannibalflies, a type of fly that will sometimes prey on those other predatory insects, the dragonflies and damselflies. (I've talked about these guys before.)

Of course, they're not the only ones who'll do this; larger dragonflies are known to eat smaller dragonflies. And I'll bet if cannibalflies, dragonflies, or damselflies happen to land near a Chinese Mantis, they're taking their lives in their hands.

This is the picture that came out the sharpest, though I wish I'd gotten a better shot of the head so you could see its fuzzy "mustache". 

August 23, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 229694869, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)



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