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Photo#989257
Asilid or Apiocera? - Apiocera - female

Asilid or Apiocera? - Apiocera - Female
Quail Hollow County Park, east of Ben Lomond, Santa Cruz County, California, USA
August 24, 2014
I think this female is an Apiocera...but I'm not certain it isn't perhaps an asilid? It seems to have a wee bit of a mystax around the base of the antennae, and a very slightly excavated vertex. But maybe not? And I'm somewhat skeptical as to whether Apiocera would have such a substantial "duck-bill like" proboscis...though that's not out of the question.

Females of both families have rounded terminal abdominal segments (called anthophorites) bearing many pairs of stout spines (barely discernible in this photo).

Two male Apiocera were seen nearby:


Moved
Moved from Asiloidea.

 
Thanks, John...I was quite curious about this one
I believe the AMNH has quite a collection of Apiocera...I'd love to be able to study those in detail! (But, even though that would be a privilege, pleasure, and honor...of course I'd prefer studying them alive and in the field, especially if I could find cooperative ones! :-)