LAPHRIINAE 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



373 



medial fringe of rather long, fine, erect pile. Femoral 

 bristles usually extremely weak, but long. Hind femur 

 generally with a pair of remarkably long, ventromedial, 

 basally stout bristles near the base. Middle femur with 

 a ventromedial and ventrolateral row of very fine, long 

 bristles. Two ranks of tibial bristles are characteris- 

 tically exaggerated and longer. Tarsal bristles are 

 stout. Hind femur with a stout, long bristle laterally 

 at the outer third. Middle femur with a similar bristle 

 anteriorly. Hind tibia with 4 or 5 weak, dorsal 

 bristles; 2 or 3 long, stout, lateral bristles; 3 ventro- 

 lateral, and 2 long ventral bristles. Middle tibia with 

 4 long, anterodorsal, 4 short, weak, dorsal bristles, 6 

 or 7 weak, posterior bristles, 3 long, stout, posteroven- 

 tral bristles, and 2 to 6 ventral bristles of varying size. 

 Anterior tibia with 4 or 5 weak, dorsal bristles, with 

 bristly hairs posteriorly and 3 long, slender, postero- 

 ventral bristles. Claws slender and sharp, strongly 

 bent at the apex ; pul villi and empodium well developed. 



Wings: The wings are immaculate, the marginal cell 

 closed with a long stalk; the anterior branch of the 

 third vein is strongly arched at the base and ends at 

 or just above the wing apex; the posterior branch 

 ends far behind the wing apex. First posterior cell 

 closed and stalked or narrowly open. Fourth posterior 

 cell closed and stalked. End vein of the discal cell 

 nearly aligned with the end vein of the fourth posterior 

 cell and both in the same plane. Anal cell closed. 

 Alula short, the ambient vein generally ends at the be- 

 ginning of the third posterior cell. 



Abdomen : The abdomen is robust, rather short and 

 nearly as wide as the thorax ; it is strongly convex with 

 parallel sides, the surface deeply punctate. The sixth 

 tergite forms a large, rounded, downcurved, cuplike 

 structure, with ventral emarginate rim in which the 

 seventh tergite and the terminalia are enclosed. Pile 

 of abdomen abundant, fine, setate and subappressed 

 with longer, erect pile along the lateral margin in some 

 species. First tergite with 4 to 6 stout bristles later- 

 ally; second tergite with 3, and sometimes several re- 

 maining tergites with 1 or 2 bristles. Both male and 

 female abdomens with six tergites. Both male and 

 female terminalia are quite small. The male termi- 

 nalia are rotate one-half, quite concealed and tucked 

 in beneath the tergites ; the epandrium is broad, but not 

 very long, the dorsal proctiger forms two broad, tri- 

 angular, distally rounded plates. Gonopod narrow, 

 the hypandrium short and triangular. The cavity of 

 the genitalia is open. The seventh and eighth tergites 

 consist of a concealed, narrow band of chitin, the 

 proctiger is short but broad and pilose. 



Atomosia constitutes a very characteristic element of 

 the Neotropical asilid fauna. A few species extend 

 into the United States but those described by older au- 

 thors from the Old World, while listed here for the 

 present, almost certainly will require reassignment to 

 other genera. Hermann (1907) described a species 

 from South Africa ; this species is now in Goneccalypsis 

 Hermann. There are a few South American genera, 

 like Hypenetes Philippi, that also have species in 



Africa; similarly a very few Ethiopian genera like 

 Rhipidocephala Hermann and Nusa Walker have a 

 few species in South America. While Cormansis 

 Walker has been considered a synonym of Atomosia, I 

 consider this doubtful. The type species of Cormansis 

 halictides is from India. It may possibly be identical 

 with Lowinella Hermann, but is not likely to belong to 

 Atomosia. 



These species divide into those which, like Atomosia 

 puella, prefer association with the bark of trees and 

 logs and those like Atomosia sayi found entirely on 

 the tips of twigs or resting on leaves. 



Distribution: Nearctic: Atomosia glabrata Say 

 (1823) [ = rvfipes Macquart (1847)]; melanopogon 

 Hermann (1912) ; mucidoides Bromley (1951) ; puella 

 Wiedemann (1828) [=pygmaea Macquart (1834), 

 fechemon Walker (1849)]; punctifera Hermann 

 (1912) ; sayi Jolmson (1903). 



Neotropical: Atomosia afflnis Macquart (1849); 

 andrenoides Bromley (1934); anonyma Williston 

 (1901) ; appendiculata Macquart (1846) ; argyrophora 

 Schiner (1868) ; armata Hermann (1912) ; barbiellinii 

 Curran (1935) ; beckeri Jaennicke (1867) ; brevicornis 

 Macquart (1838); cerverai Bromley (1929); coxalis 

 Curran (1930) ; cyanescens Rondani (1848) ; danforthi 

 Curran (1935) ; eupoda Bigot (1878) ; fredericoi Car- 

 rera (1952); frontalis Curran (1930); geniculata 

 Wiedemann (1821) ; hondurana James (1953) ; incisu- 

 ralis Macquart (1838) ; limbata Macquart (1834) ; 

 limbiventris Thomson (1869) [ = li?nbativentris Lynch 

 Arribalzaga (1880)]; lineata Curran (1930); mac- 

 quarti Bellardi (1861); maestrae Bromley (1929); 

 metallescens Hermann (1912) ; metallica Bromley 

 (1929); modesta Philippi (1865); mucida Osten 

 Sacken (1887) ; nigroaenea Walker (1851) ; nuda Her- 

 mann (1912) ; panamensis Curran (1930) ; parva Bigot 

 (1856) ; pilipes Thomson (1869) [ = pilosipes Lynch Ar- 

 ribalzaga (1880)]; pubescens Bromley (1929); pusiUa 

 Macquart (1838) ; rica Curran (1935) ; fscoriacea 

 Wiedemann (1828); selene Curran (1935); sericans 

 Walker (1860) ; setosa Hermann (1912) ; similis Bigot 

 (1856); soror Bigot (1878); tenuis Curran (1930); 

 tibialis Macquart (1846); unicolor Macquart (1838); 

 venustula Lynch Arribalzaga (1880) ; viduata Wiede- 

 mann (1819) ; xanthopus Wiedemann (1828). 



Oriental: Atomosia halictides Walker (1851). 



Genus Lycosimyia Hull 



Figures 285, 1291, 1300 



Lycosimyia Hull, Ent. News, vol. 09, p. 102, 1958. Type of 

 genus: Lycosimyia carrerae Hull, 1958. 



Related to Atomosia Macquart but with more narrow 

 face, reduced mystax, smooth mesonotum, compara- 

 tively elongate proboscis and 4 pairs of very long, spike- 

 like bristles on the scutellar margin. Length 10 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect: The head is comparatively 

 short, the face is quite plane with the eye on the 



