The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Promachus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not located in the survey

McCabe, Timothy L

Weber, Christine N

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 27 Number 3 - Fall 1994 Number 3 - Fall 1994 Article 5 October 1994 The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush Timothy L. McCabe New York State Museum Christine N. Weber University of California Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation McCabe, Timothy L. and Weber, Christine N. 1994. "The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 27 (3) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol27/iss3/5 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 1994 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 157 THE ROBBER FLIES (DIPTERA: ASILIDAE) OF THE ALBANY PINEBUSH 1 Timothy L. McCabe2 and Christine N. Weber3 ABSTRACT The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Pro­machus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not located in the survey. Scrub oak-pitch pine (Qu rcus ilicifolia-Pinus rigida) barrens occur from Virginia to Maine, but only about 20 large sites exist. Not all of these are sandbarrens; a few are ridge-top barrens (Wheeler, 1991). Pitch pine barrens are fire-dependent communities growing on nutrient-poor acid soils. Albany's bar­rens are near the fork of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In early postglacial times, the Hudson-Mohawk valley provided a corridor for Coastal Plain spe­cies to reach the Great Lakes (Shapiro, 1971). Albany's pine barrens, there­fore, should possess relicts of this post-glacial migration. Around the turn of the century, the Albany pine barrens were the site of intensive collecting by museum entomologists. A trolley ran from Albany to Karner, N.Y., formerly Centre, N.Y., which is now within the present-day Albany city limits and a  the heart of the remaining pine barrens. The Albany pine barrens has been heavily urbanized, an  only six of the original 40 square miles of barrens remain. The recent loss of 28 species of Lepidoptera has been documented (McCabe, et. aI., 1993). Concern for the preservation of theremaining habitat has led to inventory work. Scrub oak-pitch pine barrens have remarkable insect diversity (Wheeler, 1991). We recorded 36 species of robber flies from an area of ap~roximately one square mile. By comparison, Bromley (1946) recorded 33 species from the Connecticut township encompassing Stamford, an area of 60 square miles, during a nearly 20-year period. The township took in a much greater and more diverse area than the Albany pine barrens. Two species known from historical records. Cyrtopogon laphriformis Cur­ran and Promachus bastardii (Macquart), were last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively. They are apparently extirpated. These two species have south­eastern distributions. The Albany pine barrens' Lepidoptera that have been extirpated (McCabe, et aI., 1993) are evenly split between those that are now found to be more northerly or more southerly in distribution. We believe that the witnessed changes in the fauna result from normal fluctuations in a given IContribution number 732 of the New York State Science Service. 2Biological Survey, New York State Museum, State Education Department, Albany, NY 12230. 3Entomology Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. 1McCabe and Weber: The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany PinebushPublished by ValpoScholar, 1994158 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 27, No.3 species' distribution when at the periphery of their range, rather than a warm­ing or cooling event. Seventeen species of robber flies were collected on Albany's barrens for the first time, based on New York State Museum records, but ten of these were represented by less than six records and may have been missed by earlier collectors. Cyrtopogon lutatius (Walker), Ommatius tibialis Say Proctacan­thus rufus Williston, and Machimus snowii (Hine) are common species a d thought to be recent colonizers. An introduced European species, Dioctria baumhaueri Meigen, is also common. Cyrtopogon lutatius (Walker), Laphria cinerea (Back), L. virginica (Banks), and Proctacanthus rufus Williston are all pitch pine ecological associates according to Bromley (1946). The loss of any of these four species would be indicative of a decline in the quality of habitat. The records presented here are gleaned from the New York State Museum, the Albany Pine Barrens Entomological Project (supported by The NatureConservancy), and the individual collecting efforts of the au hors. All 1992 records were netted, the other recent records were taken by Malaise trap and historical records were presumably netted. The following list gives the earliest to latest dates of capture followed by the oldest to most r cent year of cap­ture, including collections th ough 1992.Females of some Laphria were not included because of the lack of identifying characters. Nomenclature follows Wood (1981). List of the species of Asilidae from the Albany pine barrens. Asilidae Leptogastrinae Leptogaster flavipes Loew. 8 records: 17 June-21 July; 1991-1992. Leptogaster glabrata (Wiedemann). 9 records: 15 June-ll August; 1984-1992. Dasypogoninae Ceraturgus cruciatus (Say). 3 records: 28 June-19 July; 1931-199l. Cyrtopogon falto (Walker). 48 records: 14 May-5 July; 1912-1992. Cyrtopogon laphriformis Curran. 1 record: 11 June 1914. Cyrtopogon lutatius (Walker). 32 records: 14 May-7 July; 1982-1992. Cyrtopogon marginalis Loew. 38 records: 12 May-23 June; 1903-1992. Dioctria baumhaueri Meigen. 57 records: 10 June-21 July; 1982-1992. An introduced species first recorded from Bost n in 1916 (Bromley, 1946). Diogmites basalis (Walker). 3 records: 20 July-30 August; 1984-1987. Diogmites umbrinus Loew. 1 record: 1 September 1992. Holopogon guttulus (Weidemann). 120 records: 25 May-22 July; 1912-1992. Lasiopogon currani Cole & Wilcox. 21 records: 19 May-4 June; 1912-1992. Lasiopogon terricola (Johnson). 3 records: 18 May-12 June; 1982-1992. Laphriinae Atomosia puella (Wiedemann). 5 records: 20 June-20 August; 1985-1992. Cerotainia macrocera (Say). 3 records: 30 June-20 July; 1985-1986. Laphria aktis McAtee. 4 records: 28 May-23 June; 1983-1992. Laphria cinerea (Back). 3 records: 18 June-2 July; 1902-1985. Laphria divisor (Banks). 3 records: 17 June-16 July; all 1992. 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 27, No. 3 [1994], Art. 5https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol27/iss3/51994 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 159 Laphria flavicollis Say. 3 records: 3 June-5 July; 1931-1992. Laphria franciscana Bigot. 7 records: 23 June-7 August; 1991-1992. Laphria index McAtee. 13 records: 11 June-19 July; 1981-1992. Laphria posticata Say. 12 records: 11 June-1 August 1992; 1902-1992. Laphria sadales Walker. 4 records: 25 June-21 July; 1983-1991. Laphria thoracica Fabricius. 7 records: 9 June-11 July; 1931-1992. Laphria virginica (Banks). 4 records: 3 June-4 August; 1923-1992. Asilinae Asilus erythrocnemius Hine. 3 records: 13 June-2 July; 1931-1991. Efferia aestuans (Linnaeus). 20 records; 17 June-22 August; 1907-1992. Machimus notatus (Wiedemann). 173 records: 13 June-11 August; 1912-1992. Machimus sadyates (Walker). 6 records: 7 August-28 August; 1985-1991. Machimus snowii (Hine). 102 records: 16 July-11 September; 1985-1992. Neoitamus flavofemoratus (Hine). 151 records: 11 June-16 August; 1902-1992. Neoitamus orphne (Walker). 1 record: 8 June 1981. Ommatius tibialis Say. 24 records: 24 June-10 August; 1984-1992. Proctacanthus philadelphicus Macquart. 31 records: 2 July-6 September; 1901-1992. Proctacanthus rufus Williston. 10 records: 25 June-17 August; 1981-1992. Promachus bastardii (Macquart). 1 record: 2 July 1931. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for funding a survey of Albany's pine barren insect fauna. We especially thank Stephanie Gebauer of the TNC for her assistance in procuring funding and for logistil,':s help. The specimens acquired during the TNC survey are in the New York State Museum collection. Additional records are in the collec­tion of C. N. Weber. Linden Higgins, Alyce Meyer, and Margaret Rusch col­lected and prepared TNC material in 1991. LITERATURE CITED Bromley, S. W. 1946. Guide to the Insects of Connecticut. Part VI. The Diptera or t ue flies of Connecticut. Third Fascicle, Asilidae. Hartford, 51 pp. McCabe, T., A. Meyer, C. :Weber, and L. Higgins. 1993. Albany Pine Bush Project 1991-1992 Entomological Report. Submitted to the Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. 111 pp. Shapiro, A. M. 1971. Postglacial biogeography and the distribution of Poanes viator (Hesperiidae) and other marsh butterflies. Jour. of Research on the Lepidoptera 9(3): 125-155. Wheeler, A. G. Jr., 1991. Plant bugs of Quercu  ilicifolia: Myriads of Mirids (Heterop' tera) in Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Barrens. Jour. New York Entomol. Soc. 99(3): 405-440. Wood, G. C. 1981. Asilidae. pp. 549-573. In: Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume 1. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Monograph No. 27. 3McCabe and Weber: The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany PinebushPublished by ValpoScholar, 1994

The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 27 
Number 3 - Fall 1994 Number 3 - Fall 1994 Article 5 
October 1994 
The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush 
Timothy L. McCabe 
New York State Museum 
Christine N. Weber 
University of California 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
McCabe, Timothy L. and Weber, Christine N. 1994. "The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany 
Pinebush," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 27 (3) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol27/iss3/5 
This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. 
It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. 
For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
1994 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 157 
THE ROBBER FLIES (DIPTERA: ASILIDAE) OF THE ALBANY PINEBUSH 1 
Timothy L. McCabe2 and Christine N. Weber3 
ABSTRACT 
The Albany Pinebush, a pitch pine-scrub oak sand barrens, was examined 
for robber flies and the results compared to historical records found in the 
New York State Museum, Albany. Thirty-six species were recorded of which 
seventeen were new records. Two species, Cyrtopogon laphriformis and Pro­
machus bastardii, last recorded in 1914 and 1931, respectively, were not 
located in the survey. 
Scrub oak-pitch pine (Qu rcus ilicifolia-Pinus rigida) barrens occur from 
Virginia to Maine, but only about 20 large sites exist. Not all of these are sand
barrens; a few are ridge-top barrens (Wheeler, 1991). Pitch pine barrens are 
fire-dependent communities growing on nutrient-poor acid soils. Albany's bar­
rens are near the fork of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In early postglacial 
times, the Hudson-Mohawk valley provided a corridor for Coastal Plain spe­
cies to reach the Great Lakes (Shapiro, 1971). Albany's pine barrens, there­
fore, should possess relicts of this post-glacial migration. 
Around the turn of the century, the Albany pine barrens were the site of 
intensive collecting by museum entomologists. A trolley ran from Albany to 
Karner, N.Y., formerly Centre, N.Y., which is now within the present-day 
Albany city limits and a  the heart of the remaining pine barrens. The Albany 
pine barrens has been heavily urbanized, an  only six of the original 40 square 
miles of barrens remain. The recent loss of 28 species of Lepidoptera has been 
documented (McCabe, et. aI., 1993). Concern for the preservation of the
remaining habitat has led to inventory work. 
Scrub oak-pitch pine barrens have remarkable insect diversity (Wheeler, 
1991). We recorded 36 species of robber flies from an area of ap~roximately 
one square mile. By comparison, Bromley (1946) recorded 33 species from the 
Connecticut township encompassing Stamford, an area of 60 square miles, 
during a nearly 20-year period. The township took in a much greater and more 
diverse area than the Albany pine barrens. 
Two species known from historical records. Cyrtopogon laphriformis Cur­
ran and Promachus bastardii (Macquart), were last recorded in 1914 and 1931, 
respectively. They are apparently extirpated. These two species have south­
eastern 
distributions. The Albany pine barrens' Lepidoptera 
that have been 
extirpated 
(McCabe, 
et aI., 1993) are evenly split between those that are now 
found to be more northerly or more southerly in distribution. We believe that 
the 
witnessed changes in 
the fauna result from normal fluctuations in a given 
IContribution number 732 of the New York State Science Service. 
2Biological Survey, New York State Museum, State Education Department, 
Albany, NY 12230. 
3Entomology Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. 
1
McCabe and Weber: The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush
Published by ValpoScholar, 1994
158 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 27, No.3 
species' distribution when at the periphery of their range, rather than a warm­
ing or 
cooling event. 
Seventeen species 
of robber flies were collected on Albany's barrens for 
the first 
time, 
based on New York State Museum records, but ten of these 
were represented by less than six records and may have been missed by earlier 
collectors. Cyrtopogon lutatius (Walker), Ommatius tibialis Say Proctacan­
thus rufus Williston, and Machimus snowii (Hine) are common species a d 
thought to be recent 
colonizers. 
An introduced European species, Dioctria 
baumhaueri 
Meigen, is also common. 
Cyrtopogon lutatius (Walker), Laphria 
cinerea (Back), L. virginica (Banks), and Proctacanthus rufus Williston are all 
pitch pine ecological associates according to Bromley (1946). The loss of any of 
these 
four species would 
be indicative of a decline in the quality of habitat. 
The records presented 
here 
are gleaned from the New York State Museum, 
the Albany Pine Barrens 
Entomological 
Project (supported by The Nature
Conservancy), and the individual collecting efforts of the au hors. All 1992 
records were netted, the other recent records were taken by Malaise trap and 
historical records were presumably netted. The following list gives the earliest 
to latest dates of capture followed by the oldest to most r cent year of cap­
ture, including collections th ough 1992.Females of some Laphria were not 
included because of the lack of identifying characters. Nomenclature follows 
Wood (1981). 
List 
of 
the species of Asilidae from the Albany pine barrens. 
Asilidae 

Leptogastrinae 

Leptogaster flavipes 
Loew. 8 records: 17 
June-21 July; 1991-1992. 
Leptogaster glabrata 
(Wiedemann). 9 
records: 15 June-ll August; 
1984-1992. 
Dasypogoninae 
Ceraturgus cruciatus (Say). 3 records: 28 June-19 July; 1931-199l. 

Cyrtopogon falto (Walker). 48 records: 14 May-5 July; 1912-1992. 

Cyrtopogon laphriformis Curran. 1 record: 11 June 1914. 

Cyrtopogon lutatius 
(Walker). 32 records: 14 
May-7 July; 1982-1992. 

Cyrtopogon marginalis Loew. 38 records: 12 May-23 June; 1903-1992. 

Dioctria baumhaueri 
Meigen. 57 records: 10 
June-21 July; 1982-1992. An 

introduced 
species 
first recorded from Bost n in 1916 (Bromley, 1946). 
Diogmites basalis (Walker). 3 records: 20 July-30 August; 1984-1987. 
Diogmites umbrinus 
Loew. 1 record: 1 
September 1992. 
Holopogon guttulus 
(Weidemann). 120 records: 
25 May-22 July; 1912-1992. 
Lasiopogon currani Cole & Wilcox. 21 records: 19 May-4 June; 1912-1992. 
Lasiopogon terricola (Johnson). 3 records: 18 May-12 June; 1982-1992. 
Laphriinae 
Atomosia puella 
(Wiedemann). 5 records: 20 
June-20 August; 1985-1992. 

Cerotainia macrocera (Say). 3 records: 30 June-20 July; 1985-1986. 

Laphria aktis 
McAtee. 4 records: 
28 May-23 June; 1983-1992. 

Laphria cinerea (Back). 3 records: 18 June-2 July; 1902-1985. 

Laphria divisor 
(Banks). 3 records: 17 
June-16 July; all 1992. 

2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 27, No. 3 [1994], Art. 5
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol27/iss3/5
1994 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 159 
Laphria flavicollis Say. 3 records: 3 June-5 July; 1931-1992. 

Laphria franciscana Bigot. 7 records: 23 June-7 August; 1991-1992. 

Laphria index McAtee. 13 records: 11 June-19 July; 1981-1992. 

Laphria posticata Say. 12 records: 11 June-1 August 1992; 1902-1992. 

Laphria sadales Walker. 4 records: 25 June-21 July; 1983-1991. 

Laphria thoracica Fabricius. 7 records: 9 June-11 July; 1931-1992. 

Laphria virginica (Banks). 4 records: 3 June-4 August; 1923-1992. 

Asilinae 
Asilus 
erythrocnemius Hine. 3 records: 
13 June-2 July; 1931-1991. 

Efferia aestuans (Linnaeus). 20 records; 17 June-22 August; 1907-1992. 

Machimus notatus 
(Wiedemann). 173 records: 
13 June-11 August; 

1912-1992. 
Machimus sadyates (Walker). 6 records: 7 August-28 August; 1985-1991. 
Machimus snowii (Hine). 102 records: 16 July-11 September; 1985-1992. 
Neoitamus 
flavofemoratus (Hine). 151 records: 
11 June-16 August; 
1902-1992. 
Neoitamus orphne (Walker). 1 record: 8 June 1981. 
Ommatius tibialis Say. 24 records: 24 June-10 August; 1984-1992. 
Proctacanthus philadelphicus Macquart. 31 records: 2 July-6 September; 
1901-1992. 
Proctacanthus rufus Williston. 10 records: 25 June-17 August; 1981-1992. 
Promachus bastardii (Macquart). 1 record: 2 July 1931. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
We thank the Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy 
(TNC) 
for funding a survey of Albany's pine barren insect fauna. 
We especially 
thank 
Stephanie Gebauer of 
the TNC for her assistance in procuring funding 
and 
for logistil,':s help. The specimens acquired during the TNC survey are in the 
New York 
State Museum collection. Additional records are in the collec­
tion of C. N. Weber. Linden Higgins, Alyce Meyer, and Margaret Rusch col­
lected and prepared TNC material in 1991. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Bromley, S. W. 1946. Guide to the Insects of Connecticut. Part VI. The Diptera or t ue 
flies of Connecticut. Third Fascicle, Asilidae. Hartford, 51 pp. 
McCabe, T., A. Meyer, C. :Weber, and L. Higgins. 1993. Albany Pine Bush Project 
1991-1992 Entomological Report. Submitted to the Eastern New York Chapter of 
The Nature Conservancy. 111 pp. 
Shapiro, A. M. 1971. Postglacial biogeography and the distribution of Poanes viator 
(Hesperiidae) and other marsh butterflies. Jour. of Research on the Lepidoptera 9(3): 
125-155. 
Wheeler, A. G. Jr., 1991. Plant bugs of Quercu  ilicifolia: Myriads of Mirids (Heterop' 
tera) in Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Barrens. Jour. New York Entomol. Soc. 99(3): 405-440. 
Wood, G. C. 1981. Asilidae. pp. 549-573. In: Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume 1. 
Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Monograph No. 27. 
3
McCabe and Weber: The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush
Published by ValpoScholar, 1994


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The Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of the Albany Pinebush

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