No, the name is definitely not the least attractive thing about this insect. I met this fellow when he caught a bee on my front porch and pinned her to my window screen to paralyze and eat her. I felt like Annie Dillard, coming upon a frog slowly being consumed out of its skin by a giant water bug. I was stunned, horrified … and then I ran inside for a device to take these pictures.
According to bugoftheweek.com, this insect is belongs to the “robber fly” group of predators; you can read all about this species on this site. The red-footed cannibal fly made “bug of the week” on August 20, 2018, with the headline: Robber flies steal lives: Red-footed cannibal fly, Promachus rufipes (thank you to Michael J. Raupp, Professor of Entomology).
As fascinating as this creature is, I needed an antidote to the existential dread it inspired. Fortunately, my Atreano fig tree provided this:
Now, I think this face is just hilarious — but one friend found it scary and another declared it “obscene.” It’s the last week of the fig season, which may easily be described as all three. Nevertheless, at this time of year, I find myself whispering, over and over, “summer forever, summer forever.” Like an incantation, a spell for a spell.