The Comparative Morphology of Internal Structures of the Asilidae (Diptera)1

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Abstract
Comparatively little investigation has been made on the internal anatomy of flies other than the blood-sucking groups and a few others of economic importance, and a great number of the works published have dealt only with the anatomy of larvae. There are a great number of families of Diptera with diverse habits and external morphology whose internal anatomy would seem worthy of investigation. It was for such a reason that the Asilidae were chosen for this study. The robber flies because of their large size and predaceous habits have always aroused interest with the result that several investigators have published on robber flies and their prey. In connection with their feeding habits several descriptions have been made of the mouthparts of asilids. A few of these articles have described the gross structure of some parts of the alimentary canal lying in the head. Dufour (1851) made a comparative study of the internal anatomy of six European species of Asilidae, but other than his works the publications that include descriptions of the internal anatomy of the Asilidae have for the most part dealt with only certain organs of the robber flies in comparison with those of other Diptera. Thus the knowledge of the internal anatomy and particularly the histology is very scanty.

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