No Taxon ("Orthorrhapha" (Brachycera excluding Aschiza and Schizophora))
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Asilidae (Robber Flies)
Subfamily Asilinae
Genus Megaphorus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Most (or all?) species originally placed under Mallophora.
Explanation of Names
Author of genus is Curran, 1931 (Charles Howard Curran, 1894–1972, Canadian, see French Wikipedia).
Apparently from Greek mega- large, plus phora- (Latinized to phorus?), bearing, bringing (1). Species were formerly placed in Mallophora, which means hair- or wool-bearing. Perhaps Megaphora is a reference to the leaf-cutter bee Megachile, which the robber flies resemble.
Small, hairy robber flies that resemble, at first glance, Leaf-cutter Bees, Megachilidae.
Life Cycle
Eggs (at least in Megaphorus minutus) are laid in a mass on the stem of a plant, such as a stiff blade of grass:
This unusual (for an Asilid) egg-laying habit is shared with the related genus Mallophora (Herschel Raney--see this page). Certain Mallophora are reported to be parasitoids of scarab beetles, and the unusual egg-laying habit is thought to aid in the dispersal of tiny larvae in search of hosts. Given the similarity of egg-laying habits in at least some species of the two genera, it seems likely that Megaphorus is also a parasitoid of ground-dwelling insect larvae. See Mallophora account for more information.
