Formica-subpolita

Guides

• Efferia staminea

  Straw-faced Hammertail

  Efferia staminea is a species of robber fly in the family Asilidae. It has been studied for its predatory behavior, with research documenting how its diet varies temporally and spatially in response to prey availability. The species exhibits opportunistic feeding patterns, shifting prey composition based on local prey abundance—including documented increases in ant predation during mating swarms of Formica subpolita. It serves as a generalist predator in grassland ecosystems.

  Asilidaerobber-flypredatorgeneralist-predatorgrasslandFormica-subpolitadietary-plasticitycannibalismtemporal-dynamicsspatial-dynamics