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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » Orthorrhapha » Asiloidea » Bee Flies (Bombyliidae) » Bombyliinae » Bombyliini » Bombylius

Genus Bombylius

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Works Cited
Bombylius (major)? - Bombylius major Bombyliid - Bombylius mexicanus Fly or Bee Species () Gensburg - Markham Prairie Cook County IL June 2015 Week #23 Jeff Skrentny IMG_8516 - Bombylius Bombyliidae: Bombylius major? - Bombylius major Beefly - Bombylius major Greater Bee Fly? - Bombylius major Additional Greater Bee Fly taken a little earlier - Bombylius major Bombylius albicapillus? - Bombylius albicapillus
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 Bombyliini
Genus Bombylius
Other Common Names
Large Bee Flies
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
=Parabombylius Williston (valid subgenus)
Explanation of Names
Bombylius Linnaeus 1758
Numbers
3 subgenera, with ~80 spp. in our area and ~280 spp. worldwide(1)
Size
7-12 mm
Identification
medium-sized, very hairy; proboscis long
Range
worldwide except Australasia, but 90% of spp. in the Holarctic Region; in our area, throughout NA but much more diverse in the southwest(1)
Habitat
Meadows, woodlands
Season
Spring to early summer
Food
Adult takes nectar. Larvae feed on the larvae and supplies of bees, particularly Andrena, Colletes, and Halictus
Life Cycle
Larvae are parasitoids of solitary bees. Female follows bee from flower to nest, then lays egg in entrance tunnel. (Females are also seen hovering over open, sandy, ground, and they are presumably looking for nests.) Fly larvae feed on the larvae of the bees, pupate in the bee nest, and emerge in spring or early summer.
See Also
Heterostylum
Works Cited
1.Evenhuis N.L., Greathead D.J. (2015) World catalog of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) web site
Contributed by Cotinis on 5 January, 2005 - 6:39am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, v belov
Last updated 13 April, 2012 - 10:45pm

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