Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken, 1886

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 : 211

Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken

Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken, 1886 b: 113 (as subgenus of Anthrax Scopoli ), 123 (as ‘group’ of Anthrax

Scopoli). Type species: Anthrax selene Osten Sacken, 1886 , by subsequent designation (Coquillett,

1910: 615).

Comments: The genus Thyridanthrax is currently restricted to those species with hyaline areas within the infuscated part of the wing (fenestrate pattern); Hesse’s (1956) Group 2.

Keys: Palaearctic, Engel (1932 –7); Afrotropical, Bezzi, (1924), Greathead (1991 a); Eritrea /northern Ethiopia, Greathead (1967); southern Africa, Hesse (1956); West Africa, Bowden (1964).

Hosts: Reared from cocoons of Sphecidae , pupae of Noctuidae and Tenebrionidae , and egg-pods of Acrididae ( du Merle 1975; Yeates & Greathead 1997).

Distribution:Afrotropical, Holarctic and Neotropical Regions. North Africa: 9 species. Canary Islands: 1 species; Thyridanthrax indigenus (Becker) .Africa South of the Sahara: 7 species.