Exhyalanthrax Becker, 1916

Greathead, D. J. & Evenhuis, N. L., 2001, Annotated keys to the genera of African Bombylioidea (Diptera: Bombyliidae; Mythicomyiidae), African Invertebrates 42 (1820), pp. 105-224 : 208-209

Exhyalanthrax Becker

Exhyalanthrax Becker, 1916: 44 (as subgenus of Villa Lioy ). Type species: Anthrax vagans Loew, 1862 [= Anthrax muscaria Pallas, 1818 ], by subsequent designation (Bezzi, 1924: 7, 192).

Oriellus Hull, 1973: 403 (as subgenus of Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken ). Type species: Anthrax stigmulus Klug, 1832 , by original designation.

Tauropsis Hull, 1973:365, 368 (as subgenus of Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken ). Type species: Anthrax irrorellus Klug, 1832 , by original designation.

Comments: The numerous species of this genus have a characteristic appearance and formed Hesse’s (1956) Thyridanthrax Group 1. He had shown that some species have sexually dimorphic wing infuscations and, most notably, that lineus Loew with hyaline wings was the male of abruptus Loew with a dark basicostal infuscation. This provided the basis for acceptance of Exhyalanthrax Becker (proposed for species with hyaline wings) by Bowden (1980) for Hesse’s Group 1 species.

Keys: Palaearctic, Engel (1932 –7);Afrotropical, Bezzi, (1924); Eritrea /northern Ethiopia, Greathead (1967); southern Africa, Hesse (1956); West Africa, Bowden (1964), all as Thyridanthrax .

Hosts: Commonly reared as parasitoids in the pupae of Glossina spp. and other dipterous puparia, also reared from the parasitoids and hosts of parasitic Diptera and Hymenoptera ( du Merle 1975; Greathead 1980 c; Yeates & Greathead 1997).

Distribution: Afrotropical, Palaearctic and Oriental Regions. North Africa: 8 species. Canary Islands: 2 species; Exhyalanthrax canarionae Báez , E. simonae (François) .Africa South of the Sahara:about 37 species. Socotra: 2 species; E. alatus (Becker) , E. argentifrons (Becker) .