Backyard Zoology · 19 February 2018
2018-02-19T19:05:25+11:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid02qTx8JUjEBrpwGe41MnTGxiSnDRHPdkS2rPbyap2phQ27t2Eu1gVev3bugUy5ZUwDl

So a thing happened.

We were breakfast bbq'ing - the very best kind of bbq - and the Robber Fly returned; the same fly that sent me into a camera grabbing, macro lens adding meltdown the other day. This time I was cool. There was no panic, there was no chaos. I slowly walked inside and the Robber Fly stayed perched on the kangaroo paw flower - or where the flower was the day before - it was now somewhere in a Brushtail Possum's digestive tract.

But I digress. We all watched as the insect took off in a tight arc trying and failing to catch a moth and then a fly. So close every single time. As we were packing up and finishing off our coffees I glanced at the birdbath and noticed a touch of movement. I looked back at the Robber Fly. The very hungry Robber Fly. There in the water was a very bedraggled bug of some type or other. A thought crossed my mind. I promptly pushed it away before I could let it take hold. Nope. Nope. Nope. I would not scoop up that tiny bug and offer it to my new Robber Fly overlord. I would NEVER do something like that. Until I did.

The bug seemed quite dead at first. It sat in a water droplet curled into itself at the very end of the flower stem. The Robber Fly watched from afar. The bug wriggled. Oh. THE BUG WRIGGLED AGAIN. Yikes. At one point as the bug began to dry itself and stretch out its wings the Robber Fly took off, flew in its hunting arc and landed ON TOP of the bug. And promptly leapt off again. It knew something wasn't right. This wasn't the struggling prey caught mid air that this predator was used to. And so it sat back and watched in interest as the bug slowly came back to life. And finally, the bug unfurled its wings to their full extent, and took off. I can only imagine the relief it must have felt, escaping after being so close to, and at one point under, a predator. ITS predator, as it turns out, because no sooner had it taken off then the Robber Fly also took off, flying in that tight hunting arc, catching up that bug, returning to its perch and commencing to suck out its insides.

Robber Fly
Northern Illawarra

#northernillawarra #coalcoast #entomology #insects #robberfly #carnivore #illawarra #backyardzoology