Family ASILIDAE Latreille, 1802

Museums

Regional Maps

• Dikow, T. 2009. Phylogeny of Asilidae inferred from morphological characters of imagines (Insecta: Diptera: Brachycera: Asiloidea). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 319: 1-175 [Date published 17 March 2009]

 

Introduction

The Asilidae, commonly known as robber flies, is a large world-wide family of more than 7000 species placed in more than 500 genera with 342 species in 66 genera recorded from Australia.

Most of the Australian species are endemic, only a few being shared with islands to the north of Australia. One species has been accidentally introduced from South America.
The classification followed here is that of Dikow (2009) who also gives an historical overview of asilid classification.

Adult Asilidae are characterised by having piercing mouth-parts, a group of setae above the oral margin and below the antennal insertions (mystax or moustache) and legs with numerous stout bristles. In almost all species, the vertex is sunken below the level of the eyes.

Both adults and larvae are predators of arthropods. Adults prefer sunlit areas to catch their prey. In rainforest, they habitually seek out sunlit areas on tree trunks, twigs or leaves and less commonly patches of sunlight on the ground. Most successful attempts at capturing prey happen when the potential prey is back-lit. Larvae of the subfamilies Asilinae and Ommatiinae appear to be restricted to subterranean habitats (Illingworth 1921), while the few known life histories of the other subfamilies are associated with dead timber and presumably coleopteran larvae within the timber (Hardy 1937; Nicholas 1939; Chadwick 1964; Webb 1990).

Little has been published on the biology and prey of the Australian species. Irwin-Smith (1923) gives a detailed account of the ovipositional behaviour, eggs and early instar larvae of Neoaratus Hercules (Wiedemann). Moore (1972) described and illustrated the larval mouth parts and pupal exuvia of Brachyrhopala nigra Clements (as Brachyrhopala sp.) found under the bark of eucalypt logs containing larvae of the longicorn beetle Phoracantha semipunctata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). The larvae of Promachus doddi Ricardo are recorded as preying on cane beetle larvae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) (Illingworth 1921) and Blepharotes sp. was recorded preying on Xylocopa bryorum (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) (Poulton 1907). Barker and Inns (1976) record Phellus glaucus Walker with Temognatha duponti (Boisduval) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) as prey. Guthrie (1912) mentions Zosteria murina (Macquart) preying on honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Hardy (1953) records the prey taken by Neoscleropogon sp. (as Stenopogon Loew) and Evans and Matthews (1973) recorded several asilids form several genera as prey of Bembix Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae).

Daniels (1976) records the courtship behaviour of Promachus sp. (as P. interponens (Walker)) at Iron Range, Qld where males hover near females resting on a sunlit twig in rain forest. Lavigne (1982, 1984, 1992) gives detailed accounts of the ethology of several species.

Little has been published on predators and parasites of the family. Hardy (1950) records a scorpion fly Harpobittacus tillyardi Esben-Petersen (Mecoptera: Bittacidae) preying on Theruetria amaraca (Walker). Lepschi (1993) records the remains of asilids in the gut contents of several Australian birds. Southcott (1991) and Womersley (1934) both record ectoparasitic mites on Asilidae.

Numerous examples of batesian mimicry occur in the Australian fauna. Almost all species in the subfamily Brachyrhopalinae resemble wasps to varying degrees while several dasypogonine genera have species mimicing wasps. One of the best examples is Chrysopogon crabroniformis Röder which bears a striking resemblance to the vespid Abispa ephippium (Fabricius). The Tasmanian endemic Erythropogon ichneumoniformis White, with its extremely long antennae, petiolate abdomen and reddish-black colouration, bears a striking resemblance to several ichneumonids. Nicholson (1927) gives an overview of mimetic resemblance in the Australian insect fauna.

In a molecular phylogeny of the world robber flies using ultraconserved element loci, Cohen et al. (2021) reported that the subfamilies Dasypogoninae, Dioctriinae, Stenopogoninae and Trigonomiminae (amongst other non-Australian subfamilies) were not monophyletic and that further taxonomic revisions of the subfamilies were warranted.

 

General References

Barker, S. & Inns, R. 1976. Predation on Stigmodera (Themognatha) tibialis by a fly. Western Australian Naturalist 13: 147-148

Chadwick, C.E. 1964. [untitled]. Journal of the Entomological Society of Australia (N.S.W.) 1: 64 [Insects reared from Bassia in western NSW]

Cohen, C., Noble, K., Cole, T., & Brewer, M. 2021. The phylogeny of robber flies (Asilidae) inferred from ultraconserved elements. Systematic Entomology 46: 812-826

Daniels, G. 1976. Notes on the behaviour of the robber fly Promachus interponens Walker (Diptera: Asilidae). Australian Entomological Magazine 2: 124–125

Daniels, G. 1989. Family Asilidae. pp. 326–349 in Evenhuis, N.L. (ed.). Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions. Honolulu and Leiden : Bishop Museum Press and E.J. Brill 1155 pp. [Date published 23 August 1989]

Dikow, T. 2009. Phylogeny of Asilidae inferred from morphological characters of imagines (Insecta: Diptera: Brachycera: Asiloidea). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 319: 1-175 [Date published 17 March 2009]

Evans, H.E. & Matthews, R.W. 1973. Systematics and nesting behavior of Australian Bembix sand wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 20: iv, 1-387 [Date published 31/12/1973]

Guthrie, T.H. 1912. Robber fly and bees. Australian Naturalist 2: 136

Hardy, G.H. 1936. Notes on the food of robberfly larvae. Minutes of the Entomological Society of Queensland 21st July 1936: 1–2 [=3–4]

Hardy, G.H. 1937. [Note title]. In Exhibits. Minutes of the Entomological Society of Queensland 11th November 1937: 2–3

Hardy, G.H. 1950. How a robber-fly (Dipt., Asilidae) falls prey to a scorpion-fly (Mecopt., Bittacidae). Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 86: 146

Hardy, G.H. 1953. The prey of Stenopogon (Dipt., Asilidae) in New South Wales. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 89: 106 [Date published 9 May 1953]

Illingworth, J.F. 1921. Natural enemies of sugar-cane beetles in Queensland. Queensland Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations Division of Entomology Bulletin 13: 1-47

Irwin-Smith, V.A. 1923. Studies in life-histories of Australian Diptera Brachycera. Part II. Asilidae. No. 2. Notes on the egg-laying, eggs and young larvae of Neoaratus hercules Weid. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 48: 375–380

Lavigne, R.J. 1982. Ethology of Neoitamus vittipes (Diptera: Asilidae) in South Australia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 84: 617–627

Lavigne, R.J. 1982. Ethology of Neoitamus vittipes (Diptera: Asilidae) in South Australia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 84: 617–627

Lavigne, R.J. 1984. Ethology of Neocerdistus acutangulatus (Diptera: Asilidae) in South Australia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 86: 422–431

Lavigne, R.J. 1992. Ethology of Neoaratus abludo Daniels (Diptera: Asilidae) in South Australia, with notes on N. pelago (Walker) and N. rufiventris (Macquart). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 94: 253–262

Lawson, F.A. & Lavigne, R.J. 1984. Oviposition and eggs of an Australian robber fly, Neoaratus abludo Daniels (Diptera: Asilidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 86: 773–776

Lepschi, B.J. 1993. Food of some birds in eastern New South Wales: additions to Barker and Vestjens. Emu 93: 195–198

Moore, K.M. 1972. Observations on some Australian forest insects. 25. Additional information on some parasites and predators of longicorns (Cerambycidae: Phoracanthini). Australian Zoologist 17: 26–29, pl. 2

Nicholas, H.S. 1939. The balance of nature. Australian Naturalist 10: 190–191

Nicholson, A.J. 1927. Presidential Address. A new theory of mimicry in insects. The Australian Zoologist 5: 10-104 [Date published 31/12/1927]

Poulton, E.B. 1907. Predaceous insects and their prey. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1906: 323–409

Southcott, R.V. 1991. Descriptions of larval Leptus (Acarina : Erythraeidae) ectoparasitic on Australian Diptera, and two earlier described Australian larvae. Invertebrate Taxonomy 5: 717-763

Webb, G.A. 1990. Some wood-boring and other insects of Acacia dealbata Link from northern New South Wales. Australian Entomological Magazine 17: 45–50

Womersley, H. 1934. A revision of the trombid and erythraeid mites of Australia with descriptions of new genera and species. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 5: 179-254

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
05-Aug-2022	ASILIDAE Latreille, 1802	28-Jun-2022	MODIFIED	Dr Bryan Lessard (ABRS)
01-Feb-2019	DIPTERA Linnaeus, 1758	19-Dec-2018	MODIFIED
18-Mar-2013		18-Mar-2013	MODIFIED
19-Apr-2012		19-Apr-2012	MODIFIED
		15-Mar-2012	MODIFIED