Atomosia melanopogon
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Asilidae
- Genus: Atomosia
- Species: Atomosia melanopogon
Visual Description
Atomosia melanopogon is a species of robber fly characterized by a robust, somewhat compact body form typical of the genus Atomosia. Observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset show that these flies possess a dense covering of fine, hair-like setae across much of the thorax and abdomen, which can give them a somewhat fuzzy appearance.[1] The coloration is generally dark, often with metallic or blackish tones on the exoskeleton, and the legs are well-developed for perching.[1]
Ecology and Behavior
Atomosia melanopogon is a predatory insect, as is typical for members of the family Asilidae. It has been documented visiting various plants, including Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) and Helianthus annuus (common sunflower), likely to perch while hunting for prey or to feed on nectar.[2]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Asilidae / Atomosia / melanopogon constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ Atomosia melanopogon. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Atomosia%20melanopogon. Accessed 2026-07-14.