''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family
Asilidae
The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects their notoriously aggressive pre ...
. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''
Xylocopa
Carpenter bees are species in the genus ''Xylocopa'' of the subfamily Xylocopinae. The genus includes some 500 bees in 31 subgenera. The common name "carpenter bee" derives from their nesting behavior; nearly all species burrow into hard plant ma ...
'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of
aggressive mimicry
Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in which predators, parasites, or parasitoids share similar signals, using a harmless model, allowing them to avoid being correctly identified by their prey or host. Zoologists have repeatedly compared t ...
, providing protection from predators. The larvae of the fly feed on the larvae of ''Xylocopa'' within their cavity nests in wood. They are mainly found in the African and Madagascan region with about 15 species and two species in Asia.
Taxonomic description
These robberflies are large with a broad abdomen, with long and dense hairs on the femora, tibiae and basal tarsus segments of the leg. The head is wide. The wing is broad at the base and tapered at the tip. The body is 22 to 35 mm long. The palps have the second segment large, thin and leaflike with bristles on the top. The antennae have a stout basal segment that is longer than the next which is knob-like at the distal end. The third antennal segment is elongated and slender widening towards the middle and becoming spindle shaped. The frons is short and shiny.
Species in the genus include:
;
Afrotropical realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...
* ''
Hyperechia bifasciata''
* ''
Hyperechia albifasciata''
(Enderlein, 1930)
* ''
Hyperechia bomboides''
* ''
Hyperechia consimilis''
* ''
Hyperechia marshalli
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
''
* ''
Hyperechia madagascariensis''
* ''
Hyperechia nigripennis''
* ''
Hyperechia floccosa''
( Bezzi, 1908)
* ''
Hyperechia fuelleborni''
(Grünberg, 1907)
* ''
Hyperechia hirtipes''
(Fabricius Fabricius ( la, smith, german: Schmied, Schmidt) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*people from the Ancient Roman gens Fabricia:
**Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome
* Johann Goldsmid (1587†...
, 1805)
* ''
Hyperechia imitator
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
''
(Grünberg, 1907)
* ''
Hyperechia nigrita
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
''
(Grünberg, 1907)
* ''
Hyperechia pellitiventris
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
''
(Enderlein, 1930)
;
Indomalayan realm
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...
* ''
Hyperechia xylocopiformis
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
'' from India
* ''
Hyperechia fera
''Hyperechia'' is a genus of robber flies in the family Asilidae. They appear large, stout and with legs covered in bristles and appear like carpenter bees in the genus ''Xylocopa'' and the resemblance is considered as a case of aggressive mimicry ...
''
(Wulp, 1872) from Borneo
References
Laphriinae
Asilidae genera
Taxa named by Ignaz Rudolph Schiner
{{Asilidae-stub