Bumblebee robberfly

Laphria flava · Order: Diptera · Family: Asilidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Bumblebee robberfly
Photo: Wolfgang Jauch, CC BY

These flies range from about 12 mm to 25 mm long and are strongly built. They are covered in dense yellow and black hairs that make them look like a bumblebee, with reddish hairs over orange on abdominal segments three to seven. They are hard to separate from other Laphria species, but several keys and illustrations are available for identification.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Dense hairs colored yellow and black give them a bumblebee-like appearance, and the abdomen shows reddish hairs over orange on tergites three to seven.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Body length varies between 12 mm and 25 mm and the insects are strongly built.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Bumblebee robberfly photo 2
Photo: C. Oppermann, CC BY-SA
Bumblebee robberfly photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Bumblebee robberfly photo 4
Photo: Björn Sothmann, CC BY-SA
Bumblebee robberfly photo 5
Photo: Frank, CC BY

Same family (Asilidae)

Northeastern HammertailNortheastern HammertailEfferia aestuansHarmlessStripe-legged Robber FlyStripe-legged Robber FlyDioctria hyalipennisPlain-tailed Hanging ThiefPlain-tailed Hanging ThiefDiogmites neoternatusKite-tailed robberflyKite-tailed robberflyTolmerus atricapillusGolden-tailed BeebanditGolden-tailed BeebanditMallophora fautrixSand HammertailSand HammertailEfferia albibarbis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laphria_flava

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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