Explanation of Names
Lepidophora means "scale-bearing". Greek lepid- scale, plus Greek phora, bearing. (Based on Internet searches.)
Numbers
ITIS and
nearctica.com lists 3 species:
lepidocera, lutea, and
vetusta
Arnett, p. 879, lists 3 species.
(1)
5 additional species occur in the Neotropics
Range
L. lepidocera: eastern United States (FL, GA, IA, LA, MO, NC, OH, OK, SC, TX)
L. lutea: eastern United States (FL, LA, ME, MN, MO, NJ, NY, OH, PA, WV) and Ontario
L. vetusta: Texas
Life Cycle
Larvae of
Lepidophora are parasites of solitary wasps (Vespidae and Sphecidae). See: Sivinskil, Marshall, and Petersson, KLEPTOPARASITISM AND PHORESY IN THE DIPTERA. Florida Entomologist vol. 82 no. 2, p. 179xx, available at this
web site. (That article quotes the primary reference as Hull, F. M. 1973. Bee Flies of the World. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.)
Internet References
L. lutea on a list for Ontario (Steve Marshall, U. of Guelph, Ontario)
Cirrus Imaging live adult images of
L. lepidocera (Bruce Marlin, Illinois)
Insects of Cedar Creek adult images of undetermined
Lepidophora species (John Haarstad
et al, U. of Minnesota)
distribution; PDF doc plus list of species and type specimen localities (Neal Evenhuis and D.J. Greathead, World Catalog of Bee Flies, part 2)
presence in North Carolina of
L. lepidocera: 14 pinned specimens, including locally collected specimens (North Carolina State U.)
Contributed by
Cotinis on 17 March, 2004 - 6:56am
Additional contributions by
Robin McLeodLast updated 4 June, 2006 - 2:25am
