Dasypogoninae

Dennis, Steve, Barnes, Jeffrey K. & Knutson, Lloyd, 2013, Review and analysis of information on the biology and morphology of immature stages of robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae), Zootaxa 3673 (1), pp. 1-64 : 6

Subfamily Dasypogoninae

Female Dasypogoninae oviposit 1 to 11 eggs in the soil, although Leptarthrus brevirostris (Meigen) has been observed to oviposit on a dead branch on the ground. The eggs are creamy white to white, and long-oval to elongate. They range in length from 0.87 to 1.11 mm and width from 0.02 to 0.51 mm. Megapoda has nipples, tubercles and aeropyles on the egg surface; and one micropyle in a circular area that has a thick evaginated rim.

Like Antipalus varipes , Dasypogon diadema (Fabricius) has one to six eggs in a “sand ball or cocoon” from the sand in which they are oviposited. Between the eggs and the sand grains is a “silky lining”; whereas, A. varipes oviposits only one egg that is covered with sand grains without a silky lining. The egg stage of D. diadema lasts from 6 to 17 days in the laboratory.

Most Dasypogoninae larvae and pupae develop in the soil; those in the tribe Megapodini develop in plant roots and decaying stumps/logs. The larvae are reported to feed on Cerambycidae and Scarabaeidae larvae. There is no information on how long the larval stage lasts; the pupal stage of D. diadema is reported to last 27 days.

Morphological information has been published on the larvae of D. diadema . Pupal case descriptions or descriptive information has been published for Comantella , Dasypogon , Diogmites, Megapodini , and Pseudorus .