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''Brachyanax'' is a genus of
Males and females in the genus ''Brachyanax'' are morphologically the same except with respect to genitalia. Their body length is and their wingspan is . The head is either as wide as or narrower than the
bee fly
The Bombyliidae are a family (biology), family of fly, flies, commonly known as bee flies. Some are colloquially known as bomber flies. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae are mostly parasitoids o ...
in the subfamily Anthracinae. It was circumscribed by Neal Evenhuis in 1981. Thirteen species are recognized, and they are found in Asia and Australasia.
Taxonomic history
The American entomologist Neal Evenhuis created the genus in a 1981 paper in '' Pacific Insects''. His initialcircumscription
Circumscription may refer to:
* Circumscribed circle
* Circumscription (logic)
*Circumscription (taxonomy)
* Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...
included eleven species. Four species had first been described in the genus ''Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...
''; Evenhuis described the other seven species in his initial circumscription. Evenhuis and Junichi Yukawa described an additional new species in 1986. Further changes to the list of species in ''Brachyanax'' occurred in 1988 and 1999.
The generic name ''Brachyanax'' comes from the Greek (''brakhús''; "small, short") and ('' ánax''; "lord, master, general-in-chief"). The specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
of the type species, ''thelestrephones'', comes from the Greek (''thēlḗ''; "nipple") and (''stréphō''; "twist"). This led to the American entomologist Arnold Menke including ''Brachyanax thelestrephones'' in his 1993 list "Funny or Curious Zoological Names"; Menke translated the binomen
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
as "little chief nipple twister". Subsequent discussions of interesting taxonomic names have also included this binomen, using the same translation. The species ''B. thelestrephones'' became recognized as a junior synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
...
of ''B. satellitius'' in 1999. However, following the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...
, the type species of the genus remains ''Brachyanax thelestrephones''.
Phylogeny
When Evenhuis circumscribed ''Brachyanax'', he wrote this genus was between the tribes Anthracini and Exoprosopini although more similar to the former. Evenhuis and other dipterists have subsequently continued to place ''Brachyanax'' in Anthracini. The other genera placed in Anthracini are: ''Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...
'', '' Dicranoclista'', '' Satyramoeba'', '' Spogostylum'', '' Thraxan'', '' Turkmeniella'', '' Walkeromyia'', and '' Xenox''.
Distribution
''Brachyanax'' species are found in the Australasian/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 ...
(Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Bonin Islands), the Oriental realm (Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, India, Malaysia, Singapore, possibly China), and the 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 ...
(Japan, possibly China).
Description
Males and females in the genus ''Brachyanax'' are morphologically the same except with respect to genitalia. Their body length is and their wingspan is . The head is either as wide as or narrower than the thorax
The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen.
In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
; the abdomen is slightly narrower than the thorax.
''Brachyanax'' species have distinctive antennae: the pedicel, or second segment, is "spherically cone-shaped" and the base of the third segment, or flagellum, is rather enlarged and bulbous.
The wing venation
Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insect flight, insects to fly. They are found on the second and third Thorax (insect anatomy), thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often ...
is also distinctive: the radial vein R originates near the r-m crossvein and gently curves 90° to the wing's margin. The radial veins R and R both lack an appendix, or spur-vein, at their base. The anal cell, or cell cup, is closed, typically with a short stalk. The basal portion of the wing is an opaque dark brown; this can cover one-third to four-fifths of each wing's area. The remainder of the wing is colourless and transparent. Its squamae and squamal fringe are brown to dark brown.
Species
In 2015, Evenhuis and D. J. Greathead recognized the following thirteen species in ''Brachyanax'': * '' B. acroleucus'' * '' B. ater'' * '' B. aterrimus'' * '' B. bifuscatipennis'' * '' B. chichijimensis'' * '' B. costalis'' * '' B. gentilis'' * '' B. hemipenthes'' * '' B. leucostigma'' * '' B. magnipennis'' * '' B. papuanus'' * '' B. perniger'' * '' B. satellitius''References
{{taxonbar, from=Q14677287 Bombyliidae Bombyliidae genera Diptera of Asia Diptera of Australasia