Diario del proyecto Bombyliidae (Bee Flies) - Southern Africa

Easily recognized by the bee-like dark and pale or creamy yellowish, regular bands across abdomen and the Exoprosopa stannusi-like wing-pattern (https://www.pindip.org/exoprosopa-stannusi): Wings with narrow brownish fore-border and infuscated crossveins.

Description by Hesse:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844969#page/818/mode/1up

Distribution: Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal), Tanzania

iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193820106

Identified by chracteristic wing-pattern with conspicuous spots on the cross veins and bifurcations in addition to an anterior infuscation.
Scaling on thorax above in streaks of greyish scales, separated by dark ones, the streak on sides conspicuously white; scaling on scutellum yellowish; scaling on abdomen above composed of yellowish, white and black ones, the latter mostly concentrated narrowly across hind margins of tergites, the white ones occur across hind margin of tergite 1 laterally, extreme sides of 2, on sides and as a narrow band across base of 3, sides and across base of 5 and across entire 6 and 7
Proboscis longer than the head.

Description by Hesse:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844208#page/859/mode/1up

Wing illustrated in Loew:
Fig 39: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35325#page/349/mode/1up

Distribution: Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Northern Province, North-West Province, Western Cape), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/109621829

This species is distinguished by the prevailing red colour of legs and red thoracic and abdominal markings. Wings with 3 submarginal cells, infuscation on the costal part.

Description by Bezzi:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/37730#page/201/mode/1up

Photos from Natural History Museum (London) Collection: https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1826249371

A common species in the Cape.

Observation on iNat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61414025

Identified by chracteristic wing-pattern: Wings entirely blackish-brown, with hyaline spots in the centre of
the cells, second longitudinal vein exceedingly looped at end.

Description by Bezzi:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1540304#page/136/mode/1up

Description by Hesse:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844208#page/337/mode/1up

Wing illustrated in Bezzi 1921:
Fig 21: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1540304#page/199/mode/1up

Observation on iNat: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43410148

Wings with 2 submarginal cells, greyish hyaline, infuscated with a sharply defined dark fore border, with a conspicuous brownish spot at junction of second and third longitudinal veins.
Pubescence on body relatively longer and denser than in other species, predominantly silvery whitish.
Thorax above with 2 red patches on each side.
Propleural callosity above front coxae only ivory yellowish in upper part and small sclerite above it black.
Legs with front coxae (with the exception of the base of the femora and the tips of the tarsi, which are blackened) red.

Description by Hesse:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40845178#page/1028/mode/1up

Westwood's orgininal description & description of pupa
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14674992#page/605/mode/1up

Recorded from South Africa and Botswana.

These flies have been reared from cocoons of the limacodid moth Coenobasis amoena Felder, 1874 (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/658574-Coenobasis-amoena), found on 'Acacia' trees.

Face rather conical.
Thorax with yellow-whitish hair streak along the entire lateral edge. The scales on the upper side of the thorax are yellow/light brown on three fairly noticeable longitudinal stripes, otherwise pretty black.
Scaling on body above mainly buff-coloured, yellowish, ochreous yellowish to deep orange or ochreous brownish, but silvery whitish across hind margin of scutellum; scales across hind margins of tergites 2, 3 and narrowly across bases of 4 and 5 in female black, these bands in male broader; black scales on sides of 2 tuft-like and longish and some dark ones also across hind margin of 7 in female; bands of white scaling conspicuous and complete across bases (female) and nearly basal halves (male) of tergites 3 and 6, but sometimes only evident laterally as on sides basally of 2 and 4, usually covering entire 7.
Wings hyaline with pale yellowish base, with or without spot-like infuscations on cross veins in basal half of wings.

Description by Loew (Anthrax leuciprocta):
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35325#page/240/mode/1up

Description by Hesse (Thyridanthrax leucoproctus):
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844208#page/582/mode/1up

Distribution: Botswana, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, "Transvaal", Western Cape), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Abdomen bee-like with black and yellow rings, with the black and yellowish bands rather constant, without any white scaling on sides of tergites, and with only the last tergite distinctly white-scaled, and tergite 2 with a broadish basal band (very broad in females) of yellowish scales, the hinder half or hind part black-scaled; face and legs are dark; wings with the anterior infuscation usually faint, somewhat diffuse.

Original description by Hesse 1956:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844208#page/886/mode/1up

Distribution: Eastern South Africa (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, North-West Province)

Greathead recorded this species in Mkhuze from Vachellia leuderitzii low thicket, Vachellia nigrescens low open woodland and Terminalia sericea low open woodland.

iNat observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196504982

Abdomen with central, discal, black band on abdomen above very broad, much broader than red on sides.
Legs predominantly yellowish.
Vestiture on face usually, or even entirely,
Fine scaling above gleaming brassy yellowish.
Wings with the infuscated brownish yellowish. Apex of wings (figure) from apex of costal cell more or less straight; alula and axillary lobe reduced, the wings thus also appearing pedunculate.

Distribution: Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal), Zimbabwe

iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196684109

An very distinctive fly of brownish colour with yellowish-white coloration on the head. The pile of the front, the sides of the thorax and scutellum and all tibiae and femora is decidedly bristly and black. The thorax above and the whole abdomen, is covered with matted, appressed pile, slightly scaliform, of mixed colours, pale brown and brownish white or yellow.
The wings are quite distinctive; the costal cell is yellowish and the remainder of the wing infuscated brown, though paler on the posterior half; it has 8 distinct and conspicuous pale whitish fenestrate spots centered about the crossveins and vein furcations, and each of considerable size. There are 3 submarginal cells and the marginal cell is divided into 3 cells by 2 extra crossveins. The second vein often arises as a crossvein with backward spur. The wing is narrow basally, the alula narrow.

The wing is illustrated in Hull 1973:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/102774#page/514/mode/1up

Description by Bezzi 1956:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844162#page/48/mode/1up

Original description by Wiedemann (Anthrax longirostris):
Wiedemann, C.R.W. 1819. Beschreibung neuer Zweiflügler aus Ostindien und Afrika. Zoologisches Magazin 1(3)
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14928692#page/19/mode/1up

Distribution: Western Cape, South Africa

iNat observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/664128-Enica-longirostris/browse_photos

Scaling on abdomen above predominantly black and dense, only those transversely on sides of tergite 3 and numerous ones intermixed on sides of 6 and 7 white. Wings with a distinctive dark Litorhina-like pattern, consisting of a black infuscation, extending from base to level of submarginal cross vein, leaving the apex of wings clear, and with this infuscation divided in the middle by a clear indentation.

Description Hesse 1956:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40844644#page/828/mode/1up

Original description Loew 1860:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35325#page/247/mode/1up

Wing illustrated in Loew, fig 27:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35325#page/349/mode/1up

Distribution: South Africa, Zimbabwe

iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196975314