DASTPOGONINAK 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



267 



Wings : The marginal cell is widely open, the second 

 submarginal cell originates at the end of the discal 

 cell, the anterior branch of the third vein ends a little 

 above the whig apex, posterior branch ends a short 

 distance past the wing apex. First posterior cell fully 

 open, fourth posterior cell slightly narrowed to two- 

 thirds of its maximum width; anal cell closed in the 

 margin; second basal cell ends in three veins; alula 

 large; ambient vein complete. 



Abdomen: The abdomen is broad and robust, as 

 wide as the thorax and very slightly narrowed pos- 

 teriorly with extensive lateral and posterior pollinose 

 areas upon the tergites. The abdomen is thick or high 

 laterally, the sides are strongly rolled vertically down- 

 ward. Males with 6 well developed tergites; the sev- 

 enth and eighth are present but each is quite short. 

 There are eight tergites present in the female, the 

 sixtli a third as long as the fifth, the seventh half as 

 long as the sixth, the eighth is short or virtually con- 

 cealed by the seventh. Bristles confined to the first 

 tergite where there are 4 short, stout pairs. Pile of 

 abdomen is very short, appressed and setate, slightly 

 longer and appressed laterally. Male terminalia quite 

 short and obtuse. The short epandrium is divided 

 medially to the base, its short, lateral lobes, the equiva- 

 lent of the superior forceps, are rather divergent. The 

 gonopod is small and short with a small apical tooth 

 or sharp process. Proctiger is short, hypandrium 

 greatly reduced or absent; cavity of the genitalia is 

 open below. Female terminalia is short, acanthopho- 

 rites each with 4 spines. Lateral processes with 1 or 

 2 stout, spinous bristles. 



Distribution: Nearctic: HodophyJax aridus James 

 (1933) ; lasvngeri Pritchard (1938). 



Genus Aspidopyga Carrera 



Figures 479, 1141, 1150, 1725, 1729 



Aspidopyga Carrera, Arq. Zool. Sao Paulo, vol. 7, p. 132, 1949. 

 Type of genus: Aspidopyga cophuroides Carrera, 1949, by 

 original designation. 



Flies of medium size or larger, pollinose with reduced 

 pile and a very short face, a curved spine on the pro- 

 tibia, marginally wide, third posterior cell and a curi- 

 ous, flared, flattened, elongated lobe on the extended 

 superior forceps. These flies are evidently related to 

 Cophura Osten Sacken but are much larger, with some- 

 what different venation, antenna, and terminalia. 

 Length 14 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The head is of medium length, 

 the face extremely short, of equal length above and 

 below, gently convex and following the eye margin. 

 The eye is slightly longer and more prominent below. 

 The occiput is moderately developed along the lower 

 third of the head, but not at the bottom of the eyes, 

 where it is retreating and it is not at all visible on the 

 upper third. The pile is abundant and fine medially on 

 the lower half of the occiput; bristles begin a little 

 below the middle of the head, and consist of some 16 



pairs, also 2 stouter pairs deeply placed behind the ver- 

 tex. Proboscis of medium length, extended only a 

 little beyond the face, cylindrical ; dorsally the apex is 

 obliquely truncate. It has rather numerous, coarse 

 hairs ventrally near the apex but only 2 or 3 long hairs 

 ventrally near the middle. Palpus prominent, clearly 

 of 2 segments, the first segment hemicylindrical and 

 excavated, the second cylindrical, with 5 or 6 apical 

 bristles and a few slender bristles on all sides; basal 

 segment with long, stiff hairs. The antenna is quite as 

 long as the maximum head width. The first two seg- 

 ments are stout, parallel-sided, subequal, and bear un- 

 usually stout, long bristles ventrally, 2 on the first and 1 

 on the second, besides shorter bristly hair laterally and 

 dorsally. Third segment is slender, a little tapered on 

 the outer third, with a short truncate microsegment. 



Head, anterior aspect: The head is wider than the 

 thorax, the eyes rather strongly flattened, the anterior 

 facets exceptionally enlarged. The face is moderately 

 wide; both face and front have nearly parallel sides, 

 at most slightly narrowed near the antenna; both 

 densely micropubescent. Face with 6 or 8 scattered 

 fine pale hairs on the upper third, some longer hairs 

 more bristly across the middle, becoming still longer 

 and a little stouter on the ventral third and with a 

 row of 3 or 4 pairs of long, moderately stout bristles 

 above the epistoma. Subepistoma rather small, concave 

 and almost horizontal. The front is flat, without pile. 

 There are 2 or 3 fine hairs laterally opposite the 

 ocelli ; vertex pollinose, rather strongly excavated ; the 

 ocellarium set well forward, large and with slanting 

 sides; anterior ocellus vertical and enlarged. A pair 

 of slender bristles between the ocelli and 2 pairs of 

 stout bristles between the posterior ocelli. 



Thorax : The thorax is everywhere pollinose, most of 

 the pollen light yellowish brown, some of it blackish. 

 The pile is greatly reduced, scanty, mostly setate. A 

 double row of scattered acrostical bristles rather widely 

 separated ; anteriorly between them on the midline are 

 2 or 3 hairs. Dorsocentral bristles become strongly 

 developed opposite the posterior margin of the humerus 

 and are still longer posteriorly, where there are 8 in 

 each row. Humerus with 10 or more short bristles 

 and bristly pile. Lateral bristles long and moderately 

 stout with the following complement of bristles: 2 

 notopleural, 3 supraalar, 3 postalar, and 1 scutellar 

 pair. Scutellum thick, convex, pollinose only. Pleu- 

 ron mostly bare, with fine, scattered hairs on the 

 pronotum and the cervical sclerite and dense, bristly, 

 scattered pile on the lateral prothorax. The presternum 

 is dissociated. All remaining pleuron without pile, 

 except the metapleuron which has a conspicuous, ver- 

 tical, double and partly triple band of long bristles 

 containing more than 20 elements. Lateral and ven- 

 tral metasternum with pile; postmetacoxal area 

 membranous. 



Legs : The femora are distinctly stout without being 

 swollen, though the hind femur may be a little dilated 

 distally and is distinctly lengthened. Legs everywhere 

 shining, with rather scanty and reduced pile, of coarse, 



