Anthrax (fly)

{{Short description|Genus of flies}} {{Automatic_taxobox | image = Anthrax.anthrax.1.jpg | image_caption = ''Anthrax anthrax'' | taxon = Anthrax | authority = Scopoli, 1763 | type_species = ''Musca anthrax'' | type_species_authority = Schrank 1781<ref name="Schrank1781">{{cite book |last1=Schrank |first1=F. von Paula |title=Envmeratio insectorvm Avstriae indigenorum |date=1781 |publisher=Eberhardi Klett et Franck |location=Augustae Vindelicorum [=Augsburg] |pages=xxiv + 548 + [4] pp., 4 pls |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/51804#page/7/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2021}}</ref> | synonyms = *''Antrax'' Macquart, 1847<ref name="Macquart1847">{{cite book |last1=Macquart |first1=P.J.M. |title=Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus. 2.e supplement |date=1847 |publisher=Roret |location=Paris |pages=104 pp, 6 pls.}}</ref> *''Anthax'' Scudder, 1882<ref name="Scudder1882">{{cite journal|last1=Scudder|first1=S. H.|title=Nomenclator zoologicus. Part 1. Supplemental list of genera in zoology.|journal=Bulletin of the United States National Museum|date=1882|volume=19|issue=1|pages=xxi + 367|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32440#page/7/mode/1up|access-date=15 June 2017}}</ref> *''Chalcamoeba'' Sack, 1909<ref name="Sack1909">{{cite journal |last1=Sack |first1=P. |title=Die palaearktischen Spongostylinen |journal=Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft |date=1909 |volume=30 |pages=501–548 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37182881#page/521/mode/1up |access-date=14 July 2022}}</ref> *''Chrysamoeba'' Sack, 1909<ref name="Sack1909"/> }}

'''''Anthrax''''' is a genus of bombyliid flies, commonly known as "bee-flies" due to their resemblance to bees. Most are dull black flies, and are usually small to medium in size, {{convert|4|-|20|mm|1}}, and many species have striking wing patterns.<ref name=Hull>{{Cite book |author=F. M. Hull |year=1973 |title=Bee flies of the world. The genera of the family Bombyliidae |pages=[https://archive.org/details/beefliesofworl2861973hull/page/1 1–687] |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |isbn=0-87474-131-9 |location=Washington |url=https://archive.org/details/beefliesofworl2861973hull/page/1 }}</ref>

''Anthrax'' is a very large genus. While worldwide in distribution, most species are from the Palaearctic and Afrotropic regions. The genus includes species parasitic on tiger beetles – an unusual trait among the bee-flies. ''A. anthrax'' larvae parasitize bees. Many North American species parasitize solitary wasps.<ref name=E&K>{{cite book | last1 = Eaton | first1 = Eric R. | last2 =Kaufman | first2 = Kenn | year = 2007 | title = Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | page = 292 | isbn = 978-0-618-15310-7}}</ref><ref name="EvenhuisGreathead1999">{{cite book |last1=Evenhuis |first1=N.L. |last2=Greathead |first2=D.J |title=World catalog of the bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) |date=1999 |publisher=Backhuys Publishers |location=Leiden |pages=xlviii + 756 pp| url = http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/bombcat/ |access-date=10 July 2022|isbn=90-5782-039-0|oclc=248444103}}</ref>

The type species is ''Musca morio'' Linnaeus, 1758, later found to be a misidentification of ''Musca anthrax'' Schrank, 1781.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Magdi S. El-Hawagry |author2=Aly A. El-Moursy |author3=Francis Gilbert |author4=Samy Zalat |year=2000 |title=The tribe Anthracini Latreille (Bombyliidae, Diptera) from Egypt |journal=Egyptian Journal of Biology |volume=2 |pages=97–117 |url=http://ecology.nottingham.ac.uk/~plzfg/pdf%20files/2000%20El-Hawagry%20et%20al_Anthracini%20of%20Egypt.pdf }}</ref>

==Species== {{Incomplete list|date=September 2008}} thumb|right|''Anthrax'' flies often hover around people and land on them.<ref name=E&K/> This one, a member of ''A. oedipus'' or a similar species, landed repeatedly on the photographer's jeans. [[File:EuropäischenZweiflügeligen1790TafCCLVII.jpg |thumb|right|Early conception of the genus ''Anthrax'' sensu Meigen.Plate from Johann Wilhelm Meigen ''Europäischen Zweiflügeligen''.The genus is now much more restricted Only one species depicted in this plate is still in ''Anthrax'']] {{div col|colwidth=21em}} *''Anthrax actuosus'' Paramonov, 1935<ref name="Paramonov1935">{{cite journal |last1=Paramonov |first1=S.J. |title=Beiträge zur Monographie der Gattung Anthrax (Bombyliidae) [I]. |journal=Zbirnik Prats Zoologichnogo Muzeyu Ukrain'ska Akademya Nauk |date=1935 |volume=16 |pages=3–31}}</ref> *''Anthrax alagoezicus'' Paramonov, 1935<ref name="Paramonov1935"/> *''Anthrax albofasciatus'' Macquart, 1840<ref name="Macquart1840">{{cite book |last1=Macquart |first1=P.J.M. |title=Diptères exotiques nouveauxou peu connus. Tome deuxieme.--1er partie. |date=1840 |publisher=Roret |location=Paris |pages=135 pp., 21 pls.}}</ref> *''Anthrax alruqibi'' El-Hawagry, 2013<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = El-Hawagry | last2 = Khalil | last3 = Sharaf | last4 = Fadl | last5 = Aldawood | year = 2013 | title = A preliminary study on the insect fauna of Al-Baha Province, Saudi Arabia, with descriptions of two new species | journal = ZooKeys | issue = 274 | pages = 1–88 | doi = 10.3897/zookeys.274.4529 | pmid=23794807 | pmc=3677392| doi-access = free }}</ref> *''Anthrax analis'' Say, 1823<ref name="Say1823b">{{cite journal |last1=Say |first1=Thomas |title=Descriptions of dipterous insects of the United States |journal=Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |date=1823 |volume=3 |pages=73–104 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24668664#page/83/mode/1up |accessdate=1 May 2020}}</ref> *''Anthrax anthrax'' (Schrank, 1781)<ref name="Schrank1781"/> *''Anthrax argentatus'' (Cole, 1919) *''Anthrax artemesia'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963">{{cite journal |last1=Marston |first1=N.L. |title=A revision of the Nearctic species of the ''albofasciatus'' group of the genus ''Anthrax'' Scopoli (Diptera: Bombyliidae). |journal=Technical Bulletin, Kansas Agricultural Experimental Station |date=1963 |volume=127 |pages=1–79 |url=https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/25594/LD2668T41962M37.pdf?sequence=1 |access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> *''Anthrax atriplex'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970">{{cite journal |last1=Marston |first1=N.L. |title=Revision of the New World species of ''Anthrax'' (Diptera: Bombyliidae) other than ''Anthrax albofasciatus'' group |journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology |date=1970 |volume=43 |pages=1–148 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/5287/SCtZ-0043-Hi_res.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> *''Anthrax aureosquamosus'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax bezzianus'' Paramonov, 1935<ref name="Paramonov1935"/> *''Anthrax binotatus'' Wiedemann ''in'' Meigen 1820<ref name="Meigen1820">{{cite book |last1=Meigen |first1=J.W. |title=Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäische n zweiflugeligen Insekten |date=1820 |publisher=Zweiter Theil. Forstmann |location=Aachen |pages=xxxvi + 363 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/45915#page/9/mode/1up |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> *''Anthrax bowdeni'' Báez, 1983 *''Anthrax cascadensis'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax cathetodaithmos'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax chaparralus'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax chionostigma'' Tsacas, 1962 *''Anthrax cintalapa'' Cole, 1957 *''Anthrax columbiensis'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax cybele'' (Coquillett, 1894) *''Anthrax dentata'' Becker, 1907 *''Anthrax distigma'' Wiedemann, 1828 *''Anthrax francoisi'' Evenhuis & Greathead, 1999<ref name="EvenhuisGreathead1999"/> *''Anthrax gideon'' Fabricius, 1805 *''Anthrax giselae'' François, 1966 *''Anthrax greatheadi'' El-Hawagry, 1998 *''Anthrax innublipennis'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax irroratus'' Say, 1823<ref name="Say1823b">{{cite journal |last1=Say |first1=Thomas |title=Descriptions of dipterous insects of the United States |journal=Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |date=1823 |volume=3 |pages=73–104 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24668664#page/83/mode/1up |accessdate=1 May 2020}}</ref> *''Anthrax johanni'' Zaitzev, 1997 *''Anthrax koebelei'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax larrea'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax laticellus'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax melanopogon'' (Becker, 1892) *''Anthrax moursyi'' El-Hawagry, 1998 *''Anthrax nidicola'' Cole, 1952 *''Anthrax nigriventris'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax nitidus'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax oedipus'' Fabricius, 1805 *''Anthrax painteri'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax pauper'' (Loew, 1869)<ref name="Loew1869">{{cite journal |last1=Loew |first1=H. |title=Diptera Americae septentrionalis indigena. Centuria octava |journal=Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift |date=1869 |volume=13 |pages=1–52 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8343745#page/19/mode/1up |access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref> *''Anthrax pelopeius'' François, 1966 *''Anthrax picea'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax pilosulus'' Strobl, 1902 *''Anthrax plesius'' (Curran, 1927) *''Anthrax pluricellus'' Williston, 1901 *''Anthrax pluto'' Wiedemann, 1828<ref name="Wiedemann1828">{{cite book |last1=Wiedemann |first1=Christian Rudolph Wilhelm |title=Aussereuropäische zweiflügelige Insekten. Als Fortsetzung des Meigenschen Werks |date=1828 |publisher=Zweiter Theil. Schulz |location=Hamm |pages=xxxii + 608 pp., 7 pls }}</ref> *''Anthrax punctulatus'' Macquart, 1835 *''Anthrax seriepunctatus'' (Osten Sacken, 1886)<ref name="Osten Sacken1886">{{cite journal |last1=Osten Sacken |first1=C.R. |title=Diptera [part]. Biologia Centrali-Americana. |journal=Zoologia-Insecta-Diptera |date=1886 |volume=1 |pages=105–128}}</ref> *''Anthrax slossonae'' (Johnson, 1913) *''Anthrax snowi'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax stellans'' (Loew, 1869)<ref name="Loew1869"/> *''Anthrax sticticus'' Klug, 1832 *''Anthrax striatipennis'' Marston, 1970<ref name="Marston1970"/> *''Anthrax trifasciatus'' Meigen, 1804 *''Anthrax vallicola'' Marston, 1963<ref name="Marston1963"/> *''Anthrax varius'' Fabricius, 1794 *''Anthrax virgo'' Egger, 1859 *''Anthrax zohrayensis'' El-Hawagry, 2002 *''Anthrax zonabriphagus'' (Portchinsky, 1895 {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Bombyliidae genera Category:Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Category:Bombyliidae Category:Flies of Europe Category:Flies of Asia Category:Flies of North America