706 ASILID^ 



Insects and their Prey" (Trans. Ent. Soc. Loncl, 1907, pp. 323-409); 

 many interesting particulars are given in that paper, and it is to be hoped 

 that it will lead to more observations upon not only the prey of these flies 

 but upon the method by which the victims appear to be instantaneously 

 killed by some unknown poison injected from the proboscis of the Asilid. 

 The courtship of some species is interesting, as apparently the male takes 

 his life in his hands when tendering his addresses to the female, unless the 

 latter is occupied with prey. Prof. Poulton says : — " In one case both sexes 

 " were resting on a leaf, the female absorbing the juices of a small ? 

 " Ichneumonid, Pimpla (Itioplectis) pomorum, which was soon sucked dry. 

 " She then deliberately withdrew her proboscis from the victim and 

 " dropping it upon the leaf faced round upon her suitor in a menacing 

 " manner. The male, as if realising the danger, at once became far more 

 " cautious and wary in courtship." Cases have been noticed in which the 

 female has been captured while devouring the male of her own kind, and 

 in one case a female was observed preying upon another female of the 

 same species. Both sexes are almost equally predatory, but I do not 

 think that any case has been recorded of a male preying upon a female of 

 the same species, though this may be partly accounted for by the female 

 being the more powerful. I can scarcely credit the report that the males 

 of some species of predatory flies have been seen to present captures to the 

 females in order to distract their attention during the time of the amatory 

 advances of their suitors.* 



Arrangement. — The Dasypogonince do not place themselves readily in 

 any sequence from the Laphrinm to the Leptogastrinoe and Empidm, though 

 the latter part of the way may be fairly obvious as the small hump- 

 backed species like Holopogon seem to tend towards such Umpidce as Hyhos, 

 while the dying out of the alula in Stichopogon, Dioctria, etc., points the 

 way to Lcptogastrince and Empidce. On the other hand the general shape 

 of the body and the strong bristles round the hinder part of the thoracic 

 dorsum in Stenopogon, etc., seem to show affinity to the Asilince, while 

 Fycnopogon may be considered to connect with the Laphrince because of 

 its villosity, or Hoplistomerus, etc., because of the closed marginal cell. 



Table of the Palcearctic Genera of Dasypogonin^. 

 1 (10) Front tibiae with a terminal claw (fig. 370). 



Fio. 370. — Dasypogon tcutonus S- (Front leg.) 



Alulae fairly well developed, 



* It appears to be conclusively proved that the males of some species of EmpidiT do supply a victim 

 (sometimes living) to the female in order to keep her engaged during the period of pairing {v. Ent. Month. 

 Mag., 1907, p. 229, and 1908, p. 181). 



