''Prolepsis'' is an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of mainly

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bi ...

Diptera in the family

Asilidae The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects their notoriously aggressive ...

or robber flies. Prolepsis lucifer male

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 In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry ...

spider wasp Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group- ...

s. The two sexes can have distinctly different colors. Ventral side of the

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates wit ...

of the middle leg pair often with a thick patch of short and stout spines. 1000antennathirdarticle DSC4400 DxO

Ventral patch of thick bristles in Prolepsis lucifer from San Martin

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 has one record for ''Prolepsis lucifer'' feeding on the

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

Canthidium ''Canthidium'' is a genus of dung beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. There are at least 170 described species in ''Canthidium''. See also * List of Canthidium species References Further reading * * * * * * * * External links

...

globulum'' and four records for ''Prolepsis tristis'' feeding on the following identified prey species: the

clown beetle Histeridae is a family of beetles commonly known as clown beetles or Hister beetles. This very diverse group of beetles contains 3,900 species found worldwide. They can be easily identified by their shortened elytra that leaves two of the seven ...

''Epierus formidolosus'', the

blister beetle Blister beetles are beetles of the family Meloidae, so called for their defensive secretion of a blistering agent, cantharidin. About 7,500 species are known worldwide. Many are conspicuous and some are aposematically colored, announcing their ...

Epicauta ''Epicauta'' is a genus of beetles in the blister beetle family, Meloidae. The genus was first scientifically described in 1834 by Pierre François Marie Auguste Dejean. ''Epicauta'' is distributed nearly worldwide, with species native to all c ...

trichrus'', the

hoverfly Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...

Eristalis ''Eristalis'' is a large genus of hoverflies, family Syrphidae, in the order Diptera. Several species are known as drone flies (or droneflies) because they bear a resemblance to honeybee drones. Drone flies and their relatives are fairly commo ...

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. Larval stages have received little study to date, but the first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow o ...

larvae of ''P. lucifer'' are reported to prey voraciously on the subterranean

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than th ...

or ground pearl ''

Eurhizococcus brasiliensis ''Eurhizococcus'' is a genus of true bugs belonging to the family Margarodidae The Margarodidae (illegitimately as Margodidae) or ground pearls are a family of scale insects within the superfamily Coccoidea. Members of the family include the P ...

'', with possible biocontrol applications for protection of grapevines in Brazil

Taxonomy

The 17 recognized

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

included in Prolepsis are: * Prolepsis chalcoprocta (Loew, 1866) (Cuba) * Prolepsis colalao (Lamas, 1973) (Argentina) * Prolepsis costaricensis (Lamas, 1973) (Costa Rica) * Prolepsis crabroniformis (Schiner, 1867) * Prolepsis elotensis (Martin, 1966) (Mexico) * Prolepsis fax (Lynch Arribálzaga, 1881) * Prolepsis fenestrata (Macquart, 1838) * Prolepsis funebris (Lamas, 1973) (Brazil) * Prolepsis huatajata (Lamas, 1973) * Prolepsis indecisa (Lamas, 1973) (Argentina) * Prolepsis lucifer (Wiedemann, 1828) (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil) * Prolepsis martini (Lamas, 1973) (Argentina) * Prolepsis pluto (Lynch Arribálzaga, 1881) *

Prolepsis pseudopluto Prolepsis may refer to: * Prolepsis (rhetoric), a figure of speech in which the speaker raises an objection and then immediately answers it *Prolepsis (literary), anticipating action, a flash forward, see Foreshadowing * Cataphora, using an exp ...

(Lamas, 1973) (Argentina) * Prolepsis rosariana (Carrera, 1959) (Argentina, Brazil) *

Prolepsis sandaraca Prolepsis may refer to: * Prolepsis (rhetoric), a figure of speech in which the speaker raises an objection and then immediately answers it *Prolepsis (literary), anticipating action, a flash forward, see Foreshadowing * Cataphora, using an expre ...

(Martin, 1966) (Mexico) * Prolepsis tristis (Walker, 1851) (Mexico, USA)

Phylogeny

Combined analysis of morphological and molecular characters places ''Prolepsis tristis'' in a clade corresponding to the subfamily

Stenopogoninae Stenopogoninae is a subfamily of robber flies in the family Asilidae. There are more than 70 genera and 740 described species in Stenopogoninae. Genera These 76 genera belong to the subfamily Stenopogoninae: * '' Afroscleropogon'' Londt, 1999 ...

, without however providing direct support for monophyly of this subfamily.

References

External links

Wikispecies page for ''Prolepsis''

Prolepsis page on bugguide.net

Entry for ''Prolepsis tristis'' in the Illustrated Field Guide for asilids of Arkansas by Norman Lavers
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14513010 Asilidae genera