Anthrax irroratus
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Bombyliidae
- Genus: Anthrax
- Species: Anthrax irroratus
Visual Description
Anthrax irroratus, commonly known as the spotted bee fly, is a member of the family Bombyliidae. Observations of specimens from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset reveal a fly with a distinctively patterned wing, characterized by dark, mottled spots or patches against a generally clear or lightly tinted wing membrane.[1] The body is typically covered in dense, hair-like setae, which is a common feature among many bee flies, providing a robust, bee-like appearance.[1]
Ecology and Distribution
Anthrax irroratus is a species of bee fly occurring in Ontario and eastern Canada.[2] It is one of eight species of the genus Anthrax recognized in this region.
Like other members of the family Bombyliidae, A. irroratus is known to visit flowers, such as Saponaria officinalis and Monarda fistulosa, to feed on nectar.[3] The larvae of some Anthrax species are known to be ectoparasitoids of other insects, such as tiger beetles or certain Hymenoptera, including Megachile inermis.
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Bombyliidae / Anthrax / irroratus constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ . Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 2008. https://doi.org/10.3752/cjai.2008.06.
- ↑ Anthrax irroratus. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Anthrax%20irroratus. Accessed 2026-07-14.