Prolepsis (fly)

For other uses, see Prolepsis (disambiguation).

Prolepsis is an insect genus of mainly neotropical Diptera in the family Asilidae or robber flies.

Male of Prolepsis lucifer photographed in Reserva Natural Parque San Martin, Cordoba, Argentina

Prolepsis
Female of Prolepsis lucifer photographed in Reserva Natural Parque San Martin, Cordoba, Argentina
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Asilidae
Subfamily:	Stenopogoninae
Genus:	Prolepsis Walker, [1851]
Type species
Prolepsis lucifer (Wiedemann, 1828)
Species
about 20, see text
Synonyms
Cacodaemon Shiner, 1866 Dizonias Loew, 1866 Sphageus Loew, 1866 Tolmerolestes Lynch Arribálzaga, 1881 Cacodaemonides Strand, 1928

Description

Medium-sized robber flies (14–25 mm) with antennae that have a relatively long third article. Abdomen is rather plump compared to many other asilids. Wings usually extending past the abdomen and often tinted or pigmented along most of their length. Coloration predominantly black to brown or reddish; often mimicking spider wasps. The two sexes can have distinctly different colors. Ventral side of the femur of the middle leg pair often with a thick patch of short and stout spines.^[1]

Long third article of the antennae in Prolepsis lucifer. In Prolepsis species it is typically 2 to 3 times longer than the first and second articles combined.

The yellow arrow points at the ventral patch of thick bristles on the middle femur in a male Prolepsis lucifer from San Martin. Many Prolepsis species have a similar feature.

Biology

As is typical for robber flies, adults of Prolepsis species are ambush predators, taking off from a resting position on the ground or on branches to intercept other flying insects in mid-air. Prey are probably taken from a wide variety of insect orders: Robert Lavigne's Predator-Prey Database for the family Asilidae^[2] has one record for Prolepsis lucifer feeding on the dung beetle Canthidium globulum and four records for Prolepsis tristis feeding on the following identified prey species: the clown beetle Epierus formidolosus, the blister beetle Epicauta trichrus, the hoverfly Eristalis dimidiatus and the Western honeybee Apis mellifera. Herschel Raney's webpage for Prolepsis tristis includes example images of cannibalism and color variation among males. It also illustrates the extreme difference in coloration of both sexes that occurs in this particular species.^[3]

Larval stages have received little study to date, but the first instar larvae of P. lucifer are reported to prey voraciously on the subterranean scale insect or ground pearl Eurhizococcus brasiliensis, with possible biocontrol applications for protection of grapevines in Brazil^[4][5]

Taxonomy

These 20 species belong to the genus Prolepsis:^[6][7]

• Prolepsis albifasciatus (Back, 1904)
• Prolepsis bicinctus (Loew, 1866)
• Prolepsis caeroniformis (Schiner, 1867)
• Prolepsis chalcoproctus (Loew, 1866)
• Prolepsis colalao Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis costaricensis Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis elotensis (Martin, 1966)
• Prolepsis funebris Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis huatajata Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis indecisa Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis lucasi (Bellardi, 1861)
• Prolepsis lucifer (Wiedemann, 1828)
• Prolepsis martini Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis phoenicurus (Loew, 1866)
• Prolepsis pilatei (Johnson, 1903)
• Prolepsis pseudopluto Lamas, 1973
• Prolepsis quadrimaculatus (Bellardi, 1861)
• Prolepsis quadrinotatum (Bigot, 1878)
• Prolepsis sandaracus (Martin, 1966)
• Prolepsis tristis (Walker, 1851)

Phylogeny

Combined analysis of morphological and molecular characters places Prolepsis tristis in a clade corresponding to the subfamily Stenopogoninae, without however providing direct support for monophyly of this subfamily.^[8]