The Life Cycle of the Devon Red Legged Robber Fly was performed at People’s Parkfield in Paignton on Saturday 5 July. The performance was part of our Inspiring Futures project that aims to amplify underrepresented stories, including those of living beings at risk of extinction due to habitat loss.
The Devon Red-legged Robber Fly lays its eggs in dry, sparsely vegetated soil where the predatory larvae develop underground, feeding on small invertebrates before pupating. Adults emerge in summer, live briefly to hunt flying insects and reproduce, and are mostly found in warm, dry grassland habitats.
This is a local story. This species of fly lives on our coastline.
We partnered with the South Devon National Landscapes team to co-commission a piece of outdoor performance that responded to the themes of the Life on the Edge project, which is a UK-based conservation initiative focused on restoring and reconnecting rare coastal habitats along South Devon’s 75 km B‑Line between Berry Head and Wembury, to protect over 30 threatened invertebrate species. The project aims to create hundreds of hectares of wildflower-rich grassland, scrub mosaics, hedge corridors, and seed donor sites, engage local communities, landowners, and volunteers in habitat creation, surveys, and wildlife gardening, and build a resilient ecological network to support landscape‑scale recovery of endangered invertebrates.
The performance was conceived and made by the fabulous creative team at NDP Circus
