''Prolepsis'' is an

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 biogeogra ...

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advance ...

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 Insect mouthparts#Hypopharynx, hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects t ...

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

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-ne ...

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

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

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. All species of dung beetle belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scara ...

''Canthidium globulum'' and four records for ''Prolepsis tristis'' feeding on the following identified prey species: the Histeridae, clown beetle ''Epierus formidolosus'', the blister beetle ''Epicauta trichrus'', the hoverfly ''Eristalis dimidiatus'' and the Western honey bee, 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 larvae of ''P. lucifer'' are reported to prey voraciously on the subterranean scale insect or Margarodidae, ground pearl ''Eurhizococcus brasiliensis'', with possible biocontrol applications for protection of grapevines in Brazil

Taxonomy

These 20 species belong to the genus ''Prolepsis'': * ''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.

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