DASYPOGONINAB 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



65 



proboscis is quite small and unusually short, directed ob- 

 liquely forward, subcylindrical, with a blunt apex 

 which bears considerable rather long pile ventrally and 

 shorter stiff pile at the tip; its base has a few long 

 hairs. Palpus of 2 segments; the first segment short, 

 fused at the base, its junction with the longer, second, 

 somewhat distally swollen segment not immediately 

 apparent. Second segment apparently with a small 

 pore apically and several long, stiff, bristly hairs ven- 

 trally and near the apex. The antenna is attached at 

 the middle of the head and is of moderate length ; the 

 first two segments are short, and subequal in length, the 

 second beadlike, or subglobular, the third rather slender 

 and more than twice as long as the first two segments 

 combined. The second segment is pubescent and bears 

 a long, pubescent, microsegment nearly half as long as 

 the third segment itself; at its apex it carries a minute 

 spine. First and second segments with 4 to 6 rather 

 long setae dorsally near apex and 3 or 4 longer setae 

 ventrally near the middle. 



Head, anterior aspect: The head is about twice as 

 wide as high. Face one-fourth of the head with 

 nearly parallel sides but rather short in length; the 

 eyes are ventrally extended considerably below the face 

 and epistoma. Subepistoma small and inconspicuous 

 and nearly horizontal. Face pubescent at least later- 

 ally and above, sometimes with bare spot in the middle. 

 The pile consists of 5 or 6 long hairs on either side, 

 beginning just above the middle of the face and some- 

 times with weak slender bristly hairs along the sup- 

 epistomal margin. Front of moderate length, pubes- 

 cent, without pile or bristles, very slightly divergent; 

 the vertex is of the same width as the upper front and 

 is only moderately excavated. Ocellarium large and 

 rather high, bearing 2 or 3 pairs of long, slender bris- 

 tles or stiff hair; the anterior ocellus swollen. Eye 

 facets greatly enlarged centrally and zoned. 



Thorax: Mesonotum, together with the pleuron, 

 micropubescent; the mesonotal length is two times its 

 height. Pile of mesonotum abundant and rather long 

 and fine and suberect. There are no differentiated 

 acrostical or dorsocentral bristles. Humerus pilose. 

 Lateral bristles absent. Scutellar bristles absent, the 

 scutellum relatively thin, convex ; its rim is smooth and 

 pubescent with a number of long, erect hairs on the 

 disc. Propleuron with fine pile. Mesopleuron long 

 pilose dorsally and posteriorly. Pteropleuron and 

 hypopleuron without pile. The metapleuron has 7 or 

 8 quite slender bristles or bristly hairs. Metanotal 

 slopes micropubescent only. Metasternal slopes with 

 long pile, the metasternum bare, the postmetacoxal 

 area membranous. Prosternum not dissociated. 



Legs: The middle and anterior femora moderately 

 stout, the hind femur slightly stout and with a slight 

 dilation apically. The legs are characterized by dense, 

 short, appressed setate pile and quite weak bristles 

 which in places are scarcely more than stiffened hairs. 

 Hind femur ventrally with several, long, stiff hairs; 



its tibia with the following bristles: 2 lateral, 2 ven- 

 trolateral, 2 or 3 ventral, and 4 short medial on the 

 basal half, besides 7 or 8 quite short dorsal bristles; 

 the subapex has 2 dorsal, 2 lateral, 3 or 4 ventral bris- 

 tles; its medial surface has only suberect setate pile. 

 The hind basitarsus bears a very dense brush of erect 

 pile bearing glandular apices. Middle femur with 4 

 or 5 slender bristly hairs ventrally; its tibia has 4 

 short dorsal bristles and 3 anterior, of which the mid- 

 dle and outer member are much longer and stouter, 

 4 weak slender anteroventral, 3 or 4 similar ventral, 

 and 4 to 5 slender posterior. Anterior femur with 



2 or 3 long, slender hairs ventrally at the base; its 

 tibia has 5 or 6 quite short, weak bristles dorsally, a 

 double row posteriorly of longer slender bristles ; apex 

 with weak bristles and no spine. The tarsi end in 

 long pulvilli, sharp claws and slightly reduced em- 

 podium. 



Wings: The wings are broad, the length only 2% 

 times the width, often tinged with brown. The mar- 

 ginal cell is widely open; the anterior branch of the 

 third vein ends nearly at wing apex. All posterior 

 cells are widely open ; anal cell widely open ; the second 

 basal cell ends in 3 veins, the middle vein long. The 

 alula is rather narrow; ambient vein complete; mar- 

 ginal fringe unusually long. 



Abdomen: The abdomen is relatively short, much 

 shorter than the wings; it is comparatively broad and 

 robust, especially on the basal half where the tergites 

 are slightly flattened. First tergite not swollen later- 

 ally, membranous across the middle; the second tergite 



3 or 4 times as long as the first and nearly as long as 

 the succeeding four. All of tergites 3 to 7 of nearly 

 equal length; 7 tergites only are present in the male. 

 The pile of the abdomen is scanty, short, fine and sub- 

 appressed but with considerable longer pile laterally 

 on the sides of the second and third tergites, gradually 

 becoming shorter beyond. Sides of first tergite with 

 a few long, weak hairs. Bristles are absent. Male 

 terminalia quite large, and together with the terminal, 

 abdominal segments more or less cylindrical. It is 

 as long or longer than the last 3 tergites. The epan- 

 drium constitutes the largest and the dominant struc- 

 ture in the male; it is directed to its base but forms 

 a very thin, shell-like, laterally curved or convex, down- 

 wardly directed envelope composing half or more than 

 half of the structure from a dorso ventral aspect; it 

 bears two long, blunt, equally thin, posterior lobes. 

 Gonopod small, short, thin, with a shorter posterior 

 lobe. Hypandrium broad and short. Genital cavity 

 open. In the female the ninth and tenth segments are 

 very small, without spines. 



Distribution: Neotropical: Rhipidocephala analis 

 Macquart (1846). 



Ethiopian: Rhipidocephala cajfra Macquart (1846) 

 caligata Speiser (1910); fiavipes Hermann (1926) 

 mono Hermann (1926); punctulata Wulp (1899) 

 quadrifaria Hermann (1926); signata Hermann 

 (1907) ; thoracica Engel (1946). 



