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Species list and info
Bombyliidae
Nomenclature
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Suborder: Brachycera
SUMMARY
Adapted and transcribed from Evenhuis, N.L. & Greathead, D, J.. 1999. World catalog of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Backhuys Publishers, Leiden. xlviii + 756 p.
Bombyliids, or bee flies as they are commonly called, comprise a diverse and speciose assemblage of brachycerous flies. With more than 5000 species known worldwide, they are one of the largest families of Diptera, surpassed in numbers of species only by the Tipulidae (14,000), Tachinidae (circa 8500 published species according to O'Hara, 2014; and it can amounts to 20 000 species according to the Mounty Wood), Syrphidae (over 6000 species), Asilidae (over 700 species), Ceratopogonidae (over 6000 species), and Dolichopodidae (over 5500 species). They occur in a variety of habitats and ecosystems (from circa 10 km from the Arctic Ocean in Canada through all latitudes as far south as Tierra del Fuego; and at altitudes from over 3500 m in the Himalayas to 200 m below sea level at the shores of the Dead Sea). They are found on all continents except Antarctica and also many oceanic islands. The family has a remarkable range in size (from some Exoprosopa with wingspans of more than 60 mm to the tiny Apolysis that can be as small as 1,5 mm in length) and variety of shapes (e.g., Systropus mimicking ammophiline wasps; Bombomyia mimicking bumblebees). The adults of the larger species are powerful and agile fliers, rivaling the syrphid flies in their ability to hover and move in all directions while in flight. With many species possessing colorful patterns of stripes and spots on the wings and bodies, bee flies are often some of the most striking in appearance of all the Diptera.
Individuals can often be seen either resting in the open on trails or on rocks or twigs sunning themselves, or feeding on a variety of flowering plants. Adults (except the few genera with nonfunctional mouthparts such as Oestranthrax) are nectar feeders and females are obligate pollen feeders, obtaining pollen from anthophilous plants as a necessary requirement for the nourishment of developing ova. As a result of this pollen and nectar feeding, bombyliids are often the major pollinators of many flowering plants, especially those occurring in the more desertic regions of our planet. Recent studies have shown that some plants depend on bee flies for pollination so that the survival of some endangered plant species may depend on preserving their bee fly pollinators. Immatures are poorly known as a whole, yet of those that have been reared, most are primarily parasitoids on the immatures of holometabolous insects (see Yeates & Greathead, 1997 for a complete review of the parasitic habits of the family). Still others are known to prey on the egg pods of orthopterans and one species (Petrorossia feti) has been recorded from the egg mass of a spider. Some species are important natural enemies of major pests including locusts and grasshoppers, armyworms, slug and nettle caterpillars, and tsetse. Others develop in nests of solitary wasps and bees and are occasionally considered to be pests when they kill the larvae of bees being bred as pollinators for crops such as alfalfa in the United States. Thus, bee flies are of economic importance as well as an attractive group of insects for studies on biodiversity and evolution.