Machimus formosus (Hine)

Lavigne, Robert J. & Dennis, Steve, 2019, Robber flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) of Wyoming, USA with keys to genera and species, Zootaxa 4662 (1), pp. 1-126 : 46-47

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4662.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:366A1E81-946C-4ED4-8A65-C51151FE87CC
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7708F17A-B80F-E532-63F1-F9C96262FEA8
treatment provided by	Plazi (2019-09-02 06:54:06, last updated 2024-11-29 14:45:14)
scientific name	Machimus formosus (Hine)
status

Treatment

Machimus formosus (Hine) View in CoL

Asilus formosus Hine, 1918: 321 View in CoL .

Recognition characters: Brownish yellow species, length 12–20 mm; mystax white; thorax brown pollinose, setae short and black, setae black; wings clear hyaline; scutellar bristles 2, black or brownish white; legs light brown with gray areas on front of femora.

Distribution: ALBANY: 24 km E of Centennial, 19 July 1960 ( RJL); Laramie, 1.6 km E, 9 July 1974 ( SD); West Laramie, 26 July 1960 ( RJL); BIG HORN: Greybull Airport, 14 June 1966 ( RJL) (specimen in CAS), 16 June 1966 ( RJL); Lovell, WANG, LTA, 2001a. LARAMIE: Pine Bluffs, 19 July 1963 ( LJS). PLATTE: Dwyer, 5 July 1961 ( RJL); Glendo, 5 July 1961, 27 July 1962 ( RJL); Guernsey, 6 July–4 Aug. 1961 ( RJL), 2 Aug. 1961 ( RJL) (specimen in CAS), 20 July–10 Aug. 1962 ( RJL); 11 km W of Guernsey, 12 Aug. 1960 ( RJL); Wheatland, Ruby Ranch, 7 Aug. 1964 ( RJL). Recorded from Wyoming by: Dennis & Lavigne (1979); Geller-Grimm (2018); Lavigne (1968) (as Asilus formosus ); Martin (1975); Schreiber & Lavigne (1986) (as Asilus formosus ).

Habitat: Saltbrush-greasewood shrub, wheatgrass-needlegrass- shrub steppe shrub and grassland, and gramabuffalo grass and wheatgrass-needlegrass grassland vegetation types. Open range, short-grass plains at elevations from 1,310 –2,377 m (4,300 –7,800 ft); rangeland (Lavigne 1968).

Ethology: Adults are found resting and foraging from the ground within or at the entrances of rodent burrows (see Lavigne 1968; Schreiber & Lavigne 1986, both as Asilus formosus ).

Prey: DIPTERA , Sarcophagidae : Senotainia rubriventris Macquart , Guernsey, 26 July 1962. DIPTERA , HE- MIPTERA (as Homoptera) (see Lavigne 1968; Rogers & Lavigne 1972; Schreiber and Lavigne 1986, all as Asilus formosus ).

References

Dennis, D. S. & Lavigne, R. J. (1979) Ethology of Machimus callidus with incidental observations on M. occidentalis in Wyoming (Diptera: Asilidae). The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 55, 208 - 221.

Geller-Grimm, F. (2018) Robber flies (Asilidae), database, catalog of species. Available from: http: / www. geller-grimm. de / catalog / species. htm (accessed 23 March 2018)

Hine, J. S. (1918) Descriptions of seven species of Asilus (Family Asilidae). Ohio Naturalist, 18, 319 - 322.

Martin, C. H. (1975) The generic and specific characters of four old and six new Asilini genera in the western United States, Mexico and Central America (Diptera: Asilidae). Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences, No. 119, 1 - 107.

Rogers, L. E. & Lavigne, R. J. (1972) Asilidae of the Pawnee National Grasslands, in northeastern Colorado. University Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station Science Monograph 25. University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming, Wyoming, 35 pp.

Schreiber, E. T. & Lavigne, R. J. (1986) Ethology of Asilus gilvipes (Hine) (Diptera: Asilidae) associated with small mammal burrows in southeastern Wyoming. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 88, 711 - 719.