p class="ZootaxaTitle">Robber flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) of Wyoming, USA with keys to genera and species.

There are 171 species of robber flies recorded for Wyoming, USA, including three newly described species (Cyrtopogon hollandi sp. nov., C. martini sp. nov., and Stenopogon graminis sp. nov.) in this paper, in 10 of the 14 recognized subfamilies. The largest numbers of species belong to the Asilinae (61) followed by Brachyrhopalinae (35), Laphriinae (23), Stenopogoninae (19), Dasypogoninae (9), Stichopogoninae (9), Leptogastrinae (8), Dioctriinae (3), Willistonininae (3), and Trigonomiminae (1). The most species (136) occur in one or more of the shrub/grassland vegetation types, with fewer species occurring in the grassland vegetation types (130), the forest (78 species) and in the shrub (24 species) vegetation types. Keys to subfamilies, genera and species with brief species descriptions are provided; the ecology and ethology of individual species are discussed.

A checklist of the Robber Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) of Wyoming, USA.

A checklist of 158 species of Wyoming robber flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae) is presented for the first time based on personal collecting, literature review, museum specimens, and online databases. In Wyoming, asilid habitats range from arid desert environments to mountainous pine-douglas fir forests. According to the latest classification system of Dikow (2009), these include 54 species of Asilinae, 24 species of Brachyrhopalinae, 10 species of Dasypogoninae, 3 species of Dioctriinae, 23 species of Laphriinae, 8 species of Leptogastrinae, 24 species of Stenopogoninae, 8 species of Stichopogoninae, 1 species of Trigonomiminae, and 3 species of Willistonininae. Thirty-one of these species have not been previously recorded as occurring in Wyoming.

Review and analysis of information on the biology and morphology of immature stages of robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae).

Recent publications on the immature stages of robber flies (Asilidae) are reviewed and listed for the 14 currently recognized subfamilies (Asilinae, Bathypogoninae, Brachyrhopalinae, Dasypogoninae, Dioctriinae, Laphriinae, Leptogastrinae, Ommatiinae, Phellinae, Stenopogoninae, Stichopogoninae, Tillobromatinae, Trigonomiminae, and Willistonininae). For the Phellinae there are only limited data on the pupal cases, and for the Tillobromatinae there are only limited data on the eggs (potential oviposition site in soil) and pupal cases. The recent literature is compared with pertinent pre-1972 publications.

Pupal cases of four Nearctic species of Laphria (Diptera: Asilidae).

The pupal cases of the Nearctic robber flies Laphria canis Williston, 1883: L. ferox Williston, 1883: L. macquarti (Banks, 1917): and L. posticata Say, 1824 are described and illustrated. A key is provided to the pupal cases of these and seven other species of Laphria previously described. A revised key also is included for the pupal cases of three genera of Laphriinae: Andrenosoma, Lampria, and Laphria.

Pupal cases of three nearctic species of Machimus (Diptera: Asilidae).

The pupal cases of the Nearctic robber flies, Machimus latapex Martin, 1975, M. occidentalis (Hine, 1909), and M. prairiensis (Tucker, 1907) are described. They are compared with the previously described pupal cases of six other Nearctic species of Machimus. The pupal case of M. latapex and facial sheaths and posterior antennal processes of M. occidentalis are illustrated.