Blue-and-yellow Macaw vs Common Red-legged Robberfly

Ara ararauna compared with Dioctria rufipes

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blue-and-yellow Macaw	Common Red-legged Robberfly
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Psittaciformes (Parrots)	Diptera (Diptera)
Family	Psittacidae (True Parrots)	Asilidae
Genus	Ara (Macaws)	Dioctria
Species	Ara ararauna	Dioctria rufipes

Evolutionary Relationship

Blue-and-yellow Macaw and Common Red-legged Robberfly share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

LC — Least Concern

Common Red-legged Robberfly

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blue-and-yellow Macaw	Common Red-legged Robberfly
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela).

Common Red-legged Robberfly

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

One of the most striking and widely kept macaw species, blue-and-yellow macaws display brilliant cobalt blue upper parts contrasting with vivid yellow underparts and green forehead. They inhabit forest, woodland, and savanna from eastern Panama through Venezuela, Brazil, and Bolivia to Peru and Ecuador. Highly intelligent, they live in pairs or small flocks, feeding on palm nuts, seeds, and fruit. Popular in aviculture for over 400 years, they can live 80+ years in captivity.

Common Red-legged Robberfly

<em>Dioctria rufipes</em>, the common red-legged robberfly, is a predatory fly in the family Asilidae, order Diptera. It is distributed across northwestern Europe, with confirmed records from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, typically favoring woodland edges, hedgerows, and meadows with abundant vegetation. The species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, reflecting stable populations across its European range. Robberflies in the genus Dioctria are slender, elongated flies characterized by a distinctive long proboscis used to inject paralyzing saliva into prey. <em>Dioctria rufipes</em> typically hunts smaller flying insects, including midges, small flies, and other soft-bodied arthropods, ambushing prey from resting perches on vegetation and capturing it mid-flight. Adults are typically active from late spring to early autumn, coinciding with peak insect activity. The red or reddish-orange coloration of the hind femora is the diagnostic feature that gives this species its common name. Larvae develop in soil or decaying wood, where they are believed to be predatory on other invertebrate larvae. Biological traits such as precise lifespan, body measurements, and diet composition remain poorly documented in quantitative studies. The species is considered an important component of invertebrate predator guilds in European agricultural landscapes.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇳🇴 Norway