Heteropogon

Hump-backed twig-perchers. Most Heteropogon species have long plumose hair on the head, thorax, and abdomen, but it is inconspicuous on the two eastern species: H. rubrifasciatus and macerinus.

Heteropogon rubrifasciatus

Abdominal segments black with apices of abdominal segments 2-6 broadly reddish, and abdominal segment 7 entirely reddish. The middle tibiae of the male lack the brush of black hairs and bristles that male H. macerinus has. Wings are more clear than H. macerinus; females have slightly darker wings.

Habitat: Occurs in “scrub country on white sand, alighting on tips of twigs or branches” (Bromley, 1950).

Size: 10-15 mm

Season: September – November

FL Season: October – November

Range: North Carolina to Florida

FL Range: Putnam County, Brevard County (new in 2022), Martin County

Heteropogon macerinus

First four abdominal segments entirely black in ground color. Wings brown on the apical half. Males have brush of black hairs and bristles on middle tibiae.

Size: 11 mm

Range: Eastern U.S. of middle latitudes, NE and KS east to NJ and GA

Season: August – October

References

Bromley, S. W. (1931). New Asilidae, with a revised key to the genus Stenopogon Loew:(Diptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 24(2), 427-435.

Bromley, S. W. (1950). Records and descriptions of Asilidae in the collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (Diptera).

Martin, C. H. (1962). The plumose hair of Heteropogon and two new species from Mexico (Diptera: Asilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 35(4), 371-377.

Pritchard, A. E. (1935). New Asilidae from the southwestern United States (Diptera). American Museum novitates; no. 813.

Walker, F. (1849). List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Part II. Order of the Trustees, London.