''Hemipenthes morio'' is a species of 'bee flies' belonging to the family

Bombyliidae The Bombyliidae are a family of flies, commonly known as bee flies. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, some being important pollinators. Larvae are mostly parasitoids of other insects. Overview The Bombyliidae are a large family of fl ...

subfamily

Anthracinae Anthracinae is a subfamily of bee flies in the family Bombyliidae. There are more than 80 genera and 2,000 described species in Anthracinae. Genera *''Anthrax'' Scopoli, 1763 *'' Aphoebantus'' Loew, 1872 *''Astrophanes'' Osten Sacken, 1886 * ...

. This common 'bee-fly' is mainly present in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

, and the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

. The adults grow up to long, while the wingspan reaches . They can mostly be encountered from May through August feeding on nectar and pollen of a variety of flowers (for instance of ''Lavandula stoechas'', ''Cytisus scoparius'', ''Thapsia villosa'', etc.). Their body is dark-brown and hairy, especially on the side of the abdomen. The wings have a light area located near the apex and a dark area close to costal margin, separated by a zig-zag division. The apex of cell R1 is hyaline. The dark area of the wings almost reaches the end of the abdomen. The larvae are

hyperparasite A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two othe ...

s (parasites of parasites), mainly developing in larvae of flies (

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

, Tachinidae), as well as in wasp larvae (

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

, Ichneumonidae) parasitizing caterpillars moths (

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

References

* David K. Yeates; Christine L. Lambkin
The Tree of Life
* Mark van Veen, Zeist

External links

Biolib

Fauna Europaea

Herramientas
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1604784 Bombyliidae Flies described in 1758 Diptera of Europe Parasites of Diptera Parasites of Hymenoptera Hyperparasites Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus