3. _Asilis grandis_ (Macq.). 8. _Craspedia coriaria_ (Wied.). 12. _Phellus glaucus_ (Walk.). 13. _Blepharotes splendissima_ (Wied.). Family DIOPSIDAE. 4. _Zygotricha sp._ Family BOMBYLIDAE. 5. _Comptosia albo-fasciata_ (Thomp.). 11. _Trichophthalma eques_ (Sch.). Family DEXIIDAE. 9. _Rutilia decora_ (Guérin). 10. _Amphibolia fulvipes_ (Guérin). (Original photo. Burton.)] [Illustration: _Plate XXVIII.--DIPTERA._] Family 11. Robber-flies. ASILIDAE. This group is well represented in Australia by some very large handsome robber-flies which attack and kill many insects larger than themselves, transfixing them with their horny bayonet-like proboscis. The large projecting eyes forming the greater part of the head are well separated from the thorax; the three jointed antennae stand out at an angle from each other; the legs are long, stout, and covered with stiff hairs well adapted for holding their prey; they have more or less clouded wings; and a slender, rather cylindrical body tapers to a blunt tip in the female, but in the male terminates in a pair of pincer-like processes. It is an extensive family, over 3,000 species being described from all parts of the world; they are very numerous in America, where one is a very serious pest to honey bees. Their larvae live in the ground and are predaceous, feeding upon the larvae of other insects, particularly those of beetles. The members of the Genus _Dasypogon_ are small delicate flies that cling to grass stalks, and are easily taken with a sweeping net; they have the typical form of the family, and their slender bodies taper to a point. _Laphria diversipes_ is a common insect about Sydney often taken on fences; it is slightly over ½ an inch in length; its general colour is black, with stout reddish brown legs variegated with black. The head is clothed with stiff grey hairs, the upper surface mottled with golden pubescence, and scattered black hairs. _Laphria rufifemorata_ is a somewhat large insect from Queensland, with the abdomen of a deep metallic blue. _Leptogaster geniculatus_ is a remarkably slender bodied fly, about the same length, found about the Blue Mountains N.S.W. The head is short but wide across; the thorax is oval, and the linear abdomen swells out slightly to the apex; the legs are long and slender, the hind pair with the thighs swollen in the centre. The general colour is shining black with the legs marked with white.