Ascilidae, a robber fly!
The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx.[1][2] The name "robber flies" reflects their expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.
Stabs their prey and sucks their insides out through a straw. Metal as fuck.
Location in Sacramento, California
Monsters eating monsters 😹 wonder what they think of us
Is this the same insect as in this picture? This is one of the very first pics I took on my first point and shoot back in 2010. Never knew what it was. Just thought it looked cool.
Yes, same family at least. Robberflies (Assilidae), they are basically flies evolved to do what dragonflies do except they develop underground instead of in water.
That is so cool, thanks for the info!
Looks like it
The one in the post has more black on it, like on it's legs, but I'm no professional so it may be the same, or related in some way.
This is from India, so there may be regional variants
