'•/.0£'S3 Vol. 85, No. 13, pp. 163-178 30 August 1972 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON PUPA OF NEOMOCHTHERUS ANGUSTIPENNIS (HINE), WITH NOTES ON FEEDING HABITS OF ROBBER FLIES AND A REVIEW OF PUBLICATIONS ON MORPHOLOGY OF IMMATURE STAGES (DIPTERA: ASILIDAE) By L. V. Knutson Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, USDA 1 Feeding Habits Robber flies are one of the most taxonomically diverse and numerically abundant groups of Diptera. As far as known, the adults and some (possibly all) larvae are predators of other insects, especially phytophagous forms. Some adult asilids attack beneficial insects such as honey bees and other Hymenoptera, and some prey on harmful species, such as locusts, grasshoppers, and chafer-beetles. Although these com-mon flies appear to be significant elements of the ecosystem and of practical importance to agriculture, surprisingly little is known about the behavior of the adults. Even less is known about the immature stages. In addition to many isolated, single-specimen observations of prey, extensive lists of prey of adult Asilidae have been presented ( among others ) by Adamovic ( 1964 ) and Hobby (1930, 1933) in Europe, Bromley (1930) and Fattig (1945) in North America, Carrera and Vulcano ( 1961 ) in South Amer-ica, Cuthbertson ( 1937 ) in Africa, and Iwata and Nagatomi (1962) in Japan. No adult asilids are known to be monopha-1 Mail address: c/o National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560. 13— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 85, 1972 ( 163 )
Pupa Of Neomochtherus-Angustipennis With Notes On Feeding Habits Of Robber Flies And A Review Of Publications On Morphology Of Immature Stages Diptera Asilidae
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