Asilus
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Asilidae
- Genus: Asilus
Visual Description
Members of the genus Asilus are predatory flies, commonly known as robber flies. Observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset indicate that these insects typically possess a robust, elongated body form characteristic of the family Asilidae.[1] Key visual traits include:
- Body Structure: They exhibit a distinct, often bristly appearance, with a prominent thorax and a tapering abdomen.
- Head and Eyes: The head features large, prominent compound eyes that provide a wide field of view, and a strong, rigid proboscis adapted for piercing prey.
- Coloration: Many species, such as Asilus crabroniformis, display coloration patterns that may mimic other insects, such as wasps, often featuring combinations of yellow, brown, and black.
Ecology and Biology
Asilus is a genus of robber flies within the family Asilidae.[2] Like other members of this family, they are known for their predatory behavior, capturing other insects in flight.[3] The genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.[4]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Asilidae / Asilus constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ Asilus. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilus. Accessed 2026-07-10.
- ↑ Asilus. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Asilus. Accessed 2026-07-10.
- ↑ Asilus Linnaeus. 1758 - Plazi TreatmentBank. Plazi TreatmentBank. http://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/xhtml/7708F17AB83DE50363F1FD4F62CAFADC. Accessed 2026-07-11.