Anastoechus
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Bombyliidae
- Genus: Anastoechus
Visual Description
Members of the genus Anastoechus are characterized by a robust, bee-like appearance, typical of many bee flies (Bombyliidae). They are generally covered in dense, often shaggy, hair, which can vary in coloration from pale yellow or white to brownish tones. The body is typically compact and rounded. The wings are often clear or have faint patterns, and the proboscis is usually long and slender, adapted for feeding on nectar from flowers.[1]
Ecology and Biology
The genus Anastoechus plays a significant ecological role as both a pollinator and a natural enemy. Adults are frequently observed visiting flowers to feed on nectar. The larvae are known to be parasitoids, specifically targeting the egg masses of grasshoppers.[2]
Genomics
Genomic research has been conducted on the genus, with a chromosome-level genome assembly generated for Anastoechus asiaticus. This assembly, which serves as a resource for studying population genetics and ecological adaptation, has a total size of 512.14 Mb. Annotation of this genome identified 12,751 protein-coding genes.[2]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Bombyliidae / Anastoechus constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 Gang Yao; Xiaodong Cai; Jiuzhou Liu; Shuangmei Ding; Xulong Chen; Chen Lin; Xuankun Li; Ding Yang. Chromosome-level genome assembly of Anastoechus asiaticus (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Scientific Data. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06324-7.