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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Asiloidea » Robber Flies (Asilidae) » Asilinae » Ommatius

Genus Ommatius

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Season · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
ROBBER FLY WITH PREY - Ommatius tibialis Ommatius gemma Ommatius parvulus? - Ommatius - female Unknown Asilidae - Ommatius gemma Asilinae - Ommatius baboquivari - male Fly - Ommatius Ommatius - male Robber Fly - Ommatius
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)
Superfamily Asiloidea
Family Asilidae (Robber Flies)
Subfamily Asilinae
Genus Ommatius
Explanation of Names
Ommatius Wiedemann 1821
a classical name: sources mention an Ommatius involved with the British invasion of Gaul in the 6th century
Numbers
13 spp. in our area, ~310 total(1)
Identification
Medium-sized to small robber flies. Antennae are slightly feathery, like those of a moth, apparently a distinctive character of the genus (among North American genera):

(2)
Range
tropics worldwide, with some holarctic representation; most diverse in the Neotropics (>1/3 of all spp.); in our area, across the US, most spp. in sw. US(1)
Season
May-Sep in NC(3)
Print References
Scarbrough A.G. (1990) Revision of the New World Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae). I. The Pumilus Species Group. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 116(1): 65-102 (abstract)
Internet References
AR species
GA species
Works Cited
1.Information on robber flies, compiled by F. Geller-Grimm
2.Review of the Genus Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) in Eastern United States with Descriptions of Five New Species
Bullington SW and Lavigne RJ. 1984. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Volume 77 (4): 372–392.
3.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 14 June, 2005 - 5:20pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, v belov, Arturo Santos
Last updated 9 April, 2022 - 4:54pm

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