Vergleichend-morphologische Untersuchungen der männlichen Kopulationsorgane bei Asiliden (Diptera).

Abstract

The author describes the chitinous parts of the male genitalia of Asilidae, and some representatives of related families. Gonopodes were found to be present in all species studied by the author, including Laphria and its relatives. The hypandrium, on the contrary, is frequently reduced. The hypopygium of the Asilidae furnishes valuable clues to the taxonomy of this family. The author compares his findings with the diagram of relationships published by G. H. Hardy. He is in accord with Hardy in uniting the subfamilies Dasypogoninae and Laphriinae of other authors in a single subfamily Dasypogoninae, as some of the tribes of former Dasypogoninae, such as Stiehopogonini and especially Hoplistomerini, seem to be more nearly related to former Laphriinae than to other tribes of former Dasypogoninae. On the other hand the tribe Atomosiini of former Laphriinae doesn't seem to be nearly related to the tribe Laphriini. From the morphology of the male genitalia the author concludes that the subfamily Asilinae, with the tribes Ommatiini and Asilini, is a natural one, while the relationships of the Leptogasterinae are still not clear. Among the families Therevidae, Apioeeridae, Mydaidae, and Asilidae the male genitalia of the latter family come next to those of the Rhagionidae, while the genitalia of Apioeeridae and Mydaidae are highly specialized in several respects.