The Bombyliidae are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
flies
Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...
, commonly known as bee flies. Some are colloquially known as bomber flies. Adults generally feed on
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
and
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
, some being important
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
s. Larvae are mostly
parasitoid
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s of other insects.
Overview
The Bombyliidae are a large
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
flies
Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...
comprising hundreds of
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
, but the life cycles of most species are poorly known, or not at all. Their size varies between species ranging from 2 mm long to a 40 mm
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
making them some of the largest flies.
When at rest, many species hold their wings at a characteristic "swept back" angle. Adults generally feed on
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
and
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
, some being important
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
s, often with spectacularly long proboscises adapted to plants such as ''
Lapeirousia'' species with very long, narrow floral tubes. Unlike butterflies, bee flies hold their proboscis straight, and cannot retract it. Many Bombyliidae superficially resemble
bees and accordingly the prevalent common name for a member of the family is bee fly.
Possibly the resemblance is
Batesian mimicry, affording the adults some protection from
predator
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
s.
The larval stages are predators or
parasitoid
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s of the eggs and
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e of other insects. The adult females usually deposit eggs in the vicinity of possible hosts, quite often in the burrows of
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s,
wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
s, or solitary bees. Although insect parasitoids usually are fairly host-specific, often highly host-specific, some Bombyliidae are
opportunistic and will attack a variety of hosts.
The Bombyliidae include at least 4,500 described species, and certainly thousands more remain to be described. However, most species do not often appear in abundance, and compared to other major groups of pollinators they are much less likely to visit flowering plants in urban parks or suburban gardens. As a result, this is arguably one of the most poorly known families of
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s relative to its species richness. The family has a patchy fossil record, with species being known from a handful of localities, the oldest known species are known from the Middle Cretaceous
Burmese amber
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...
, around 99 million years old.
Morphology
Adult
Although the morphology of beeflies varies in detail, adults of most bee flies are characterized by some morphological details that make recognition easy. The dimensions of the body vary, depending on the species, from 1.0 mm to 2.5 cm. The form is often compact and the integument is usually covered with dense and abundant hair. The coloration is usually inconspicuous and colours such as brown, blackish- grey, and light colors like white or yellow predominate. Many species are
mimics of
apoid Hymenoptera. In other species patches of flattened hairs occur that can act as silvery, gilded or copper-tone reflecting mirrors; these perhaps serve as visual signals in conspecific mate/rival recognition, or perhaps imitate reflecting surface particles on bare soils with high content of materials like quartz, mica or pyrite.

The head is round, with a convex face, often
holoptic in males. The antennae are of the type
aristate composed of three to six segments, with the third segment larger than the others; the stylus is absent (antenna of three segments) or is composed of one to three
flagellomeres (antenna of four to six segments). The mouthparts are modified for sucking and adapted for feeding on flowers. The length varies considerably: for example, the Anthracinae have short mouthparts, with the
labium terminating in a large fleshy labellum; in Phthiriinae, the tube is considerably longer, and in Bombyliinae more than four times the length of the head.
The legs are long and thin and the front legs are sometimes smaller and more slender than the middle and rear legs. Typically, they are provided with bristles at the apex of the tibiae, without
empodia and, sometimes, also without
pulvilli. The wings are transparent, often hyaline or evenly colored or with bands. The
alula are well developed and in the rest position the wings are kept open and horizontal in a V shape revealing the sides of the abdomen.
The abdomen is generally short and wide, subglobose-shaped, cylindrical, or conical, composed of six to eight apparent urites. The remaining urites are part of the structure of the external genitalia. The abdomen of the females often ends with spinous processes, used in ovideposition. In Anthracinae and Bombyliinae, a diverticulum is present in the eighth urite, in which the eggs are mixed with sand before being deposited.
Wing shape between species varies, with noticeable difference in shaped and
venation patterns. In Bombylius, differences in the position of the veins such as CuA and A1 are found between species and also vary between the sexes. Females have slightly larger wings than males that aid in better stability during flight and enable more efficient movement, especially in feeding and laying eggs. The difference in size gives females the ability to have longer flight periods.

The wing venation, although variable within the family, has some common characteristics that can be summarized basically in the particular morphology of the branches of the radial sector and the reduction of the forking of the media. The costa is spread over the entire margin and the subcosta is long, often ending on the distal half of the costal margin. The radius is almost always divided into four branches, with fusion of the branches R 2 and R 3, and is characterized by the sinuosity of the end portions of the branches of the radial sector. The venation presents a marked simplification compared to other Asiloidea and, in general, to other lower Brachycera. M 1 is always present and converges on the margin or, sometimes, of R 5. M 2 is present and reaches the margin, or is absent. M 3 is always absent and merged with M 4. The discal cell is usually present. The branch M 3 +4 is separated from the discal cell at the distal posterior vertex, so the mid-cubital connects directly to the posterior margin of the discal cell. The cubital and anal veins are complete and end separately on the margin or converge joining for a short distance Consequently, the cell cup may be open or closed.
Image:Bombyliidae wing veins-1.svg, Wing venation type 1 ''Bombylius''
Image:Bombyliidae wing veins-2.svg, Wing venation type 2 ''Anthrax''
Image:Bombyliidae wing veins-3.svg, Wing venation type 3 Usiinae
Hoverflies of the family
Syrphidae often mimic Hymenoptera as well, and some syrphid species are hard to tell apart from Bombyliidae at first glance, especially for bee fly species that lack a long proboscis or long, thin legs. Such bombyliids can still be distinguished in the field by anatomical features such as:
* They usually have an evenly curved or sloping face (hoverflies often have prominent bulges of the facial cuticle and/or beak- to knob-like facial projections).
* The wings lack a "false rear edge" and often have large dark areas with sharp boundaries, or complex patterns of spots (
hoverfly wings are often clear or have smooth gradients of tinting, and their veins merge posteriorly into a "false edge" rather than reaching the wing's true rear edge).
* The abdomen and thorax hardly ever have large glossy areas formed by exposed cuticle (hoverflies often have glossy cuticular body surfaces).
Larva
The larvae of most bee flies are of two types. Those of the first type are elongated and cylindrical in shape and have a metapneustic or amphipneustic tracheal system, provided with a pair of abdominal spiracles and, possibly, a thoracic pair. Those of the second type are stubby and eucephalic and have one pair of spiracles positioned in the abdomen.
Biology

Adults favour sunny conditions and dry, often sandy or rocky areas. They have powerful wings and are found typically in flight over flowers or resting on the bare ground exposed to the sun
watch video They significantly contribute to cross pollination of plants, becoming the main pollinators of some plant species of desert environments. Unlike the majority of nectar-feeding flies, the bee flies feed on pollen which provides essential proteins for their diet. A similar trophic behavior occurs among the
hoverflies
Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphids, make up the insect family (biology), family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen Hover (behaviour), hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed main ...
, another important family of Diptera pollinators.
Pollination and Feeding Behavior
As with hoverflies, bee flies are capable of sudden acceleration or deceleration, all but momentum-free high-speed changes of direction, superb control of position while hovering in mid-air, as well as a characteristically cautious approach of a possible feeding or landing site.
Bombyliids are often recognizable by their stocky shapes, by their hovering behavior, and for the particular length of their mouthparts and/or legs as they lean forward into flowers. Unlike hoverflies, which settle on the flower as do bees and other pollinating insects, those bee fly species which have a long proboscis generally feed while continuing to hover in the air, rather like Sphingidae, or while touching the flower with their front legs to stabilize their position - without fully landing or ceasing oscillation of the wings.
Species with shorter proboscis do land and walk on flower heads, however, and can be much harder to distinguish from hoverflies in the field. As noted, many bee fly species spend regular time intervals at rest on or near the ground, while hoverflies hardly ever do so. It can therefore be informative to watch feeding individuals and see whether or not they move down to ground level after a few minutes. Close observation is often easier with feeding individuals than with flies on the ground, as the latter are especially quick to take flight at the first sight of moving silhouettes or approaching shadows.
Mating and Reproduction
Mating behavior has only been observed in a handful of species. It can vary from fairly generic swarming or unsolicited mid-air interception, as is common in many
Diptera, to courtship behavior involving a context-specific flight pattern and wingbeat pitch of the male, with or without repeated proboscis contact between male and female. Males often seek out smaller or larger clearings on the ground, presumably in vicinity of flowering plants or host nesting habitats that are likely attractive to females. They can return to their chosen perch or patch after every feeding bout or after pursuit of other insects flying over, or they can instead survey their chosen territory while hovering one or more meters above the bare patch.
This remarkable behavior has earned some species the nickname "bomber flies", and involves the female hovering steadily above the entrance to a
burrow
file:Chipmunk-burrow (exits).jpg, An eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of Animal lo ...
before releasing her eggs midair with a sharp flick of the abdomen. Just prior to release, each egg is coated in sand taken from a storage chamber at the tip of the abdomen, where grains had been collected earlier during ground visits. The coating has multiple methods to help increase the chance of successful
parasitism
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...
. For example, the coating adds weight for better aim, protects the egg from drying out, and masking its scent from the
host insect.
Gravid females seek out nesting habitats of hosts, and can spend many minutes inspecting for example entrances of smaller burrows in soil. In some species this behavior consists of hovering and repeated split-second foreleg touches of soil near the edge of the burrow's entrance, presumably to detect biochemical clues about the burrow's constructor such as identity, recency of visiting etc. If a burrow passes scrutiny then the bee fly may proceed to land and insert its posterior abdomen into the soil, laying one or more eggs at the edge or in close vicinity to it. In nine subfamilies including the more frequently observable Bombyliinae and Anthracinae, the females often do not land at all during host burrow inspections, and will proceed to release their eggs from midair by quick flicks of the abdomen while hovering over the burrow's entrance.This behavior has earned such species the colloquial name of Bomber flies. Females with this remarkable
oviposition
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...
strategy typically have a ventral storage structure known as a sand chamber on the posterior end of the abdomen, which is filled with sand grains gathered before egg laying. These sand grains are used to coat each egg just before their aerial release, which is assumed to improve the female's aim as well as the egg's survival chances by adding weight, slowing down egg dehydration, masking biochemical cues that could trigger host behavior such as nest cleaning or abandonment - or a combination of all three.
Despite the high number of species of this family, the biology of juveniles of most species is poorly understood. The postembryonic development is of the type
hypermetamorphic, with parasitoid or hyperparasitoid larvae. Exceptions are the larvae of Heterotropinae, whose biology is similar to that of other Asiloidea, with predatory larvae that do not undergo hypermetamorphosis. Hosts of bee flies belong to different orders of insects, but mostly are among the holometabolous orders. Among these are Hymenoptera, in particular the superfamilies of
Vespoidea and
Apoidea
The superfamily Apoidea is a major group (of over 30 000 species) within the Hymenoptera, which includes two traditionally recognized lineages, the "sphecoid" wasps, and the bees. Molecular phylogeny demonstrates that the bees arose from ...
, beetles, other flies, and moths. Larvae of some species including ''
Villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
'' sp. feed on ova of
Orthoptera
Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...
. ''
Bombylius major'' larvae are parasitic on solitary bees including ''
Andrena''. ''
Anthrax anale'' is a parasite of
tiger beetle larvae, and ''A. trifasciata'' is a parasite of the wall bee. Several African species of ''
Villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
'' and ''
Thyridanthrax'' are parasitic pupae of
tsetse flies. ''
Villa morio'' is parasitic on the beneficial
ichneumonid species ''
Banchus femoralis''. The larvae of ''
Dipalta'' are parasitic on
antlions.
The behavior of known forms is similar to that of the larvae of
Nemestrinoidea: the first instar larva of is a
planidium while the other stages have a parasitic habitus. The eggs are laid usually in a future host or at the nest where the host develops. The planidium enters the nest and undergoes changes before starting to feed.
Zoogeography
The family is worldwide (
Palearctic realm
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The ...
,
Nearctic realm,
Afrotropical realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...
,
Neotropical realm
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...
,
Australasian realm,
Oceanian realm
The Oceanian realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms and is unique in not including any continental land mass. It has the smallest land area of any of the List of terrestrial ecoregions (WWF), WWF realms.
This realm includes the islands ...
,
Indomalayan realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...
), but they are most diverse in tropical and subtropical arid climates.
Species lists
West Palaearctic including RussiaJapanWorld list
Systematics

The systematics of bee flies are the most uncertain of any family of lower Brachycera.
Willi Hennig (1973) placed the bee flies in the superfamily of Nemestrinoidea, on the basis of analogies in the behaviour of the larvae, positioning the superfamily in Tabanomorpha inside the infraorder Homoeodactyla
Boris Rohdendorf (1974) dealt with the family in a separate superfamily (Bombyliidea), linking it to the superfamily of Asilidea.
Currently the close correlation either positions the bee-flies within the superfamily Asiloidea sensu Rohdendorf (Asilidea) or they are included with the families separated by Rohdendorf in the superfamily of Asiloidea.
The internal systematic of bee-flies is uncertain. In the past, 31 subfamilies were well defined, but the family is thought to be polyphyletic (''sensu lato''). In the 1980s and '90s, the family has undergone several revisions: Webb (1981)
finally moved the genus ''Hilarimorpha'' into their own family (
Hilarimorphidae). Zaitzev (1991)
moved the genus ''Mythicomyia'' and several other minor genera in the family
Mythicomyiidae, Yeates (1992, 1994)
shifted the entire subfamily of Proratinae, with the exception of ''Apystomyia'', into the family of
Scenopinidae and subsequently the genus ''Apystomyia'' into the family Hilarimorphidae. Nagatomi & Liu (1994) moved ''Apystomyia'' into a family of their own (
Apystomyiidae. After these revisions, the bee flies ''sensu stricto'' have a greater morphological homogeneity, but the monophyly of the family still remains dubious.
[Yeates & Lambkin, The Tree of Life, op. cit.] Phylogenetic analysis of CAD and 28S rDNA gene sequences supports monophyly of only eight subfamilies out of fifteen included in the study, with the Bombyliinae resolving as a highly polyphyletic group.
Overall, the family includes about 4700 described species, distributed among 270 genera. The internal arrangement varies according to the source, according to the different frameworks the authors attribute to tribes and subfamilies. To divide the family, often this scheme is used:
[
]
Genera
*'' Acanthogeron'' Bezzi, 1925
*'' Acreophthiria'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Acreotrichus'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Acrophthalmyda'' Bigot, 1858
*'' Adelidea'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Adelogenys'' Hesse, 1938
*'' Aldrichia'' Coquillett, 1894
*'' Alepidophora'' Cockerell, 1909
*'' Aleucosia'' Edwards, 1934
*'' Alomatia'' Cockerell, 1914
*'' Amictites'' Hennig, 1966
*'' Amictus'' Wiedemann, 1817
*'' Amphicosmus'' Coquillett, 1891
*'' Anastoechus'' Osten Sacken, 1877
*'' Anisotamia'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Anthrax'' Scopoli, 1763
*'' Antonia'' Loew, 1856
*'' Antoniaustralia'' Becker, 1913
*'' Apatomyza'' Wiedemann, 1820
*'' Aphoebantus'' Loew, 1872
*'' Apolysis'' Loew, 1860
*'' Astrophanes'' Osten Sacken, 1877
*'' Atrichochira'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Australiphthiria'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Australoechus'' Greathead, 1995
*'' Balaana'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Beckerellus'' Greathead, 1995
*'' Bombomyia'' Greathead, 1995
*'' Bombylella'' Greathead, 1995
*'' Bombylisoma'' Rondani, 1856
*'' Bombylius'' Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758, 1758
*'' Brachyanax'' Evenhuis, 1981
*'' Brachydemia'' Hull, 1973
*'' Bromoglycis'' Hull, 1971
*'' Brychosoma'' Hull, 1973
*'' Bryodemina'' Hull, 1973
*'' Cacoplox'' Hull, 1970
*'' Caecanthrax'' Greathead, 1981
*'' Callostoma'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Callynthrophora'' Schiner, 1868
*'' Canariellum'' Strand, 1928
*'' Chalcochiton'' Loew, 1844
*'' Choristus'' Walker, 1852
*'' Chrysanthrax'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Colossoptera'' Hull, 1973
*'' Comptosia'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Conomyza'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Cononedys'' Hermann, 1907
*'' Conophorina'' Becker, 1920
*'' Conophorus'' Meigen, 1803
*'' Corsomyza'' Wiedemann, 1820
*'' Coryprosopa'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Crocidium'' Loew, 1860
*'' Cryomyia'' Hull, 1973
*'' Cyananthrax'' Painter, 1959
*'' Cyllenia'' Latreille, 1802
*'' Cyrtomyia'' Bigot, 1892
*'' Cytherea'' Fabricius, 1794
*'' Cyx'' Evenhuis, 1993
*'' Dasypalpus'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Desmatomyia'' Williston, 1895
*'' Desmatoneura'' Williston, 1895
*'' Deusopora'' Hull, 1971
*'' Diatropomma'' Bowden, 1962
*'' Dicranoclista'' Bezzi, 1924
*'' Diochanthrax'' Hall, 1975
*'' Dipalta'' Osten Sacken, 1877
*'' Diplocampta'' Schiner, 1868
*'' Dischistus'' Loew, 1855
*'' Docidomyia'' White, 1916
*'' Doddosia'' Edwards, 1934
*'' Dolichomyia'' Wiedemann, 1830
*'' Doliogethys'' Hesse, 1938
*'' Eclimus'' Loew, 1844
*'' Edmundiella'' Becker, 1915
*'' Efflatounia'' Bezzi, 1925
*'' Enica'' Macquart, 1834
*'' Epacmoides'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Epacmus'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Eremyia'' Greathead, 1996\
*'' Eristalopsis'' Evenhuis, 1985
*'' Eucessia'' Coquillett, 1886
*'' Euchariomyia'' Bigot, 1888
*'' Euprepina'' Hull, 1971
*'' Eurycarenus'' Loew, 1860
*'' Euryphthiria'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Eusurbus'' Roberts, 1929
*'' Exechohypopion'' Evenhuis, 1991
*'' Exepacmus'' Coquillett, 1894
*'' Exhyalanthrax'' Becker, 1916
*'' Exoprosopa'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Geminaria'' Coquillett, 1894
*'' Geron'' Meigen, 1820
*'' Glaesamictus'' Hennig, 1966
*'' Gnumyia'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Gonarthrus'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Gyrocraspedum'' Becker, 1913
*'' Hallidia'' Hull, 1970
*'' Hemipenthes'' Loew, 1869
*'' Heteralonia'' Rondani, 1863
*'' Heterostylum'' Macquart, 1848
*'' Heterotropus'' Loew, 1873
*'' Hyperalonia'' Rondani, 1863
*'' Hyperusia'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Inyo'' Hall & Evenhuis, 1987
*'' Isocnemus'' Bezzi, 1924
*'' Kapu'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Karakumia'' Paramonov, 1927
*'' Laminanthrax'' Greathead, 1967
*'' Larrpana'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Laurella'' Hull, 1971
*'' Legnotomyia'' Bezzi, 1902
*'' Lepidanthrax'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Lepidochlanus'' Hesse, 1938
*'' Lepidophora'' Westwood, 1835
*'' Ligyra'' Newman, 1841
*'' Litorhina'' Bowden, 1975
*'' Lomatia'' Meigen, 1822
*'' Lordotus'' Loew, 1863
*'' Macrocondyla'' Rondani, 1863
*'' Mallophthiria'' Edwards, 1930
*'' Mancia'' Coquillett, 1886
*'' Mandella'' Evenhuis, 1983
*'' Mariobezzia'' Becker, 1913
*'' Marleyimyia'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Marmosoma'' White, 1916
*'' Megapalpus'' Macquart, 1834
*'' Megaphthiria'' Hall, 1976
*'' Melanderella'' Cockerell, 1909
*'' Meomyia'' Evenhuis, 1983
*'' Metacosmus'' Coquillett, 1891
*'' Micomitra'' Bowden, 1964
*'' Munjua'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Muscatheres'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Muwarna'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Myonema'' Roberts, 1929
*'' Neacreotrichus'' Cockerell, 1917
*'' Nectaropota'' Philippi
Philippi (; , ''Phílippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides (, ''Krēnĩdes'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colonists in 360/359 BC. The city was renamed by Phili ...
, 1865
*'' Neobombylodes'' Evenhuis, 1978
*'' Neodiplocampta'' Curran, 1934
*'' Neodischistus'' Painter, 1933
*'' Neosardus'' Roberts, 1929
*'' Nomalonia'' Rondani, 1863
*'' Nothoschistus'' Bowden, 1985
*'' Notolomatia'' Greathead, 1998
*'' Oestranthrax'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Oestrimyza'' Hull, 1973
*'' Ogcodocera'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Oligodranes'' Loew, 1844
*'' Oncodosia'' Edwards, 1937
*'' Oniromyia'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Othniomyia'' Hesse, 1938
*'' Pachyanthrax'' François, 1964
*'' Pachysystropus'' Cockerell, 1909
*'' Palaeoamictus'' Meunier, 1916
*'' Palaeogeron'' Meunier, 1915
*'' Palintonus'' François, 1964
*'' Palirika'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Pantarbes'' Osten Sacken, 1877
*'' Pantostomus'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Paracorsomyza'' Hennig, 1966
*'' Paradiplocampta'' Hall, 1975
*'' Parachistus'' Greathead, 1980
*'' Paracosmus'' Osten Sacken, 1877
*'' Parageron'' Paramonov, 1929
*'' Paramonovius'' Li & Yeates, 2018
*'' Paranthrax'' Bigot, 1876
*'' Parasysteochus'' Hall, 1976
*'' Paratoxophora'' Engel, 1936
*'' Paravilla'' Painter, 1933
*'' Parisus'' Walker, 1852
*'' Perengueyimyia'' Bigot, 1886
*'' Petrorossia'' Bezzi, 1908
*'' Phthiria'' Meigen, 1803
*'' Pilosia'' Hull, 1973
*'' Pipunculopsis'' Bezzi, 1925
*'' Platamomyia'' Brèthes, 1925
*'' Plesiocera'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Poecilanthrax'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Poecilognathus'' Jaennicke, 1867
*'' Praecytherea'' Théobald, 1937
*'' Prorachthes'' Loew, 1868
*'' Prorostoma'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Prothaplocnemis'' Bezzi, 1925
*'' Pseudopenthes'' Roberts, 1928
*'' Pteraulacodes'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Pteraulax'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Pterobates'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Pusilla'' Paramonov, 1954
*'' Pygocona'' Hull, 1973
*'' Relictiphthiria'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Rhynchanthrax'' Painter, 1933
*'' Satyramoeba'' Sack, 1909
*'' Semiramis'' Becker, 1913
*'' Semistoechus'' Hall, 1976
*'' Sericosoma'' Macquart, 1850
*'' Sericothrix'' Hall, 1976
*'' Sericusia'' Edwards, 1937
*''Sinaia
Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...
'' Becker, 1916
*'' Sisyromyia'' White, 1916
*'' Sisyrophanus'' Karsch, 1886
*'' Sosiomyia'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Sparnopolius'' Loew, 1855
*'' Sphenoidoptera'' Williston, 1901
*'' Spogostylum'' Macquart, 1840
*'' Staurostichus'' Hull, 1973
*'' Stomylomyia'' Bigot, 1888
*'' Stonyx'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Synthesia'' Bezzi, 1921
*'' Systoechus'' Loew, 1855
*'' Systropus'' Wiedemann, 1820
*'' Thevenetimyia'' Bigot, 1875
*'' Thraxan'' Yeates & Lambkin, 1998
*'' Thyridanthrax'' Osten Sacken, 1886
*'' Tillyardomyia'' Tonnoir, 1927
*'' Timiomyia'' Evenhuis, 1978
*'' Tithonomyia'' Evenhuis, 1984
*'' Tmemophlebia'' Evenhuis, 1986
*'' Tomomyza'' Wiedemann, 1820
*'' Tovlinius'' Zaitzev, 1979
*'' Toxophora'' Meigen, 1803
*'' Triplasius'' Loew, 1855
*'' Triploechus'' Edwards, 1937
*'' Turkmeniella'' Paramonov, 1940
*'' Usia'' Latreille, 1802
*'' Veribubo'' Evenhuis, 1978
*'' Verrallites'' Cockerell, 1913
*''Villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
'' Lioy, 1864
*'' Villoestrus'' Paramonov, 1931
*'' Walkeromyia'' Paramonov, 1934
*'' Wurda'' Lambkin & Yeates, 2003
*'' Xenoprosopa'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Xenox'' Evenhuis, 1984
*'' Xerachistus'' Greathead, 1995
*'' Xeramoeba'' Hesse, 1956
*'' Ylasoia'' Speiser, 1920
*'' Zaclava'' Hull, 1973
*'' Zinnomyia'' Hesse, 1955
*'' Zyxmyia'' Bowden, 1960
Gallery
Image:Unidentified Beeflies.jpg, Two species of unidentified beeflies from Coimbatore
Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.
Image:12Sep Ft Union National Monument 44-1.jpg, A bombyliid fly visiting a flower.
Image:Bee Fly x 3 - 2012-4.jpg, Bee fly in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
conservatory .
Image:FlowerBee2011.png, Bee fly landing on a flower
Image:Bee fly feeding02.jpg, '' Exoprosopa'' sp. feeding
Image:Bombyliid 7294.jpg, '' Lepidophora'' on '' Bidens laevis''
References
Further reading
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External links
Image Gallery from Diptera.info
Bombyliidae
(Bee Flies) by David K. Yeates and Christine L. Lambkin in the Tree of Life web project. Consulted March 28, 2007.
Wing venation
{{Authority control
Brachycera families
Insects used as insect pest control agents
Articles containing video clips
Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille
Brachycera