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Anthrax (fly)

{{Short description|Genus of flies}}

{{Automatic_taxobox

| image = Anthrax.anthrax.1.jpg

| image_caption = Anthrax anthrax

| taxon = Anthrax

| authority = Scopoli, 1763

| type_species = Musca anthrax

| type_species_authority = Schrank 1781{{cite book |last1=Schrank |first1=F. von Paula |title=Envmeratio insectorvm Avstriae indigenorum |date=1781 |publisher=Eberhardi Klett et Franck |location=Augustae Vindelicorum [=Augsburg] |pages=xxiv + 548 + [4] pp., 4 pls |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51804#page/7/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2021}}

| synonyms = *Antrax Macquart, 1847{{cite book |last1=Macquart |first1=P.J.M. |title=Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus. 2.e supplement |date=1847 |publisher=Roret |location=Paris |pages=104 pp, 6 pls.}}

  • Anthax Scudder, 1882{{cite journal|last1=Scudder|first1=S. H.|title=Nomenclator zoologicus. Part 1. Supplemental list of genera in zoology.|journal=Bulletin of the United States National Museum|date=1882|volume=19|issue=1|pages=xxi + 367|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32440#page/7/mode/1up|access-date=15 June 2017}}
  • Chalcamoeba Sack, 1909{{cite journal |last1=Sack |first1=P. |title=Die palaearktischen Spongostylinen |journal=Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft |date=1909 |volume=30 |pages=501–548 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37182881#page/521/mode/1up |access-date=14 July 2022}}
  • Chrysamoeba Sack, 1909

}}

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, {{convert|4|-|20|mm|1}}, and many species have striking wing patterns.{{Cite book |author=F. M. Hull |year=1973 |title=Bee flies of the world. The genera of the family Bombyliidae |pages=[https://archive.org/details/beefliesofworl2861973hull/page/1 1–687] |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |isbn=0-87474-131-9 |location=Washington |url=https://archive.org/details/beefliesofworl2861973hull/page/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.{{cite book | last1 = Eaton | first1 = Eric R. | last2 =Kaufman | first2 = Kenn | year = 2007 | title = Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | page = 292 | isbn = 978-0-618-15310-7}}{{cite book |last1=Evenhuis |first1=N.L. |last2=Greathead |first2=D.J |title=World catalog of the bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) |date=1999 |publisher=Backhuys Publishers |location=Leiden |pages=xlviii + 756 pp| url = http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/bombcat/ |access-date=10 July 2022|isbn=90-5782-039-0|oclc=248444103}}

The type species is Musca morio Linnaeus, 1758, later found to be a misidentification of Musca anthrax Schrank, 1781.{{cite journal |author1=Magdi S. El-Hawagry |author2=Aly A. El-Moursy |author3=Francis Gilbert |author4=Samy Zalat |year=2000 |title=The tribe Anthracini Latreille (Bombyliidae, Diptera) from Egypt |journal=Egyptian Journal of Biology |volume=2 |pages=97–117 |url=http://ecology.nottingham.ac.uk/~plzfg/pdf%20files/2000%20El-Hawagry%20et%20al_Anthracini%20of%20Egypt.pdf }}

Species

{{Incomplete list|date=September 2008}}

File:Anthrax_oedipus_sp_jeans.jpg

File:EuropäischenZweiflügeligen1790TafCCLVII.jpg Europäischen Zweiflügeligen.The genus is now much more restricted Only one species depicted in this plate is still in Anthrax]]

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References

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Anthrax (fly)}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q401663}}

Category:Bombyliidae genera

Category:Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli

Category:Bombyliidae

Category:Diptera of Europe

Category:Diptera of Asia

Category:Diptera of North America