DASTPOGONINAE 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



227 



£3SV 



Text-Figure 14.— Dasypogon diadema Fabricius. 



tibia with 5 dorsolateral, 5 dorsomedial, 5 ventrolateral 

 bristles; apex with 9 bristles, 2 of them short. Middle 

 tibia with 7 anterodorsal, 5 anteroventral, 6 postero- 

 dorsal, 9 posteroventral, and 2 quite long, ventral bris- 

 tles. Anterior tibia similar and bearing at the apex 

 a characteristic, long, extended protuberance reaching 

 well beyond the apex of the tibia, to which is attached 

 the quite stout, long, curved spine or spur. Base 

 of basitarsus with a moundlike swelling covered with 

 denticles. Claws stout, sharp, curved at the apex; 

 pulvilli large; the empodium long but rather slender. 



Wings: The wings are broad, in the type of genus 

 strongly tinged with blackish, especially along the veins. 

 Fourth posterior cell closed in the margin or with a 

 short stalk. First posterior cell quite widely open. 

 Anal cell closed in the margin. Ambient vein complete. 



Abdomen: The abdomen is comparatively elongate, 

 gently tapered in the male, with nearly parallel sides 

 in the female. The pile of the abdomen is short, stiff, 

 appressed setate in both sexes, a little longer and more 

 conspicuous in the male. Bristles confined to the sides 

 of the first tergite. Male with seven tergites, the last 

 being more than half as long as the sixth. Female 

 with eight tergites. Male terminalia large and short, 



rotate one-fourth. The epandrium is notched poste- 

 riorly but not cleft, although there is a medial crease 

 running its full length. The gonopod is convex and 

 as long as the epandrium. The hypandrium is well 

 developed and prominent. Females with 4 or 5 pairs 

 of short, stout spines on the acanthophorites. 



The genus Dasypogon Meigen, as is so often true of 

 old genera, has had many species lumped into its con- 

 fines by earlier workers without sufficiently critical 

 observations. Many species have been removed from 

 the genus in recent years and it is probable that com- 

 paratively few species properly belong in Dasypogon, 

 sensu stricto. There is no alternative at present but 

 to list within the genus all species put there, which 

 have not been reassigned. The species known to prop- 

 erly belong to Dasypogon are found in southern Europe 

 and northwestern Africa. According to the designa- 

 tion of Latreille, Asilus diadema Fabricius is the type 

 of genus of Dasypogon and is also the type of Seli- 

 dopogon Bezzi; hence the name Selidopogon must 

 sink. Asilus teutonics Linne, hitherto regarded as the 

 type of Dasypogon by European workers and sepa- 

 rated from the other genus by the presence of many 

 stout bristles on the third antennal segment, the long 



