21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Robber fly eating a jumping spider

Robber flies will eat any insect or in this case arachnid they can. The way they eat is pretty gruesome. Using their proboscis (long pointy mouthpart), they inject their prey with neurotoxins which paralyze the prey and enzymes which help digest the prey. Then once the inside of the prey is basically liquified the robber fly drinks the insides. Like something out of a science fiction/horror movie.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2021
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Austin, Texas, United States of America
Copyright: © Tasneem Ahsanullah