Ablautus rufotibialis Back, 1909

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 : 118

Ablautus rufotibialis Back

Ablautus rufotibialis Back, 1909: 182 .

Recognition characters: Grayish species; length 10–12 mm; mystax straw white; thorax brown and gray pollinose with straw white to brown bristles; scutellar bristles 24–30, brown; wings hyaline, in certain light milky, veins black with greenish and purplish reflections; legs black, setae and setae numerous and conspicuously white; claws without pulvilli.

Distribution: FREMONT: Shoshoni, 16 km S, 16 April 1965 ( RJL). PLATTE: Guernsey, 13–27 April 1964, 30 April 1964, 5 May 1966 ( RJL); Wheatland, 30 April 1964, 3 May 1965 ( RJL). SWEETWATER: Rock Springs, 26.9 km NE (Thayer Jct.), 1–2 Aug. 1979 ( RJL); Point of Rocks, 14.5 km W, 24 July 1979 ( RJL). WASHAKIE: Worland, 17 April 1965 ( RJL). Recorded from Wyoming by: Fisher & Wilcox (1997); Geller-Grimm (2018).

Habitat: Sagebrush steppe shrub and grassland, and grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass grassland vegetation types. Wind-sheltered gullies on open short-mid grass rangeland.

Ethology: Rests on and forages from sand in open areas; courtship (see Lavigne 1972).

Prey: DIPTERA , HEMIPTERA [Heteroptera (as Hemiptera ), Homoptera], HYMENOPTERA (see Lavigne 1972; Rogers & Lavigne 1972).