LAPBBIINAB 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



325 



Sacken (1877); asturma Bromley (1951); brunnea 

 Bromley (1929); champlainii Walton (1910); cinerea 

 Back (1904) ; columbica Walker (1866) ; divisor Banks 

 (1917) ; engelhardti Bromley (1931) ; fattigi Bromley 

 (1951) ; fernaldi Back (1904) ; ftavicollis Say (1824) ; 

 fulvithorax Fabricius (1805) [ = alcanor Walker 

 (1849), thoracica Fabricius (1805)]; grossa Fabricius 

 (1775) [ = analis Macquart (1838), fiavibarbis Harris 

 (1862), tergissa Say (1823)] ; huron Bromley (1929) ; 

 insignis Banks (1917) ; lata Macquart (1849) [=analis 

 Macquart (1846)]; macquarti Banks (1917); melano- 

 pogon Wiedemann (1828); nigella Bromley (1934); 

 partitor Banks (1917) ; posticata Say (1824) ; royalen- 

 sis Bromley (1950); sackeni Banks (1917); sacrator 

 Walker (1849) ; Scutellaria Bromley (1929) ; semitecta 

 Coquillett (1910) ; unicolor Williston (1884) ; virginica 

 Banks (1917) ; vorax Bromley (1929). 



Genus Choerades Walker 

 Fiquees 1243, 1252, 2073, 2078, 20S7 



Choerades Walker, Insecta Saundersiana, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 109, 

 1851. Type of genus : Laphria vuloanus Wiedemann, 1828, 

 as Choerades aurigena Walker, 1851, by monotypy. 



Epholkiolaphria Hermann, Ent. Mitt. vol. 3, p. S9, 1914. Type 

 of genus: Laphria egregia Wulp, 1898, by original 

 designation. 



Large flies which represent a rather extensive group 

 of the large tribe Laphriini. Characteristic of the 

 Oriental and South Pacific regions, they are com- 

 paratively ill-defined and while of generally short 

 pilose and bare aspect, they are distinguished primarily 

 on the character of the male terminalia. Like all the 

 members of the tribe Laphriini the terminalia are per- 

 manently rotate so that the epandrium is placed ven- 

 trally and is bowllike and undivided and not formed 

 into forceps. It is transverse at the apex with the 

 terminal proctiger beyond and in this respect does not 

 differ from other members of the Laphriini. What I 

 interpret as the gonopod, which consists of the large, 

 lateral and ventral portion of the terminalia and 

 which Hermann calls the forceps of the hypopygium, 

 has in Choerades a posterodorsal process more or less 

 narrow and knifelike and sometimes clearly composed 

 of fused or semifused bristles. This posterodorsal ap- 

 pendage and a somewhat more widely opened dorsal 

 aspect exposing the interior cavity of the terminalia 

 constitute, as I understand it, the only character upon 

 which one may differentiate this group with any 

 clarity. Length 15 to 30 mm. 



It is quite true that in this group the face is rather 

 distinct in the character of the facial pile and bristles. 

 The gibbosity of the face tends to have the pile reduced 

 in quantity and length but with on each side a vertical 

 row of 3 to 6 long, isolated, wirelike bristles, and the 

 pile from the upper half of the face tends to be some- 

 what matted or appressed and flattened or scalelike, as 

 well as golden or silver in color. However, both of these 



facial characteristics are shared by Pagidolaphria Her- 

 mann and Maira Schiner, which are both from the same 

 general regions, and both with the pile of thorax and 

 abdomen usually largely reduced. Pagidolaphria, 

 however, may be dependably separated on the basis of 

 the narrow, upturned apex of the proboscis, whereas 

 Maira and Choerades have the proboscis quite as in 

 Laphria. Maira, moreover, tends to have a postero- 

 dorsal appendix on the gonopod similar to that of 

 Choerades and I have found no really satisfactory sep- 

 aration of Maira and Choerades, except on the basis 

 of the strong, metallic coloration characteristic of most 

 species which have been placed in Maira. 



I find no venational characters which are constant in 

 any of these groups. It is quite true that if one com- 

 pares typical European species of Laphria such as 

 gibbosa, fiava, or ephippium there are marked differ- 

 ences in the character of the pile, the terminalia, and 

 the pile of the bristles of the face as compared with 

 these south Asiatic flies, but there are many integrading 

 species and the narrowness of the posterodorsal ap- 

 pendage remains the only satisfactorily separating char- 

 acteristic. Hermann has called attention to the fact 

 that some of the species of Choerades have tufts or 

 clusters of conspicuously strong bristles arising from 

 the lower part of the terminalia, which would be the 

 apex of the epandrium. 



Distribution : Palaearctic : Choerades amurensis Her- 

 mann (1914) ; dimidiata Loew (1847) ; dioctriaefornvis 

 Meigen (1820) ; fimhriata Meigen (1820) [ = marginata 

 Megerle, Ms. in Meigen (1820)]; fuliginosa Panzer 

 (1798) [ = auribarbis Meigen (1820), cincta Meigen 

 (1820) not Fabricius] ; fulva Meigen (1804) [=auri- 

 fera Schiner (1862), aurigera Dufour (1850), probosci- 

 dea Loew (1847)]; gilva Linne (1758) [ = bilineata 

 Walker (1849), rufa De Geer (1776)]; ignea Meigen 

 (1820) \ = gilva Meigen (1804) not Linne] ; lapponica 

 Zetterstedt (1842); marginata Linne (1758) [ = aurea 

 Olivier (1789), femorata Meigen (1804), fulgida Mei- 

 gen (1820), ?media O. F. Miiller (1764), nigra Meigen 

 (1804), nigra Scopoli (1763), nigrifrons Megerle (Ms.) 

 in Meigen (1820), podagrica Meigen (1820)]; rufipes 

 Fallen (1814) ; ursula Loew (1851). 



Oriental: Choerades basigutta Walker (1856) ; egre- 

 gia Wulp (1898); inaurea Walker (1856); lepida 

 Walker (1857) ; notabilis Walker (1856) ; phillipinensis 

 Enderlein (1914) [—partialis Bezzi (1917), partita 

 Walker (1860) not Walker (1857)]; vulcanus Wiede- 

 mann (1828) [ = aurigena Walker (1851), blumei Wulp 

 (1872) ], vulcanus argentata Enderlein (1914) , vulcanus 

 auraria Enderlein (1914), vulcanus chrysargyrea En- 

 derlein (1914) ; xanthothrix Hermann (1914). 



The assignment of species to Choerades in the above 

 list is largely based on the disposition made by Engel 

 (1928). Since Enderlein (1914) resurrected Choerades 

 Walker (1851) for the same group of species which 

 Hermann used to establish Epholkiolaphria Hermann 

 (1914), I conclude that Walkers name must be used. 



