82 
Psyche 
[Sept -Dec. 
A summary of the records I have collected of honey-bees 
falling victims to Asilids in New England between 1911 and 
1941 follows. These observations were made largely at South- 
bridge, Massachusetts; Wallingford and Stamford, Connecti- 
cut; and nearby areas. 
Number of 
instances of 
Asilid species honey-bee prey 
Promachus fitchii O.S 56 
Diogmites umbrinus Loew 40 
Proctacanthus philadelphicus Macq 22 
Prod acanthus rufus Williston 14 
Promachus bastardii Macq 11 
Diogmites discolor Loew 7 
Bombomima thoracica Fabr. 2 
Bombomima grossa Fabr 1 
Bombomima fiavicollis Say 1 
Proctacanthus brevipennis Wied 1 
Erax cestuans L 1 
Of these 11 species, Diogmites discolor is restricted to the 
extreme southwest corner of Connecticut, Proctacanthus rufus 
to certain sand plains or washouts along some of the larger 
streams and rivers, Bombomima grossa is decidedly uncom- 
mon, and Proctacanthus brevipennis is found almost exclu- 
sively in level sandy open woods. The remainder are wide- 
spread and locally abundant. Erax cestuans is probably the 
most abundant and generally distributed of Southern New 
England Robber flies. 
C. W. Johnson’s list of N. E. Diptera (1925) recorded 86 
species of Asilidse in New England. Of this number it may be 
seen that only 11 species ordinarily kill honey-bees and of 
these only 3 or 4 at most may kill bees in any quantities. Even 
with the leading species on the list, Promachus fitchii , it would 
be very rarely that the effect of bee-killing by this insect on a 
commercial apiary would be felt. 
In fact, it would seem quite probable that any possible loss 
which P. fitchii might occasion to bee-keepers would be more 
than counterbalanced by the control of Phyllophaga grubs ex- 
erted by the larvae of this fly. Such benefits, however, would 
be much less apparent now than thirty years ago due to the 
