Texas Gardening: Beneficial duel, 0 by perkoschilefarm

perkoschilefarm wrote:
Even Beneficial garden friends have a duel every once and awhile!

Take for instance this Robber Fly (Diptera - Asilidae)
Size:lengths of up to 1 1/4"
They are known to attack other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, various bees, ants, dragon and damselflies, Ichneumon wasps, grasshoppers, and some spiders. Which makes them a formidable predator.

The assassin bug (Hemiptera - Reduviidae) is equally a menace to trespassers in your gardens.
Size:0.4 to 1 inch
They kill many garden pests including flies, mosquitoes, beetles and large caterpillars.

Now, I would have to vote for the Robber as it can fly, is larger, stronger and more powerful. But that is something that the assassin does not know or did he?

All I know is they were like this for well over an hour and I was there capturing shots the whole time and if not for me accidentally hitting the flower with my lens who knows how long they would of had the stand-off.