Unidentified Robberfly

[Heart-shaped World]

Hello all,

Any help would really be appreciated with this lovely little robber ~ 10mm, found in an untidy back garden today.
It may be stupidity on my part, I have the full quota , but I can't find a candidate with such notable gingery hair (Stubbs, Geller-Grimm). Maybe I'm being distracted by it??

Thanks in advance,
Darren.

[dmclean2]

How about Rhagionidae - snipe flies,?
Duncan

[Heart-shaped World]

Thanks for the suggestion Duncan. I'm pretty confident it's a Robberfly as it fits well with Stubbs' description of the family, abbreviated below:

Head with deep notch above
Prominent bristles on the face
Proboscis powerful
Body slender
Legs with strong bristles

Ta,
Darren.

[eucera]

Definitely an Asilid and not a Rhagionid

[oxycera]

Looks like Leptarthrus brevirostris

[Heart-shaped World]

Thanks Stuart and Oxycera.
I see what you mean Oxycera, looks good against the BioImages specimen.
I thought more would have been made of the gingery hair colour - perhaps that's a variable characteristic?

Darren.

[oxycera]

May be, not sure. I'm beginning to realise that trying to id insects from photos is far more of an art than a science, with all the attendant pitfalls. I've not seen Leptarthrus for a few years but this just has the 'look' of it - someone may be out there counting the bristles to prove me wrong!

[Heart-shaped World]

I think you've suggested a very good candidate and will have a better look tomorrow.
[Stubbs' intro to the family notes the long hairs on the thorax but no bristles, I did pause over this - obviously not long enough. I'm blaming the Codeine and keeping my head down. ]

Thanks again,
Darren.

[oxycera]

Don't be mislead by my throwaway comment 'counting the bristles' ie a 'scientific' approach - nothing to do with asilids as such.

[Heart-shaped World]

Don't worry, I took it in the context it was meant
It just prompted the old grey matter with regard to what I'd been reading earlier!
Unless people use words like 'definitely', 'certainly', etc. it stays in red ink!