Hunchback Fly (Toxophora sp.)

When I first saw this insect, I thought it was a wild giant mosquito. But is there a mosquito with a physique as beautiful as this? This made me curious too much that I then tried to find out what it was.

The hunchback fly (Toxophora sp.)—yeah, it is! It is a species of bee-fly belonging to the family Bombyliidae. The fly's physique can be recognized by its compound eyes that resemble hoverflies, its two-branched antennae like a snake's tongue, its proboscis long enough to suck flower nectar (a pollinator insect) and its orange body with two brown stripes on the back. Commonly seen on grass or weed plants that grow relatively short.

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All these photos are my original work, taken with a Xiaomi POCO NFC smartphone and an assembled external macro lens.



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