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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Asiloidea » Robber Flies (Asilidae) » Asilinae » Proctacanthus

Genus Proctacanthus

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Season · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Robber Fly - Proctacanthus brevipennis Robberfly - Proctacanthus Asilidae - Proctacanthus Asilinae? Philonicus? - Proctacanthus - male Asilid - Proctacanthus - male Proctacanthus longus - female Very large robber fly - Proctacanthus milbertii Big red robber fly - Proctacanthus hinei - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Asilidae (Robber Flies)
Subfamily Asilinae
Genus Proctacanthus
Other Common Names
Giant Robber Flies, Spine-tailed Robber Fly (P. arno)
Explanation of Names
Proctacanthus Macquart 1838
Numbers
17 spp. in our area (4 reach Canada), ~30 total(1)
Identification
Large robber flies with a prominent beard
Range
Canada to Brazil; in our area, throughout the US and so. Canada; 11 spp. in the east(1)
Season
P. brevipennis in NC: Apr-Jul; P. milbertii: Jul-Oct in NC, Jul-Aug in MN
Life Cycle
Eggs laid in crevices in soil. Larvae are predatory on soil insects, also said to eat roots, decaying plant matter. Larvae may require more than one year to reach maturity. Pupation in soil.
Print References
Hine J.S. (1911) Robberflies of the genera Promachus and Proctacanthus. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 4(2): 153-172 (full text)
Internet References
Genus page(2)
Works Cited
1.Information on robber flies, compiled by F. Geller-Grimm
2.Herschel Raney's Random Natural Acts: Robber Flies
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 14 June, 2005 - 4:23pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, v belov
Last updated 17 January, 2013 - 8:21am

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