Exhyalanthrax afer

Exhyalanthrax afer is a member of the fly family Bombyliidae first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794.^[3]

Exhyalanthrax afer
Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Bombyliidae
Subfamily:	Anthracinae
Tribe:	Villini
Genus:	Exhyalanthrax
Species:	E. afer
Binomial name
Exhyalanthrax afer Fabricius, 1794[1]
Synonyms
Anthrax afer Fabricius, 1794[1] Anthrax fimbriata Meigen, 1804 Anthrax sirius Hoffmansegg in Wiedemann, 1818 Anthrax hemipterus Pallas in Wiedemann, 1818 Anthrax marginalis Wiedemann in Meigen, 1820[2] Anthrax sirius Meigen, 1820[2] Anthrax tangerinus Bigot, 1892 Thyridanthrax burtti Hesse, 1956 Thyridanthrax aequisexus Bowden, 1964 Thyridanthrax decipiens Bowden, 196

Biology

Larvae feed on pupae of tachinid and ichneumonid parasitoids of the pine processionary caterpillar, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, the pupae of other Lepidoptera and from cocoons of the pine sawfly, Neodiprion sertifer. Adults are most often seen visiting flowers to feed on nectar.^[4]

Distribution

Afrotropical: Chad, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Yemen. Oriental: Pakistan. Palaearctic: Afghanistan, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, China (Beijing, Nei Monggol, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France (incl. Corsica), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece (incl. Lesbos), Gruzia, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (WS), Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (incl. Ibiza, Mallorca), Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia,^[5]