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Can anyone suggest a genus, maybe even a species for this large robber fly photographed in Croatia, near the coast in a scrubby limestone area? Several emerged soon after sunrise, hunting very close to the ground with a deep buzzing sound and resting/scanning from stones on the ground. This female had caught a small solitary bee.

23.7.2010 c 2.5cms Croatia, Zadar province.

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And here's a male, same location same time, probably same species.

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Genus has to be Machimus...Well, i tried Engel and to no avail maybe this could be M. cf modestus or cf thoracicus. I hope someone else will react too.

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Many thanks Reinoud for your help on this. Getting it to genus helps a lot. I have now found a record of M. modestus from the former Yugoslavia, but not for M thoracicus, but that doesn't mean it's not there! Maybe someone else will comment.

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thoracicus (in Fauna Europaea spelt thoracius) is known from only Hungary.