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Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

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Family Bombyliidae - Bee Flies

Bee Fly (Villa sp.) - Villa Exoprosopa pueblensis (presumably) - Exoprosopa pueblensis Neodiplocampta astrella ? - Neodiplocampta Dipalta sp. - Dipalta Villa alternata ? - Villa tiny fly with long beak - Apolysis sigma Greater Bee Fly sunning? - Bombylius major Anthrax spp
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Bombyliidae (Bee Flies)
Explanation of Names
Bombyliidae Latreille, 1802
Numbers
ca. 800 spp. in ~70 genera of 13 subfamilies in our area(1), >5,000 spp. in >230 genera of 15 subfamilies worldwide(2)(Yeates & Lambkin 2004)
Overview of our fauna (* –taxa not yet in the guide; classification adapted from(2))
Family BOMBYLIIDAE
Subfamily USIINAE Apolysis
Subfamily PHTHIRIINAE
Subfamily TOXOPHORINAE
Tribe Gerontini Geron (subgenera Empidigeron · Geron)
Subfamily BOMBYLIINAE
Subfamily ANTHRACINAE
Size
body 4‒40 mm
Identification
Keys: e.Canada spp. in (3) • e.US spp. here; checklist
Review of world fauna in (4)
Range
Cosmopolitan; most diverse in semi-arid and arid environments (Yeates & Lambkin 2004)
Habitat
Females hover over host nest, often in dry areas(5)
Food
Larvae are mostly external parasitoids of holometabolous larvae (esp. soil-dwelling Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera); a few are endoparasites, predators (esp. on grasshopper eggs), or kleptoparasites; adults take nectar/pollen(5)(6)(1)(7)
Life Cycle
Females spray their miniscule eggs in almost any soil depression, hovering briefly while making flicking movements with their abdomen.(8) 1st instar larva penetrates host's nest, then turns into a sedentary parasitoid (hypermetamorphosis); pupa equipped with spines/spikes to drill out of the nest(5)
Pupal exuvia Pupal shell of host, fly pupal shell and adult
Remarks
The oldest fossils date ~140 mya(6)
See Also
Syrphidae are not as hairy and never have a long proboscis
Internet References
Family overview (Yeates & Lambkin 2004)