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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Asiloidea » Bee Flies (Bombyliidae) » Bombyliinae » Conophorini » Sparnopolius » Sparnopolius confusus

Species Sparnopolius confusus

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Which beefly please? - Sparnopolius confusus

Small golden fly for ID - Sparnopolius confusus

Bee Fly - Sparnopolius confusus - female

Bee Fly sp - Sparnopolius confusus - male

Systoechus vulgaris? - Sparnopolius confusus - female

brown bee fly - Sparnopolius confusus - male

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)

Subfamily Bombyliinae

Tribe Conophorini

Genus Sparnopolius

Species confusus (Sparnopolius confusus)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Sparnopolius confusus (Wiedemann, 1824)

Numbers

one of 4 species in this genus in North America (1)

S. confusus is the only species that occurs in the east

Size

6-9 mm (2)

Identification

Yellowish, slightly hump-backed, with short pile on broad, flat abdomen. Wings clear. Proboscis long, but not greatly extended as in some other genera, protruding only somewhat more than antennae. Antennae with third segment tapered. Middle and hind tibiae with rows of large bristles. (Description applies to genus Sparnopolius--S. confusus is the only species widespread in eastern North America.) Wing venation:

See also comments on images, especially Neal Evenhuis' identification of this image.

Range

most of United States plus Ontario

also occurs in Mexico

Season

Ontario: late July-September (2); North Carolina: September-November (3)

Life Cycle

reported to be a parasitoid of June Beetles, Phyllophaga (2)

See Also

Lordotus

Conophorus

Print References

Brimley, p. 342--Sparnopolius fulvus (apparently a synonym of S. confusus) (3)

Internet References

distribution; PDF doc and type specimen locality [probably Mexico] (Neal Evenhuis and D.J. Greathead, World Catalog of Bee Flies, part 1)

Key to Bee Flies of the east with anatomical drawings (Herschel Raney, Arkansas)

Bee Flies of Ontario (2)--Sparnopolius confusus

Works Cited

1.	Nearctica: Nomina Insecta Nearctica

2.	The Bee Flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) of Ontario, with a Key to the Species of Eastern Canada

3.	Insects of North Carolina C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 3 June, 2006 - 5:45pm
Additional contributions by cotinis
Last updated 20 September, 2012 - 11:59pm

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