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Diagnoses for some species of Bombyliidae in US & Canada (in development)

Authors: Zachary Dankowicz

Last updated: Nov 2022

Help identify observations on iNaturalist:

www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?place_id=1,6712&taxon_id=51557,318497,69744

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Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major)

The species Bombylius major can be recognized by the following combination of characteristics:

Wing infuscation has a distinct posterior border, reaches about halfway down the wing
Setae is mostly brownish to yellowish, with some white spots, sometimes mostly white underneath

Only species that can be easily confused is B. anthophilus, which looks like B. major but with almost entirely white setae on the dorsum. Watch out for white forms of B. major outside of the known range of B. anthophilus.

Widespread

Darkness on wing with distinct border, never diffuse

Body black with brownish to yellowish setae

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Sinuous Bee Fly (Hemipenthes sinuosa)

This species can be distinguished from all other Bombyliidae with the following combination of characteristics:

More than half of wing darkened, with jagged and distinct posterior border, and a blob at the apex
No crossvein between R2+3 and R4

The only other species with the blob on the end of the wing like H. sinuosa are H. jaennickeana, H. blanchardiana, and H. scylla.

The only consistent difference between H. sinuosa and H. jaennickeana is the presence of a crossvein between R2+3 and R4 in the latter. However, H. sinuosa rarely has the crossvein, and in those cases only genitalia can be used.The other two species have either evidently less or more infuscation than H. sinuosa and H. jaennickeana in cells dm and r5, and are strictly Southwestern.

Widespread

No crossvein

Wing infuscation; note the ‘blob’ here

Crossvein present in certain other spp

See here for figures of wing infuscation and venation: Ávalos-Hernández, Omar. (2009). A Review Of The North American Species Of Hemipenthes Loew, 1869 (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Zootaxa. 2074. 1-49.

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Chrysanthrax cypris

This species can be recognized by the following combination of characteristics:

Black body covered with golden setae, sometimes with a median black stripe on the abdomen
Wings slightly more than half infuscated, dark, with a very distinct edge

To confirm: posterior edge of infuscation is horizontal when viewed from above

Widespread; concentrated in the Southeast

Distinct edge of infuscation, about half way down

Covered with golden setae, sometimes with black stripe

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Bright Bee Fly (Poecilanthrax lucifer)

This species can be recognized by the following combination of characteristics:

Wings entirely slightly darkened (fading posteriorly) with veins at least basally reddish
Setae on the side of the second segment yellow or orange, without a clear tuft of black
Rest of abdomen pale (usually yellow) with thin dark bands

Widespread in Southern US, most common in the Southern Midwest

Wings entirely smoky with veins reddish

Setae on second segment yellowish

Other segments alternating with pale hair and thin black bands

Diagnosis created with help from Mikie Green

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References

BugGuide.net

Ávalos-Hernández, Omar. (2009). A Review Of The North American Species Of Hemipenthes Loew, 1869 (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Zootaxa. 2074. 1-49. 10.5281/zenodo.187152.

Evenhuis, N.L. & Greathead, D.J. 2015. World catalog of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Revised September 2015. Available at: http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/bombcat/bombcat-revised2015.pdf

Kits, J.H., Marshall, S.A., and Evenhuis, N.L. 2008. The bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae) of Ontario, with a key to the species of eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 6, 06 March 2008, available online at doi: 10.3752/cjai.2008.06

Painter, R.H., and Hall, J.C. 1960. A monograph of the genus Poecilanthrax (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Technical Bulletin of the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station, 106: 1–132.