Robbers and Undertakers

While many flies feed peacefully on pollen or leaves, some are killers. This is a male Northeastern Hammertail, Efferia aestuans, a species of robber fly.

That odd upturned tail structure is the male genitalia. Like dragonflies, they have huge eyes to detect their prey, small insects which they ambush in mid-air:

The unrelated Forked Scorpionfly doesn’t need huge eyes, it feasts on the already-dead, like this moth:

It has an elongated nose and sucking mouthparts.

Like the robber fly, this is also a male, as evidenced by the “genital bulb” at the end of its abdomen.

The final undertaker’s job is completed by this striking Tomentose Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus tomentosus:

Its large forelegs enable it to dig a shallow grave for a dead insect, and cover it with leaf litter:

This one had two tiny orange mites on its back, on the left:

Given their role in the ecosystem, finding one in a bush is somewhat surprising. But apparently they can breed in the canopy.