[6] It was first discovered in curragh (willow carr/swamp) habitat in the north of Isle of Man and was recorded there again in the mid-1990s, when a pair was caught in a pan trap by Steve Crellin, a local entomologist.

Furthermore, it is believed that a former locality of the species, on road verges and farmland near the old Ballamona Hospital, just outside Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, have been unknowingly destroyed by road widening and other ribbon development, as an ecological survey undertaken before the building of the new Nobles Hospital failed to locate any specimens despite extensive trapping and surveying.

The robber fly still exists at a number of sites throughout the north of the Isle of Man, including The Ayres National Nature Reserve and Manx Wildlife Trust's reserve at Cronk y Bing, where it is probably associated with dry sandy conditions (possibly its larval habitat) and vegetation such as brambles and gorse which provide perching sites.

In 1979 the Isle of Man Post Office issued a 13-pence stamp to celebrate 100 years of the Manx Natural History & Antiquarian Society.

On 1 February 2001 the Isle of Man Post Office again issued a stamp depicting the Manx robber fly, in the series named 'Bugs and Bees', with the value of 58 pence.