© David Guralnick
Habitat: Africa
Status: Not Listed
This Robber Fly (Hyperechia sp.) is extremely deceptive. Like, probably one of the trickiest fools you’ll ever meet. If you were to actually meet a Robber Fly, that is. For one, the members of this genus mimic the large Carpenter Bees in the genus Xylocopa for the devilish goal of giving their larvae something tasty to feed on – bee larvae. They are capable of silently slipping past unsuspecting bees to lay their own larvae in the nest who will eventually hatch and have quite the appetite. Sneaky and kinda freaky; am I right?
Oh, and then there’s the fact that this thing looks just like a panda bee. It’s just wayyy too crazy for me right now.