at first i thought this was a giant gallinipper on steroids but after seeing one attack a wasp and start flying around with it, i realized it was something else....but what?
i've never seen this particular insect in the ten yrs. i've lived in central florida. they've been coming in through an opening on our back porch where the dogs go in and out. i've seen maybe 20 so far this year. i didn't kill this one btw, it was dead on the porch one morning.
the coin is a quarter for reference. note the large "stinging mouthpiece".
CLOSED: please identify
It's a robber fly - they are ambush predators on a wide variety of insects and other arthropods.
thanks, flap! what is that stinging protuberance actually called?
That simply is its 'beak'; knife-like mouthparts that it uses to puncture its prey and then to suck out the soft innards thereof.
ah, a beak! much simpler and more straightforward than stinging mouthpiece protuberance. lol
happy 4th!
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