The diaphragm suction pump has a pump chamber (7) located in a base plate (6), the wall of said chamber extending in a conical manner from a central flat base section (7') to the lateral edge (8). The elastic pump diaphragm (5), which spans the pump chamber (7), is configured in such a way that it lies tightly against the entire pump chamber wall at the top dead center point of the drive connecting rod (4). The diaphragm (5) consists of a self-supporting elastic material with rear recesses (9; 10), which form hinges that can be elastically pretensioned during the operation of the diaphragm (5).