ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



579 



ous, minute, very short, nearly erect setae. Acrostical 

 and dorsocentral elements are nowhere differentiated, 

 except opposite the postalar, where there are about 6 

 sharply delimited, very long, stout, dorsocentral bristles 

 in each of 2 rows. Humerus with minute setae. Stout 

 lateral bristles are present as follows: 1 posthumeral, 

 2 notopleural, 1 supraalar in the middle of this region 

 and 2 suprapostalar, 3 or 4 postalar and 2 pairs of 

 scutellar bristles. The scutelliun is thick, convex, polli- 

 nose, with impressed rim, the basal crease shallow but 

 deeper laterally. Propleuron with tufts of dense, long, 

 quite fine pile on all parts ; pronotimi with 4 or 5 pairs 

 of slender bristles; anterior and posterior sternopleu- 

 ron, the posterior mesopleuron with some scanty, fine 

 pile; pteropleuron with 1 or 2 bristly hairs and 1 or 2 

 distinct bristles. Hypopleuron posteriorly with a 

 prominent, vertical row of 3 or 4 stout bristles; meta- 

 pleuron with a vertical row of 6 or 7 stout bristles and 

 additional, fine pile. Metanotal slopes densely covered 

 with stiff, bristly pile ; lateral and ventral metasterniun 

 long pilose ; postmetacoxal area membranous ; posterior 

 basalare has a few, fine, bristly hairs. Squama with a 

 multiple fringe. Prosternum fused anterolaterally. 



Legs : The femora are stout ; the anterior femur and 

 to a lesser extent the middle femur are a little swollen 

 basally. The pile is short and abundant, appressed 

 and setate, on the hind femur and tibia and dorsally 

 on the other femora and tibiae. The hind femur has 

 stout, long bristles which consist of 1 dorsomedial at 

 the apical sixth; 5 dorsolateral; 8 or 9 ventrolateral; 

 and 2 or 3 ventromedial bristles near the base. Hind 

 tibia with 1 dorsomedial just before the middle, 3 dor- 

 solateral, 3 ventrolateral, and the ventral surface with 

 a fine, short brush of setae beginning at the middle. 

 Middle femur with 1 doreal at the base, 3 anterior, 6 

 anteroventral and 2 posteroapical ; middle tibia with 



2 anterodorsal, both distal, 3 posterodorsal, 4 posterior, 



3 posteroventral and 3 anteroventral. Anterior femur 

 with 4 stout dorsal, 1 anteroapical and a posterior 

 counterpart ; its tibia has 5 short dorsal, 2 anterodorsal 

 at tlie base, 1 posterior and 3 long, posteroventral 

 bristles including 1 at the apex. Anterior basitarsus 

 stout, not quite as long as the next 2 segments; claws 

 sharp, unusually strongly curved from the base; pul- 

 villi well developed; empodium slender, only slightly 

 bladelike and not noticeably swollen at the base. 



Wings: The marginal cell closed; the anterior 

 branch of the third vein ends shortly above the wing 

 apex, the posterior branch an equal distance behind; 

 the second submarginal cell is slightly and gently 

 swollen posteriorly on the basal half. The first poste- 

 rior cell is widely open, the second posterior cell 

 strongly, abruptly and obliquely swollen at the base. 



Abdomen : At the base the abdomen is nearly as wide 

 as the mesonotum ; it is rather strongly tapered in the 

 male and especially in the female. In the male eight 

 tergites are present, the eighth quite short, a fifth as 

 long as the sixth, the seventh segment less than half 

 as long as the sixth. Female with seven tergites, all 

 of them pollinose; the seventh tergite is long, the 



eighth incoi-porated in the ovipositor and the oviposi- 

 tor very strongly compressed laterally with the seventh 

 tergite also compressed laterally. Ovipositor high 

 basally ; including both segments it is twice as long as 

 the seventh tergite. Male terminalia not rotate, and 

 conspicuous. The superior forceps are long, stout, 

 blunt apically, directed obliquely upward; hypan- 

 drium is unusually well developed. Gonopod short, 

 triangular, not enclosing the prominent aedeagal 

 sheath. Aedeagus with three prongs; genital cavity 

 open; proctiger long and protruded but oblique. 



Distribution: Palaearctic: Acanthopleura hrunnipes 

 Fabricius (1794) [ — goJiathSchiner (1867) , ca-stanipes 

 Meigen (1820)]; goedli Loew (1854); longimanus 

 Loew (1849) [='inaxius Macquart (1839)]; ravus 

 Loew (1871). 



Poulton (1914) discusses the habits of Acantho- 

 pleura hrunnipes. 



Genus Antipalus Loew 



FiGUKES 355, 790, 1511, 1520, 2369, 2372 



Antipalus Loew, Linnaea Entomologica, vol. 4, p. 136, 1849. 

 Type of genus: Asilus varipcs Meigen, 1820, by monotypy. 



Flies related to Asilus Linne. The face has a large, 

 high, ventral, prominent, gently rising gibbosity, quit© 

 abrupt above which bears nmnerous, fine, long, stiff 

 hairs and weak bristles. Pile of thorax and mesonotum 

 is short and scanty but bristles numerous. The abdo- 

 men is rather stout but cylindrical, tapered and elon- 

 gate ; tergites with bristles. The female terminalia con- 

 sists only of the short, obtuse ninth and tenth segments. 

 Length 25 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The head is unusually long and 

 prominent on aocoimt of the length of the face. The 

 face is slightly produced on the upper third but has a 

 strong, conspicuous, anterior gibbosity which does not 

 arise abruptly. The eye is unusually long, very convex 

 anteriorly, gently convex behind and moderately re- 

 cessed below. The occiput is thick and prominent and 

 extends to the vertex ; its pile is long, fine and abundant 

 even dorsally but especialy dense and matted below. 

 Bristles begin below the middle with 8 to 10 weak ele- 

 ments present and with 5 or 6 unusually stout pairs of 

 dorsal bristles with slight anterior curl. The proboscis 

 is of moderate length, unusually stout, blunt at apex, a 

 little swollen basally; the apex has long, stiff hairs; the 

 base below bears numerous, long, coarse hairs. Palpus 

 of one segment, densely long pilose. The antenna is at- 

 tached at the upper third of the head. The first seg- 

 ment is a little longer than the second, the second di- 

 lated apically. Third segment distinctly elongate, as 

 long or longer than first two segments, narrowed at 

 apex, with distinct microsegment and style no longer 

 than the segment. First segment with eight or more 

 stiff setae above, a like number laterally and with 10 or 

 more longer, oblique, bristly hairs below. 



Head, anterior aspect: The face below the antenna 

 is barely more than a sixth the head width and diver- 



