| This apparent Ospriocerus species was photographed at Chinati Hot Springs, Presidio Co., Texas in September 2004 with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II and an EF 300 mm F/4L IS lens with a 2X extender and 550 EX flash. The robber landed on a rock in the mostly dry stream bed and I set up to take some photos. After one shot I began to move closer, but an ant got up on the rock and flushed the robber and it was never seen again. So, here is the one shot I have of this critter which is significantly cropped since the fly is fairly small in the original frame. This photo has been looked at by several knowledgeable people and its identification is not certain, but the genus Ospriocerus has been suggested, and possibly Ospriocerus arizonensis. My sincere thanks to Eric Fisher for providing the genus and tentative species ID. The identification is still being discussed so I will let the experts debate and I will simply post the photo. If it is Ospriocerus arizonensis, it would apparently be new for Texas. Unfortunately, since there are no other photos and the bug was not collected, we may never know for sure. This insect was ca. 18 to 20 mm in length by my best estimate. |
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