Robber Fly

Robber flies are dragonflies evolved from different ancestors—true flies (Diptera) that have convergently evolved aerial predation remarkably similar to dragonfly hunting. Large compound eyes provide targeting; powerful flight muscles enable aerial interception; grasping legs seize prey in flight. The convergence is so complete that casual observers confuse robber flies with dragonflies, despite 350 million years of independent evolution.

The convergence reveals how ecological opportunity shapes form. Aerial predation creates specific requirements: vision to track fast-moving targets, flight to intercept them, weapons to capture them. Whether you're a dragonfly (four-winged Odonata) or a robber fly (two-winged Diptera), meeting these requirements produces similar solutions. Evolution, constrained by physics and ecology, repeatedly discovers the same designs.

Robber flies also demonstrate extreme prey generalism—they attack almost anything they can subdue, including bees, wasps, dragonflies, and even hummingbirds. The confidence borders on recklessness; robber flies regularly attack prey that could kill them. This aggressive generalism contrasts with more specialized predators. The business parallel reveals that different origins can produce functionally equivalent competitors. Robber flies compete with dragonflies despite completely different evolutionary backgrounds. Companies from different industries may similarly converge on the same opportunities—tech companies entering finance, retailers entering healthcare. Understanding convergent threats requires looking beyond traditional competitive categories to identify any entity evolving toward your niche.