Stichopogoninae

Young, Charles L., 2007, Robber flies of South Korea IV. Species of the subfamily Stichopogoninae Hardy, 1930 (Diptera: Asilidae), Zootaxa 1521, pp. 43-58 : 44-45

Subfamily Stichopogoninae Hardy

Stichopogonini Hardy, 1930: 250 , 251, 260. Type genus: Stichopogon Loew, 1847: 499 as subgenus of Dasypogon .

The treatment of the Stichopogoninae in this paper follows Papavero (1973a) and Artigas and Papavero (1990) in recognizing the two South Korean genera belonging to the same subfamily. The diagnostic features of Hull’s tribe (1962) Stichopogonini , to which both genera also belong, are sustained under the subfamily’s characterization: “These small, pollinose flies are readily recognized by the strongly divergent front and vertex and by the absence of pile on the lateral slopes of the metasternum; moreover, they tend to be pale in coloration, matching the sand or mud flats which they frequent.” In addition, the female’s spinose genitalia with its ventral keel (subgenital plate; 8th sternite) characterize these flies.

The division between the two reported South Korean genera, Lasiopogon and Stichopogon , is recognized by the facial gibbosity, wing venation, and the male epandria. Other diagnostic features presented in this study may not extend to further areas.

A closely related East Asian genus, Clinopogon Bezzi, 1910 has been recorded from Japan ( Clinopogon sauteri, Bezzi, 1910 ) and is included in the key, but has not been encountered by the author in South Korea. Species of Clinopogon share a similar wing venation with the genus Lasiopogon (un-stalked cell m3), but as in the genus Stichopogon , share a low facial gibbosity and an undivided male epandrium. They are in general, more setose flies with less distinct abdominal markings.