Anthracini

Anthrax maculatus, photographed by Michael Jefferies.

Belongs within: Anthracinae.

The Anthracini are a cosmopolitan group of beeflies, characterised by the presence of an apical circlet of hairs around the compacted, often onion-shaped antenna. They include the cosmopolitan genus Anthrax, many species of which have the wings infuscated to varying degrees. The large flies (sixteen to eighteen millimetres in length) belonging to the genus Xenox in North and northern South America have a closed cell in the wing posterior to cell dm that is absent in the smaller Anthrax (Kits et al. 2008).

Characters (from Lambkin et al. 2003): Antennal basal stylomere bearing apical stylomere and circlet of hairs; R₂₊₃ arising from R with distinct basal 90° bend at i-r crossvein, squama fringed with scales; pulvilli normal, large flattened membranous structures, almost as long as tarsal claws; laterotergite and mediotergites bare.

<==Anthracini
    |--Brachyanax ater LYG03
    |--Thraxan LYG03
    |--Xenox GEEL09
    |    |--X. habrosus GEEL09
    |    |--X. nigritus GEEL09
    |    `--X. tigrinus KME08
    `--Anthrax GEEL09
         |--A. albofasciatus KME08
         |--A. analis A71
         |--A. argentifrons Macquart 1849 E12
         |--A. argyropygus KME08
         |--A. blandus K01
         |--A. cathetodiathmos GEEL09
         |--A. cintalapa GEEL09
         |--A. dorycus Boisduval 1835 B35
         |--A. fasciventris Macquart 1849 E12
         |--A. flavus K01
         |--A. georgicus KME08
         |--A. gideon GEEL09
         |--A. irroratus KME08
         |--A. ixion K01
         |--A. leucopyga BM76
         |--A. maculatus LYG03
         |--A. maurus K01
         |--A. midas GEEL09
         |--A. minuta Macquart 1849 E12
         |--A. morio L02
         |--A. oedipus GEEL09
         |--A. pauper KME08
         |--A. picea KME08
         |--A. pluto KME08
         |--A. quinquefasciatus K01
         |--A. sinuata R35
         |--A. stellans KME08
         `--A. varipennis Macquart 1849 E12

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[B35] Boisduval, J. B. 1835. Voyage de Découvertes de l’Astrolabe. Exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le voyage vol. 2. Coléoptères et autres ordres. J. Tastu: Paris.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[GEEL09] Greathead, D. J., N. L. Evenhuis & C. J. Einicker Lamas. 2009. Bombyliidae (bee flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 565–576. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[K01] Kertész, K. 1901. Legyek [Dipteren]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 179–201. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[KME08] Kits, J. H., S. A. Marshall & N. L. Evenhuis. 2008. The bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) of Ontario, with a key to the species of eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification 6: 1–52.

[LYG03] Lambkin, C. L., D. K. Yeates & D. J. Greathead. 2003. An evolutionary radiation of beeflies in semi-arid Australia: systematics of the Exoprosopini (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Invertebrate Systematics 17: 735–891.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[R35] Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees: Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species. Endeavour Press: Sydney.

Last updated: 7 June 2018.