4BILINAB 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



551 



Genus Pamponerus Loew 



Figures 337, 763, 1619, 1626, 2258, 2343, 2432, 2433 



Pamponerus Loew, Linnaea Entomologica, vol. 4, p. 135, 1849. 

 Type of genus: Asihis germanicvs Linn^, 1758, by monotypy. 



Medium size flies with pilose metanotal callosity. 

 Bristles are present on only the first abdominal tergite 

 and the fac« has a conspicuous, dorsally abnipt gibbos- 

 ity. These are flies with the venation much as in Asilus 

 Linne but the upper end vein of the discal cell is quite 

 short, and they are rather readily recognized in males 

 by the milk-white anal lobe and alula. A similar white 

 anal lobe arises in males of some species of Stenopogon 

 Loew and in Stizolestes, new genus. Length 18 to 

 25 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The head is unusually long with 

 a remarkably prominent facial gibbosity; the occiput 

 is prominent likewise, and still more prominent below, 

 for the eye is posteroventrally recessive on the lower 

 third. The proboscis is only moderately large, cylin- 

 drical, with pointed apex and slightly swollen base; it 

 bears fine, apical pile and a low dorsal carina. Palpus 

 conspicuous, elongate, cylindrical, with only bristly 

 hairs. The antenna is attached at the upper third of 

 the head and the first segment, which is densely, long, 

 fine, bristly pilose is twice as long as the second seg- 

 ment. The third segment is as long as the first two 

 combined, regularly tapering from the base to a narrow 

 apex ; it has a distinct microsegment and a thick style 

 which is nearly or quite as long as the third segment ; 

 the style bears a bristle-tip. 



Head, anterior aspect: The head is less wide than 

 the thorax, but wider than the mesonotum ; it is a little 

 wider than high, subcircular, with prominent cheeks. 

 The face below the antenna is between a fifth and a 

 sixth the head width and is strongly divergent below. 

 The face is thinly pubescent, bare on the short dorsal 

 portion and has a gibbosity densely beset with a mix- 

 ture of medium stout and fine, long bristles which are 

 carried down the sides of the epistomal margin; the 

 latter is large and oblique. Front small, sunken in the 

 middle, with no transverse groove or line and laterally 

 with a long, oval patch of numerous, long, slender, 

 bristly hairs. The vertex is a little narrowed, scarcely 

 at all excavated and the ocellariiun is rather large with 

 3 or 4 paii-s of slender bristles between the ocelli and as 

 many behind. 



Thorax : The mesonotum is rather high, abrupt an- 

 teriorly and almost as steeply rounded behind. The 

 surface is pollinose, mostly dark and the pile is abun- 

 dant, fine, suberect and undifferentiated except behind 

 the suture where there are some 6 pairs of dorsocentral 

 bristles, and other long hairs. The lateral complement 

 of bristles consists of 4 notopleural, 4 supraala.r,, 4 or 5 

 suprapostalar, 4 or 5 postalar, and 1 or 2 pairs of scutel- 

 lar bristles. Scutellum tliick, pollinose, with long, fine, 

 erect pile and distinct, impressed rim. Propleuron with 

 only dense pile. There is considerable long, fine pile 

 dorsally and posteriorly on the mesopleuron, upper 



sternopleuron, upper pteropleuron, posterior basalare 

 and posthypopleuron and the latter has several bristles. 

 Metapleuron with a vertical band of slender bristles 

 and pile. Metanotal callosity with numerous long, fine 

 hairs. Postmetacoxal area membranous. Prosternum 

 dissociated. 



Legs : The legs are stout ; only the firet 4 a little more 

 swollen, the hind pair is slightly swollen. Bristles are 

 numerous and stovit; the pile is subappressed and setate, 

 the hind femur bears 7 dorsolateral, 8 dorsoventral and 

 medially near the apex is an oblique row of 8 bristles. 

 The hind tibia has only short bristles, 5 dorsolateral, a 

 like number of dorsomedial and 2 or 3 anteroventral on 

 the outer half; apex with 10 bristles. The middle 

 femur has 5 or 6 anterior bristles, 8 to 10 anteroventral, 

 and a ventral basal patch of 8 bristles, besides 3 pos- 

 teriorly near the apex. Middle tibia with 3 short, stout, 

 posterodorsal bristles on the outer half and 2 smaller 

 basal elements, 5 posteroventral bristles chiefly on the 

 outer half, 2 ventral, and 4 anteroventral bristles. An- 

 terior femur with long, coarse hair dorsally, especially 

 towards the base and with ventrally on the basal half 

 a rather dense, long patch of 20 very stout bristles. 

 This tibia has 10 anterodorsal bristles, mostly minute, 

 7 or 8 posterodorsal and both these gi-oups longer basal- 

 ly. They also have 4 posterior and 3 long, posteroven- 

 tral bristles. All tibia stout ; the anterior pair slightly 

 curved. Anterior basitarsus as long as the next 2 seg- 

 ments; the liind basitarsus as long as the next 3 seg- 

 ments. Claws stout, comparatively sharp at the apex, 

 the bladelike empodium and pulvilli long. Posterior 

 and middle coxae with only fine pile laterally. All 

 the coxae have a few anteroventral, slender bristles. 

 The posterior trochanters with 7 stout bristles on the 

 medial surface. 



Wings: The wings are pale brown. The anterior 

 branch of the third vein meets shortly before the wing 

 apex ; the posterior branch shortly behind. The fourth 

 posterior cell is closed with a long, oblique stalk. Anal 

 cell closed; alula large; ambient vein complete. 



Abdomen : The abdomen is cylindroid, dark, chiefly 

 shining and pollinose, most of the pollen distributed 

 laterally. The rather copious pile is subappressed and 

 setate and rather long over the middles of the last 5 or 

 6 segments ; the pile is suberect laterally on these seg- 

 ments; on the sides of the first 4 tergites it is much 

 longer, erect and abundant. The first tergite bears 5 

 or 6 long, slender, lateral bristles; remaining tergites 

 without bristles. Males with eight tergites but the 

 eighth concealed or liplike dorsally and quite short 

 laterally. Females with seven tergites, exclusive of 

 ovipositor. Male terminalia with the superior forceps 

 divergent and with distal, medially apposed process 

 and large, oblique proctiger. Gonopod shorter ; hypan- 

 drium quite short. Female ovipositor short; the coni- 

 cal, wide and only slightly compressed eighth segment 

 is no longer than the combined length of the terminal 

 segments. Tenth segment comparatively long and free. 



Distribution: Palaearctic: Pamponerm germanicus 

 Linne (1758) [ = germanus Jaennicke (1867), praeda- 



