Laphria rufa Röder, 1887

Bock, Konstantin & Mengual, Ximo, 2023, New records of Japanese robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) deposited at the ZFMK collections, Bonn zoological Bulletin 72 (1), pp. 67-83 : 76-77

Laphria rufa Röder, 1887 . Mitt. Schweiz. entomol. Ges.

7: 192 – Type locality: “ Japan ” – Type collection: un-

known.

References for identification. Hua (1989), Young & Hradský (2007), Tagawa (2020).

New records. Nagano Pref., Ueda, Sugadaira Research Station, grassland (B1): 29 Jun.–5 Jul. 2014 (3); Nagano Pref., Ueda, Sugadaira Research Station, grassland (B1): 19 Jul.–2 Aug. 2014 (2); Nagano Pref., Ueda, Sugadaira Research Station, forest (B2): 19 Jul.–2 Aug. 2014 (1).

New records of Japanese robber flies 77

Distribution. Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Ky- ushu; Russia: Kuril Islands, Sakhalin; China.

Remarks. Species very similar to Laphria mitsukurii Coquillet, 1898 . According to Young & Hradský (2007), L. rufa has yellow hairs on mesoscutum posterior to the scutellar suture, yellow hairs on tergites 1–3 and long mats of yellow hairs on tergites 4–6; whereas L. mitsukurii has black hairs posterior to the scutellar suture, black hairs on tergites 1–3 and long mats of orange hairs on tergites 5–6. Some of our specimens are somewhat inter- mediate in having yellow to orange hairs on the posterior mesoscutum but black hairs on tergites 1-3 and orange hairs on tergites 4–6 (compare Fig. 3A–B to Fig. 3C–D ). Our identification as L. rufa is justified by the presence of yellowish hair on the posterior mesoscutum. Young & Hradský (2007) stated that. “The two species ( L. mitsukurri and L. rufa ) are, in their numerous variations, externally different, but uncharacteristically for asilids, the males show almost identical features in the internal structures of the genitalia (gonopod, gonostylus, gono- coxite)”. Hence, further investigations on the morpho- logical and/or molecular separation of the two species seem necessary.

Figures

Fig. 3. A–B. Neoitamus angusticornis (Loew, 1858), male habitus. A. Lateral view. B. Dorsal view. C–D. Neoitamus castaneipennis Tagawa, 1981, male habitus. C. Lateral view. D. Dorsal view. Scale bars = 2 mm.