Sagebrush Bandit

Cyrtopogon willistoni · Order: Diptera · Family: Asilidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Sagebrush Bandit
Photo: Rolf Lawrenz, CC BY

Cyrtopogon willistoni is a robber fly belonging to the family Asilidae. All available sources describe it only as a member of this fly family.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Cyrtopogon willistoni is a robber fly in the family Asilidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Sagebrush Bandit photo 2
Photo: jrcagle, CC BY
Sagebrush Bandit photo 3
Photo: Kate, CC BY
Sagebrush Bandit photo 4
Photo: Tristan A. McKnight, CC BY
Sagebrush Bandit photo 5
Photo: jrcagle, CC BY

Same family (Asilidae)

Northeastern HammertailNortheastern HammertailEfferia aestuansHarmlessStripe-legged Robber FlyStripe-legged Robber FlyDioctria hyalipennisPlain-tailed Hanging ThiefPlain-tailed Hanging ThiefDiogmites neoternatusKite-tailed robberflyKite-tailed robberflyTolmerus atricapillusGolden-tailed BeebanditGolden-tailed BeebanditMallophora fautrixSand HammertailSand HammertailEfferia albibarbis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrtopogon_willistoni

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.