Neoitamus cyanurus, the common awl robberfly, is a carnivorous species of 'robber fly' belonging to the family Asilidae.
Distribution It is an eastern Palearctic realm species, with a limited distribution in Europe (Austria, Belgium, British Isles, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, North European Russia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands), but it is also present in the Near East and in the Oriental realm.Fauna Europaea
Habitat This species mainly inhabits spruce forest edge and hedge rows., but also wooded gardens and parks.
Identification It is a small, grey-black asilid (10-15 mm.) Difficult to distinguish from other Neoitamus. Wolff, Gebel and Geller-Grimm (2021), ( Majer (1997), van den Broek (1979), Stubbs and Drake (2001) all provide keys, descriptions and illustrations. Older works are also useful <ref> (Oldroyd (1969)Oldroyd, H., 1969 Diptera Brachycera: Tabanoidea and Asiloidea (Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 9/4) Royal Entomological Society, London. Verrall, G. H., 1909 Stratiomyidae and succeeding families of the Diptera Brachycera of Great Britain British flies Volume 5 London : Gurney and Jackson, 1909.BHL Full text with illustrations Majer,D.M. European Asilidae, in Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds.), Contributions to a manual of Palaearctic Diptera, volume 2 Nematocera and Lower Brachycera. Science Herald, Budapest (Hongrie), 1997, pp.549-567 van den Broek, R., Schulten, A., Wouwen N.(traducteur), Field Guide to the Robberflies of the Netherlands and Belgium, Éditions Jeugdbondsuitgeverij, 2017, 136 pages, (ISBN 9789051070545) Danny Wolff, Markus Gebel and Fritz Geller-Grimm: The Robber Flies of Germany: Discovering - Observing - Identifying . Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2018, ISBN 978-3-494-01733-4 Neoitamus cyanurus can reach a body length of about [Fritz Geller-Grimm> Photographic atlas and identification key to the robberflies and a wing length of about .Ecology of Commanster Biology Adults can be found from May to October, peaking in June and July. It is an ancient woodland species (especially oak). The adult insects perch on tree trunks, or branches waiting for other flying insects, which they then capture with their long bristly legs. Their prey is often larger than the captor. The prey spectrum is broad including, for example, small butterflies, green lacewings (Pseudomallada ventralis), flies, gnats, cicadas, beetles and many more. The larvae develop in the soil and there feed on insect larvae.Hobby, B.M., 1930 The British species of Asilidae (Diptera) and their prey. Trans. Entomol. Soc. of South England. No. 6. pp. 1-42.
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Photos at Fugleonatur Garden Safari