Anthrax (fly) explained

Anthrax is a genus of bombyliid flies, commonly known as "bee-flies" due to their resemblance to bees. Most are dull black flies, and are usually small to medium in size, 4mm20mm, and many species have striking wing patterns.[1]

Anthrax is a very large genus. While worldwide in distribution, most species are from the Palaearctic and Afrotropic regions. The genus includes species parasitic on tiger beetles – an unusual trait among the bee-flies. A. anthrax larvae parasitize bees. Many North American species parasitize solitary wasps.[2] [3]

The type species is Musca morio Linnaeus, 1758, later found to be a misidentification of Musca anthrax Schrank, 1781.[4]

Species

Notes and References

  1. Book: F. M. Hull . 1973 . Bee flies of the world. The genera of the family Bombyliidae . 1–687 . . 0-87474-131-9 . Washington .
  2. Book: Eaton . Eric R. . Kaufman . Kenn . 2007 . Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America . Houghton Mifflin . 292 . 978-0-618-15310-7.
  3. Book: Evenhuis . N.L. . Greathead . D.J . World catalog of the bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) . 1999 . Backhuys Publishers . Leiden . xlviii + 756 pp. 10 July 2022. 90-5782-039-0. 248444103.
  4. Magdi S. El-Hawagry . Aly A. El-Moursy . Francis Gilbert . Samy Zalat . 2000 . The tribe Anthracini Latreille (Bombyliidae, Diptera) from Egypt . . 2 . 97–117 .
  5. Paramonov . S.J. . Beiträge zur Monographie der Gattung Anthrax (Bombyliidae) [I]. . Zbirnik Prats Zoologichnogo Muzeyu Ukrain'ska Akademya Nauk . 1935 . 16 . 3–31.
  6. Book: Macquart . P.J.M. . Diptères exotiques nouveauxou peu connus. Tome deuxieme.--1er partie. . 1840 . Roret . Paris . 135 pp., 21 pls..
  7. El-Hawagry . Khalil . Sharaf . Fadl . Aldawood . 2013 . A preliminary study on the insect fauna of Al-Baha Province, Saudi Arabia, with descriptions of two new species . ZooKeys . 274 . 1–88 . 10.3897/zookeys.274.4529 . 23794807 . 3677392. free .
  8. Say . Thomas . Descriptions of dipterous insects of the United States . Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 1823 . 3 . 73–104 . 1 May 2020.
  9. Marston . N.L. . A revision of the Nearctic species of the albofasciatus group of the genus Anthrax Scopoli (Diptera: Bombyliidae). . Technical Bulletin, Kansas Agricultural Experimental Station . 1963 . 127 . 1–79 . 15 July 2022.
  10. Marston . N.L. . Revision of the New World species of Anthrax (Diptera: Bombyliidae) other than Anthrax albofasciatus group . Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology . 1970 . 43 . 1–148 . 15 July 2022.
  11. Book: Meigen . J.W. . Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäische n zweiflugeligen Insekten . 1820 . Zweiter Theil. Forstmann . Aachen . xxxvi + 363 . 8 July 2022.
  12. Loew . H. . Diptera Americae septentrionalis indigena. Centuria octava . Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift . 1869 . 13 . 1–52 . 15 July 2022.
  13. Book: Wiedemann . Christian Rudolph Wilhelm . Aussereuropäische zweiflügelige Insekten. Als Fortsetzung des Meigenschen Werks . 1828 . Zweiter Theil. Schulz . Hamm . xxxii + 608 pp., 7 pls .
  14. Osten Sacken . C.R. . Diptera [part]. Biologia Centrali-Americana. . Zoologia-Insecta-Diptera . 1886 . 1 . 105–128.