Published August 30, 2019 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Proctacanthus milbertii Macquart

Description

Proctacanthus milbertii (Macquart)

Proctacanthus milbertii (Macquart, 1838): 124.

Recognition characters: Brownish gray species; length 30–34 mm; mystax straw white; thorax brown pollinose with 3 brown pollinose stripes dorsally; scutellar setae white, bristles mostly black or mixed black and a few white; wings with brownish aspect; abdomen brownish gray pollinose, setae and bristles on first three abdominal segments partially black; legs brown, femora black anteriorly.

Distribution: FREMONT: near Lander, 1,524 –2,438 m (5,000 –8,000 ft), July 1895 (RO-UK). PLATTE: Dwyer, 18 Aug. 1960, 11 Aug. 1961 (RJL, REP); Glendo, 14 Aug. 1958 (DRT), 18 Aug. 1959, 23 July 1960, 1–23 Aug. 1961, 17 Aug. 1962 (RJL); Guernsey, 27 July–12 Aug. 1960, 27 July–31 Aug. 1961, 9 Aug. 9–13 Sept. 1962 (RJL); Wheatland; 14 Aug.–2 Sept. (SD, RJL); Lance Creek, 24 Aug, 1895 (?- FDA); 16 km W of Wheatland, 6 July–7 Sept. 1964 (FRH, RJL); 2 Sept. 1965 (RJL). Recorded from Wyoming by: Dennis & Lavigne (1975) (as Proctacanthus micans); Fisher & Wilcox (1997) [entire United States, except absent Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, and northeastern states (Maryland northward)]; Geller-Grimm (2018); Lavigne et al. (1994).

Habitat: Sagebrush steppe shrub and grassland and grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass grassland vegetation types. Open rangeland, short, mid-grass plains area; shows decided preference for downy cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) areas in shallow valleys.

Ethology: Rests on and forages from soil, prickly pear cactus, tall weeds and cheat grass (see Dennis & Lavigne 1975 as Proctacanthus micans).

Prey: DIPTERA: Asilidae: Efferia bicaudata (Hine), Guernsey, 16 Aug. 1961 (two records), Guernsey, 15 Aug. 1962, Wheatland, 7 Sept. 1964; Ospriocerus latipennis (Loew), Dwyer, 20 Aug. 1959. HYMENOPTERA, Bombidae: Bombus sp. (three records). ORTHOPTERA, Acrididae: Melanoplus sanguinipes (Fab.) Wheatland, 18 Aug. 1964. COLEOPTERA, DIPTERA, HEMIPTERA (Heteroptera), HYMENOPTERA, LEPIDOPTERA, NEUROPTERA, ORTHOPTERA (see Dennis & Lavigne 1975 as Proctacanthus micans; Lavigne & Pfadt 1966; Lavigne et al. 1994).

Notes

Published as part of Lavigne, Robert J. & Dennis, Steve, 2019, Robber flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) of Wyoming, USA with keys to genera and species, pp. 1-126 in Zootaxa 4662 (1) on page 58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4662.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3383448

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Macquart
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Diptera
Family
Asilidae
Genus
Proctacanthus
Species
milbertii
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Proctacanthus milbertii (Macquart, 1838) sec. Lavigne & Dennis, 2019

References

  • Macquart, P. J. M. (1838) Dipteres Exotiques Nouveaux ou peu connus. Memoires de la Societe royale des Sciences, de l'Agriculture et des Arts de Lille, 1, 14 - 156. [Asilidae] https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 51482
  • Lavigne, R. J. & Dennis, D. S. (1975) Ethology of Efferia frewingi (Diptera: Asilidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 68, 992 - 996. https: // doi. org / 10.1093 / aesa / 68.6.992
  • Fisher, E. M. & Wilcox, J. (1997) Catalog of the robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Nearctic Region. California Department of Food & Agriculture, Sacramento, 56 pp. [unpublished]
  • Geller-Grimm, F. (2018) Robber flies (Asilidae), database, catalog of species. Available from: http: / www. geller-grimm. de / catalog / species. htm (accessed 23 March 2018)
  • Lavigne, R. J. & Pfadt, R. E. (1966) Parasites and predators of Wyoming rangeland grasshoppers. University Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Science Monograph, 3, 1 - 31.