Anthrax (fly)

Anthrax
Anthrax anthrax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Bombyliidae
Tribe: Anthracini
Genus: Anthrax
Scopoli, 1763
Type species
Musca anthrax
Synonyms

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, 4–20 millimetres (0.2–0.8 in), and many species have striking wing patterns.[5]

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.[6][7]

The type species is Musca morio Linnaeus, 1758, later found to be a misidentification of Musca anthrax Schrank, 1781.[8]

  1. ^ Schrank, F. von Paula (1781). Envmeratio insectorvm Avstriae indigenorum. Augustae Vindelicorum [=Augsburg]: Eberhardi Klett et Franck. pp. xxiv + 548 + [4] pp., 4 pls. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ^ Macquart, P.J.M. (1847). Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus. 2.e supplement. Paris: Roret. pp. 104 pp, 6 pls.
  3. ^ Scudder, S. H. (1882). "Nomenclator zoologicus. Part 1. Supplemental list of genera in zoology". Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 19 (1): xxi + 367. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b Sack, P. (1909). "Die palaearktischen Spongostylinen". Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft. 30: 501–548. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  5. ^ F. M. Hull (1973). Bee flies of the world. The genera of the family Bombyliidae. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 1–687. ISBN 0-87474-131-9.
  6. ^ Eaton, Eric R.; Kaufman, Kenn (2007). Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-618-15310-7.
  7. ^ Evenhuis, N.L.; Greathead, D.J (1999). World catalog of the bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Leiden: Backhuys Publishers. pp. xlviii + 756 pp. ISBN 90-5782-039-0. OCLC 248444103. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  8. ^ Magdi S. El-Hawagry; Aly A. El-Moursy; Francis Gilbert; Samy Zalat (2000). "The tribe Anthracini Latreille (Bombyliidae, Diptera) from Egypt" (PDF). Egyptian Journal of Biology. 2: 97–117.