Slender-footed Robberfly - Leptarthrus brevirostris
Length: 7-10mm. This is a dark fly with black legs except for orange on the tibiae - but this colour doesn't extend to the apex. It has black legs with red bands on the mid and hind tibia. The female's ovipositor is dorsolaterally flattened. The genus is distinguished by the thorax having long hairs but no bristles.
The only other European species in the genus is the rare L. vitripennis which has more brightly reddish legs and with orange on the metatarsi (black in brevirostris).
In many parts of the UK this is a species found on chalk grassland but species in the Midlands seem to have a less specific habitat preference.
May - August
Local and but widespread in Britain.
The New Lount record below is the first known in Leicestershire and Rutland.
David Nicholls
New Lount
14 June 2012
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Species profile
- Common names
- Slender-footed Robberfly
- Species group:
- Flies
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Diptera
- Family:
- Asilidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1
- First record:
- 14/06/2012 (Nicholls, David)
- Last record:
- 14/06/2012 (Nicholls, David)
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