A fearsome new mass killer has been discovered in the Northern Cape. It is a species of assassin fly that ambushes its prey in mid-air‚ stabs it and injects venom that dissolves the unfortunate beetle‚ moth‚ butterfly or wasp. Then it sucks out their insides. The species‚ dubbed Trichoura pardeos‚ lives in the Tierberg Nature Reserve‚ a small conservation area on the north banks of the Gariep River‚ 4km outside Keimoes.

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