Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cyanurus

I'm sure I've seen loads of these but I've rarely put much effort into identifying robberflies so wasn't sure if I'd be able to do this from a photo or not. After taking the photo I did try to catch it in order to secure the ID but it had other ideas. In the end I think it can be identified from the photo. Although I couldn't fully key it out to genus as some features aren't visible, I think there's enough characters visible to rule out other genera, so it was a choice between the very common cyanurus and the very much rarer Scarce Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cothurnatus. I'm not sure the latter has even been recorded in Norfolk, but dark posterior bristles on the fore tibia are visible (pale in cothurnatus) which supports the assumption that it's the commoner species, and I think the hind basitarsus and length of the abdomen also backs this up. The hind basitarsus is usually all dark in cyanurus but it look orange on top here - but this pattern isn't right for cothurnatus and several of Steven Falk's images of cyanurus appear to show a similar extent of orange. It's not clear on my photo but looking at others I'm not sure the orange isn't a brush of hairs rather than the actual surface of the basitarsus.

female Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cyanurus, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 9th June 2025

I had previusly identified this species once, again I think only from a photo.

female Common Awl Robberfly Neoitamus cyanurus with prey, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 9th July 2021