pinned fly in side view

pinned fly in top view

pinned fly in frontal view

screenshot of title section of scientific article describing genus Ericomyia

#FlyFriday

assassin fly Ericomyia atomentosa (Oldroyd, 1960) (USNMENT00915299; Asilidae: Laphriinae) from Madagascar: Ranomafana (more details at n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...) - monotypic genus described by Jason Londt in 2015 - beautiful fly with metallic coloration

#asiloidflies #Asilidae

assassin fly eating a small flesh fly

assassin fly eating a small flesh fly

flowering plant on coastal dune

coastal dune habitat

#FlyFriday

assassin fly Neolophonotus sp. (Asilidae: Asilinae) with small flesh fly (Sarcophagidae) prey - photographed on a coastal dune in foggy/overcast weather at McDougall's Bay, Northern Cape, South Africa - 31 January 2026

#asiloidflies

desk space in insect collection at Iziko South African Museum with view of Lions Head

assassin fly Anasillomos chrysopos with cicada prey

two male assassin flies of Acnephalomyia leukoros mounted on single card

assassin fly Teratopomyia cyanea - first species of Asilidae described from South Africa in 1781

#FlyFriday

visiting Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town today - great collection, great flies, (partial) view of Lions Head

assassin flies:
Anasillomos chrysopos with cicada prey
Acnephalomyia leukoros males
Teratopomyia cyanea - 1st species described from South Africa in 1781

#asiloidflies

Megaphorus sp. - Asilinae: Apocleini

#asiloidflies

Occurrence data of Acronyches (Diptera: Asilidae: Leptogastrinae) Occurrence data of the Neotropical Asilidae genus Acronyches based on a new taxonomic revision in 2025. Published in https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.127.3.357

occurrence data at @gbif.org doi doi.org/10.15468/xyr...

online key at keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v4/acro...

photos at @figshare.com doi doi.org/10.25573/dat...

#asiloidflies #FlyFriday

specimen of new fly species, Acronyches gephyrus, mounted on a pin

specimen of new fly species, Acronyches gephyrus, mounted on a pin

specimen of new fly species, Acronyches gephyrus, mounted on a pin

map with distribution of Acronyches species

#FlyFriday

new revision of assassin-fly genus Acronyches Williston, 1908 (Asilidae: Leptogastrinae) with @ento-allan.bsky.social out - 4 new species from Central + South America - flies catch spiders in their web (see www.inaturalist.org/observations... doi doi.org/10.4289/0013...

#asiloidflies

assassin fly mounted on pin with prey wasp it captured

assassin fly mounted on pin with prey wasp it captured

assassin fly mounted on pin with prey wasp it captured

locality label for assassin fly

#FlyFriday

beautiful dark-colored assassin fly Diogmites nigripennis (Macquart, 1847) (Asilidae: Dasypogoninae) with wasp prey - collected at La Selva, Costa Rica in 2010 - 1 of 125 species of assassin flies known from this lowland rainforest habitat - n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies

assassin fly Acnephalomyia metallicoindica photographed in nature perching on a pebble

assassin fly Acnephalomyia metallicoindica photographed in nature perching on a pebble

Hope Mine Wash, Namibia, type locality of new assassin fly species

Hope Mine Wash, Namibia, with Euphorbia, type locality of new assassin fly species

Very bad field photo of new species Acnephalomyia metallicoindica perching on pebble (can you find it?) at Hope Mine Wash, Namib Desert - tiny (body length = 5 mm, wing length = 3.8-4.2 mm) + active flies - type locality always very hot, but 9 Asilidae species so far collected by me

#asiloidflies

assassin fly Acenpahlomyia eremia on sand dune at Gobabeb, Namibia

assassin fly Acenpahlomyia eremia on sand dune at Gobabeb, Namibia

assassin fly Acenpahlomyia eremia on sand dune at Gobabeb, Namibia

small sand dune at Gobabeb, Namibia, where assassin fly Acenpahlomyia eremia was collected

another interesting species is Acenphalomyia eremia Londt, 2010 - previously only known from 1 holotype in eastern region of southern Namib Desert - now abundantly recorded from Gobabeb Namib Research Institute (gobabeb.org) + surrounding habitats - endemic to sand dunes small + big

#asiloidflies

Occurrence data of Acnephalomyia (Diptera: Asiloidea: Asilidae) in the southern Namib Desert Occurrence data of the Afrotropical Asilidae genus Acnephalomyia in the southern Namib Desert, Namibia, based on a new taxonomic review in 2025.

specimen occurrence data-set of all 4 species in southern Namib Desert at @gbif.org doi.org/10.15468/2bb...

all specimen images in full resolution at @figshare.com doi.org/10.25573/dat...

online key to species at Lucidcentral keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v4/acne...

#asiloidflies

map of west-central Namibia with "southern Namib Desert" shown in green as study area

maps from scientific article showing distribution of 4 Acnephalomyia species in the southern Namib Desert

Fun project + 1st in a row focusing on asiloid flies from "southern Namib Desert" (in green on map) - delimited chiefly by Namib-Naukluft NP + adjacent eastern areas - purple dots show distribution of new species (map 2) - overall 4 Acnephalomyia species in southern Namib Desert

#asiloidflies

assassin fly specimen mounted on pin in sideview

assassin fly specimen mounted on pin in top view

assassin fly specimen mounted on pin in frontal view

Namib Desert gravel plains at Ganab, Namibia, where new assassin fly was collected on 2024-10-22

#FlyFriday new assassin fly species described from #Namib Desert today - Acnephalomyia metallicoindica Blee, Cabrero & Dikow, 2025 (Asilidae: Willistonininae) - summer research project by Tayler Blee in 2024 - species endemic to gravel plains of Namib - doi doi.org/10.3897/AfrI...

#asiloidflies

fly specimen on insect pin in side view

fly specimen on insect pin in top view

fly specimen on insect pin in frontal view

habitat of fly

#FlyFriday

Apiocera pica Norris, 1936 (Apioceridae, USNMENT00832111) from Wandoo National Park, Western Australia collected in 2011 - more info here n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies #USNMDiptera

fly specimen double-mounted on insect pin, frontal

fly specimen double-mounted on insect pin, dorsal

fly specimen double-mounted on insect pin, lateral

#FlyFriday

one of my favorite assassin flies - Sisyrnodytes subater Oldroyd, 1957 (Asilidae: Willistonininae, USNMENT00870084) - collected in north-western South Africa near Pella - more info here n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies

mydas fly specimen mounted on pin, lateral view

mydas fly specimen mounted on pin, dorsal view

mydas fly specimen mounted on pin, frontal view

#FlyFriday

rarely collected mydas-fly species Agaperemius hirtus Hesse, 1969 (Mydidae: Syllegomydinae; NMNW-H42889) - species is only known from 3 specimens - male from southern Namibia - more detail at @gbif.org record www.gbif.org/occurrence/1...

#asiloidflies

assassin fly specimen on insect pin in side view

assassin fly specimen on insect pin in top view

assassin fly specimen on insect pin in frontal view to show face and eyes

#FlyFriday assassin fly Afromellitodes solis Oldroyd & Van Bruggen, 1967 (NMSA-DIP-93241, Laphriinae) - Rust de Winter NR, Limpopo, South Africa 17.ii.2005 Londt & Dikow - very rare species/genus postulated to mimic Megachile bees - see Londt 2003 hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc84523

#asiloidflies

assassin fly with prey

assassin fly with prey

assassin fly with prey

Mojave Desert habitat of assassin fly with prey

#FlyFriday assassin fly Stenopogon duncani Bromley, 1937 (Asilidae: Stenopogoninae) photographed in Mojave Desert near Parker, AZ, USA in 2015 - feeding on hemipteran - more info at www.inaturalist.org/observations... - www.gbif.org/species/5091...

#asiloidflies

assassin fly perching on loa dead vegetation

assassin fly pinned on insect pin

assassin fly pinned on insect pin

Little Karoo habitat

#FlyFriday one of my favorite assassin fly observations/collections - Trichoura tankwa Londt, 1994 (Asilidae: Willistonininae, USNMENT01115152) from Little Karoo in South Africa in 2015 - iNaturalist www.inaturalist.org/observations... - #USNMDiptera n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies

collection with pinned apiocerid flies

collection with pinned apiocerid flies

collection with pinned apiocerid flies

collection with pinned apiocerid flies

studying #asiloidflies at @amnh.org today - one of the best collections of apiocerid flies (Apioceridae) with almost every of the 65 North American species present - often with primary + secondary type material

apiocerid fly on an insect pin

apiocerid fly on an insect pin

apiocerid fly on an insect pin

data labels associated with apiocerid fly on an insect pin

#FlyFriday Apiocera braunsi Melander, 1907 (USNMENT01115169, Apioceridae) from South Africa - 1 of only 3 known species of genus in South Africa + by far most commonly encountered species - holotype also in #USNMDiptera coll - see n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies

nice, but it’s an assassin fly - look for predatory proboscis - this is nice mimic of a pompilid wasp along with Mydas sp. + possibly other insects mimicking same wasp - genus Ospriocerus - will need to look a bit to give you a species ID #asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

assassin fly Afroholopogon sp. + undescribed genus+ species of mydas fly - #Namib Desert 2024

#asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

mydas fly Namadytes vansoni + assassin flies Prytanomyia kochi - #Namib Desert 2023

#asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

assassin fly Sisyrnodytes sp. + undescribed genus + species of mydas fly - #Namib Desert 2019

#asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

assassin flies Stichopogon engeli + Anasillomos juergeni - mydas fly Namibimydas psamminos - #Namib Desert 2018

#asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

assassin flies Microphontes gaiophanes + Acnephalomyia eremia - #Namib Desert 2017

#asiloidflies

#BiodiversityDay #WorldBiodiversityDay

species diversity of flies in deserts is amazing - here a few species of assassin flies (Asilidae) + mydas flies (Mydidae) from #Namib Desert, Namibia, photographed over past years - assassin flies Prytanomyia kochi + Trichardis picta - 2012

#asiloidflies

assassin fly on insect pin

assassin fly on insect pin

assassin fly on insect pin

habitat of assassin fly - vegetated sand dune

#FlyFriday

assassin fly Euscelidia natalensis Dikow, 2003 (USNMENT01519418, Asilidae: Leptogastrinae) observed + collected at Umlalazi NR, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2019 - it was great to collect this species in beautiful coastal, vegetated dunes

#asiloidflies

assassijn fly specimen on insect pin

assassijn fly specimen on insect pin

assassijn fly specimen on insect pin

assassijn fly specimen labels

#TypeSpecimenTuesday

holotype of assassin fly species Cophura daphne Pritchard, 1943 (USNMENT00995555, Asilidae) from Cuernavaca, Mexico in #USNMDiptera collection - more details here n2t.net/ark:/65665/3...

#asiloidflies

assassin fly specimen on pin

assassin fly specimen on pin

assassin fly specimen on pin

#FlyFriday

Bathypogon sp. assassin fly (Asilidae: Bathypogoninae) from Badgingarra National Park in Western Australia - specimen USNMENT00832752 observed + collected in 2011 - a diverse genus only known from Australia

#asiloidflies