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UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 24 



(1861) ; ornatipennis Macquart (1849) ; ostensa Walker 

 (1862) ;pmw>raWulp (1872) ; pwer- Doleschall (1858) ; 

 rubidifasciata Wulp (1872) ; rufifemorata Macquart 

 (1846) ; setipes Walker (1862) ; telecles Walker (1849) ; 

 tibialata Walker (1865); tristis Doleschall (1857); 

 variana White (1917). 



Oceania: Laphria nigrocoerulea Kirby (1888) ; oga- 

 sawarensis Matsumura (1916) ; okinawensis Matsumura 

 (1916). 



Country unknown: Laphria alebas Walker (1849) ; 

 bicolor Macquart (1834) ; chrysocosmia Wiedemann 

 (1828) ; flavipennis Macquart (1838) ; gracilis Macquart 

 (1838) ; hirsuta Wiedemann (1828) ; leucospila Wiede- 

 mann (1828) ; picipes Walker (1855) ; senopeza Mac- 

 quart (1838); tidius Walker (1849); tiwca Walker 

 (1849). 



The larva and pupa of several species of European 

 Laphria have been described by various authors such as 

 Lucas (1848), Perris (1871), Brauer (1882), Lundbeck 

 (1908), and Melin (1923), who illustrated several 

 species. 



The dipterist interested in Australian Laphriini is 

 referred to Ricardo (1913). I have accepted much of 

 the synonymy she suggested but not altogether. 



Genus Bombomima Enderlein 



Figures 213, 613, 1212, 1216 



Bombomima Enderlein, Zool. Anzeiger, vol. 44, p. 253, 1914. 

 Type of genus: Laphria fulvithorax Fabricius, 1805, by 

 original designation. 



Very large, woolly pilose flies of broad, robust form, 

 many of which strongly resemble humblebees. They 

 were separated by Enderlein from Dasyllis Loew, a 

 genus which is restricted to Neotropical species. They 

 differ to a marked extent in the character of the probos- 

 cis and belong to different tribes. As Curran has 

 pointed out, Bombomima is not readily separated from 

 Laphria Meigen. Most Laphria have the lateral meta- 

 notal slopes without pile; the species of Bombomima 

 have pile on this structure, sometimes abundant and 

 sometimes scanty and some New World species of 

 Laphria also have a little pile on these callosities. In 

 general the species of Bombomima may be recognized by 

 the broad character of the abdomen, the more woolly 

 pile at least generally present on the thorax but some- 

 times reduced on the abdomen. For many years, before 

 Enderlein (1914) distinguished between the two genera, 

 the many Nearctic species which now fall in Bombo- 

 mima were described or treated under the name Dasyl- 

 lis. The species of Dasyllis are restricted to South 

 America. The genus Bombomima includes some bulky 

 and truly giant flies measuring up to 30 mm. in length. 

 Length for most species 15 to 22 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The head is long, the face very 

 prominent and gibbous, it may have an upper gibbosity 

 as in Laphria, or this may be reduced as the lower one 

 is emphasized. The proboscis tends to be widened or 

 higher, near the apex, than in Laphria giving it some- 



what spatulate appearance. Palpus, occiput, and the 

 form of the eyes similar to Laphria. The antenna is 

 attached perhaps even higher upon the head, leaving 

 a very short front. The antenna is of variable length, 

 but always moderately long, nearly as long as the head 

 and sometimes longer. Front and vertex similar, the 

 broad ocellarium with 2 or 3 pairs of long bristles. 



Thorax : The thorax is densely long, erect pilose in 

 which anteriorly and laterally there is a considerable 

 amount of flat appressed pile of the same color. The 

 lateral complement of bristles is rather weak and more 

 or less hidden among pile ; it consists of 2 notopleural, 

 7 to 12 supraalar, and a dense tuft of slender bristles and 

 bristly pile on the postalar and scutellum. The scutel- 

 lum is convex, faintly pollinose, but shining, with a 

 little scattered, erect pile and additional fine, bristly 

 marginal pile, besides the bristles. Pleuron with char- 

 acteristic dense tufts of long pile over all of the pro- 

 pleuron, the posterior mesopleuron, the metapleuron 

 and the metanotal callosity, the latter pile being of dis- 

 tinctly shorter character. Prosternum fused and con- 

 tinuous. The pile of the mesonotum and pleuron and 

 often part of the abdominal pile is bright yellow, or 

 brown, and the color of the cephalic, thoracic, and ab- 

 dominal pile are important specific characters. Post- 

 metacoxal area membranous. 



Legs: All of the femora are extremely stout, rather 

 short and more or less swollen; the tibia are likewise 

 stout ; their pile is dense, long, fine but bristly and bushy 

 in character. There is sometimes a dense cluster of very 

 stout bristles on the anterior surface of the middle femur 

 well hidden by pile ; the bristles of the tibia are also ob- 

 scured by the density of the pile. Claws stout, rather 

 sharp, strongly bent at the apex; the pulvilli large; the 

 empodium bladelike. 



Wings : The wings are quite similar to Laphria, veins 

 tinged with light brown. 



Abdomen: The abdomen is much broader than in 

 most species of Laphria and generally more densely 

 pilose, the pile either matted or erect. Males with six 

 tergites and a liplike extension from the seventh. Fe- 

 males with six tergites, the seventh concealed beneath 

 the sixth, the eighth protruded beyond but much less 

 wide, rather convex and perhaps to be considered part 

 of the ovipositor. The ovipositor is short and conical 

 and surrounded by long, rather prominent bristles from 

 the eighth segment. Male terminalia similar to Laphria, 

 half rotate, the ventral epandrium also very large and 

 bowllike, the gonopod meeting distally but leaving the 

 genital space more or less open. 



This genus is restricted to the Nearctic and the spe- 

 cies are considerably more numerous in the east than 

 in the west. It contains some of our largest asilids in 

 point of bulk. 



Greene (1918) describes and beautifully illustrates 

 immature stages of Bombomima thoracica. The larvae 

 are found in rotting wood. Bromley (1952) placed 

 this species in the synonymy of B. fulvithorax. 



Distribution: Nearctic: Bombomima affinis Mac- 

 quart (1855); apila Bromley (1951); astur Osten 



