Red Footed Cannibalfly

Adults are 28 – 35 mm long. Typical of robberflies, the eyes are large and separated by a deep trough on top of the head. The body is covered in yellow bristles, particularly on the head and abdomen. The legs are black, except for orange tibia and pulvilli. As with other members of the genus Promachus, this species has sharp claws and an abdomen that extends beyond their folded wings.

This species is seen during the summer and into the Fall. In Georgia, it can be seen in open, sunny habitats from July to September. In North Carolina, it occurs from July to October. In Virginia, they are particularly common in August. Red-footed robberflies are an opportunistic, sit-and-wait predators that sit on leaves, twigs, and other exposed surfaces to watch for prey. They use their large eyes to spot prey and they fly from their perch to capture them in the air. The head is covered in bristles that likely help to protect the robberfly from struggling prey. Once captured, prey are injected with toxins that kill and liquefy them. The liquefied contents are then sucked out.

Red-footed cannibalflies prey on flying insects. They are known to eat honeybees (Apis mellifera), paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus), mason bees (Osmia chalybea), grasshoppers (Melanoplus spp.), and robberflies (Triorla interrupta). Given their common habitat of feeding on honeybees, this species is sometimes called the bee panther.

Found in open, sunny habitats such as meadows, fields, and forest edges.

Promachus rufipes, known generally as the red-footed cannibalfly or bee panther, is a species of robber flies (insects in the family Asilidae).