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Genus Mallophora - Bee Killers

Another Mallo/Mega Musing - Mallophora fautrix

Belzebul's Bee-eater (Robber fly) - Mallophora

Robber Fly ? - Mallophora fautrix - Mallophora fautrix

Southern Bee Killer Robber Fly - Mallophora orcina

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon ("Orthorrhapha" (Brachycera excluding Aschiza and Schizophora))

Superfamily Asiloidea

Family Asilidae (Robber Flies)

Subfamily Asilinae

Genus Mallophora (Bee Killers)

Explanation of Names

Author of genus is Macquart, 1834. Name is combination of Greek mallo, hair (or wool), plus Greek phora, bearing (1).

Numbers

Nearctica.com lists 10 species. There are actually only six valid species in the Fisher list. And two of these may not occur in the US.

Size

circa 15-25 mm with the giant M. leschenaulti up to 35mm.

Identification

Large, fuzzy, bee-mimicking robber flies. Resemble Laphria, another genus of robbers that mimic bumblebees, but is even hairier and has antennae with a very thin terminal final segment, whereas Laphria has thick antennae.

Range

M. orcina occurs in eastern United States. M. bomboides occurs in southeast. M. atra occurs in Florida. In the southwest and Texas are M. leschenaulti and M. fautrix.

Habitat

Open areas, meadows, etc.

Season

July-September (M. orcina, North Carolina) July and August for M fautrix in the SW and California.

Food

Predatory on other insects, including large bees, wasps.

Life Cycle

Eggs are reported by some sources to be laid in ground (see note below). Larvae reported to be ectoparasites of scarab beetles.

Eggs of M. leschenaulti laid on upright stems but the larva are soil living. Sometimes concentrated in animal pens with dung and decay or in compost heaps.

Note: given that the related genus Megaphorus lays eggs in a mass on a stem, more research is needed to see if perhaps all, or most, Mallophora share this habit. In particular, Mallophora ruficauda is reported to be a parasitoid of scarab beetles, and the deposition of eggs above ground is thought to aid in dispersal of the larvae and access to hosts (Castelo and Corley, 2004). Quoting from that reference:

The asilid fly Mallophora ruficauda lays eggs in clusters on tall vegetation. Upon eclosion, pollen-sized larvae fall and parasitize soil-dwelling scarab beetle larvae. We hypothesized that wind dissemination of M. ruficauda larvae is important in the host-finding process and that females lay eggs at heights that maximize parasitism of its concealed host.

See Also

other bee-mimicking robber flies such as Laphria

Bumblebees, Bombus

Print References

Borror, entries for mall-, phoro (1)

Brimley, p. 338, lists five species for North Carolina: M. bomboides, clausicella (not a current name, moved to Megaphorus), laphroides (not a current name, moved to Megaphorus), orcina, rex (not a current name, now part of bomboides). (2) There are five Mallophora that are currently catalogued for Mallophora. See comments above under range but they are atra, bomboides, fautrix, leschenaulti and orcina. See Megaphorus for the smaller related species in that genera.

Castelo, M.K. and Corley, J.C. (2004): Oviposition behavior in the robber fly Mallophora ruficauda (Diptera: Asilidae). - Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97(5): 1050-1054 (abstract).

Internet References

Florida Featured Creatures - Bee Killers

Herschel Raney

North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists M. orcina (21 specs.) and M. bomboides (11 specs.) for that state.

Works Cited

1.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms By Donald J. Borror

2.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

Contributed by Hannah Nendick-Mason on 5 September, 2004 - 10:53am
Additional contributions by cotinis, hraney
Last updated 26 July, 2008 - 7:27am

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