Explanation of Names
Amphicosmus Coquillett 1891
Identification
• Genus Amphicosmus is distinctive among members of subfamily Tomomyzinae in having a cross-vein joining R2+3 and R4, which gives rise to 3 submarginal cells:
• There are 5 extant species, they can be "partly" separated as follows:
A. arizonicus is distinguished by its conspicuous dark wing markings (the other 4 Amphicosmus species have entirely hyaline wings):
A. elegans and A. arizonensis have proximal segments of the abdomen deep red (the other 3 Amphicosmus species have ground color of abdomen black):
A partial key treating
A. vanduzeei, A. elegans, and
A. cincturus appears in
Hall(1957)
• A very detailed
description of genus Amphicosmus is given in the 1973 book "Bee Flies of the World" by Hull
(2).
Range
arizonensis : Arizona
arizonicus : Arizona
cincturus : Arizona & California
elegans : California
vanduzeei : California
See Also
In genus Amphicosmus there is a cross-vein joining R2+3 and R4, thus forming 3 submarginal cells:
Our other two genera in the subfamily Tomomyzinae, Paracosmus and Metacosmus, can be similar looking to Amphicosmus, but they have no cross-vein joining R2+3 and R4, and thus those genera have only two submarginal cells.
Print References
Hall, J. C. (1957) Notes and descriptions of new California Bombyliidae (Diptera). Pan-Pac. Entomologist 33: 141–48. (
Full Text)
Melander A.L. (1950) Taxonomic notes on some smaller Bombyliidae (Diptera). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 26: 139-156. (
Full Text)
Internet References
•
Specimen Records for Amphicosmus from the California Academy of Sciences
• Figures from Hull
(2)(1973) for
Amphicosmus:
antenna of
A. cincturus (Fig. 110) and
A. elegans (Fig. 114)
here;
wing venation of
A. cincturus —
Fig. 361;
frontal view of head for
A. cincturus —
Fig. 608;
profile view of head for
A. cincturus —
Fig. 618;
• Figures from Curran
(3)(1933) for
Amphicosmus cincturus:
dorsal view of body & wing venation —
Fig. 53
