Subfamily Dasypogoninae

Female Dasypogoninae oviposit 1 to 11 eggs in the soil, although Leptarthrus brevirostris (Meigen) has been observed to oviposit on a dead branch on the ground. The eggs are creamy white to white, and long-oval to elongate. They range in length from 0.87 to 1.11 mm and width from 0.02 to 0.51 mm. Megapoda has nipples, tubercles and aeropyles on the egg surface; and one micropyle in a circular area that has a thick evaginated rim.

Like Antipalus varipes, Dasypogon diadema (Fabricius) has one to six eggs in a “sand ball or cocoon” from the sand in which they are oviposited. Between the eggs and the sand grains is a “silky lining”; whereas, A. varipes oviposits only one egg that is covered with sand grains without a silky lining. The egg stage of D. diadema lasts from 6 to 17 days in the laboratory.

Most Dasypogoninae larvae and pupae develop in the soil; those in the tribe Megapodini develop in plant roots and decaying stumps/logs. The larvae are reported to feed on Cerambycidae and Scarabaeidae larvae. There is no information on how long the larval stage lasts; the pupal stage of D. diadema is reported to last 27 days.

Morphological information has been published on the larvae of D. diadema. Pupal case descriptions or descriptive information has been published for Comantella, Dasypogon, Diogmites, Megapodini, and Pseudorus.