Anthrax irroratus
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Bombyliidae
- Genus: Anthrax
- Species: Anthrax irroratus
Visual Description
Anthrax irroratus, commonly known as the spotted bee fly, is a member of the family Bombyliidae. Observations of specimens from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset reveal a fly with a distinctively patterned wing, characterized by dark, mottled spots or patches against a generally clear or lightly tinted wing membrane.[1] The body is typically covered in dense, hair-like setae, which is a common feature among many bee flies, providing a robust, bee-like appearance.[1]
Ecology and Distribution
Anthrax irroratus is a species of bee fly occurring in Ontario and eastern Canada.[2] It is one of eight species of the genus Anthrax recognized in this region.[2]
Like other members of the family Bombyliidae, A. irroratus is known to visit flowers, such as Saponaria officinalis and Monarda fistulosa, to feed on nectar.[3] The larvae of some Anthrax species are known to be ectoparasitoids of other insects, such as tiger beetles or certain Hymenoptera, including Megachile inermis.[3][2]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 3 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Bombyliidae / Anthrax / irroratus constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 3 . Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 2008. https://doi.org/10.3752/cjai.2008.06.
- 1 2 Anthrax irroratus. Global Biotic Interactions. https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?targetTaxon=Anthrax%20irroratus. Accessed 2026-07-14.