With 7,003 species in 530 genera worldwide, robber flies are one of the largest and most abundant families of insects alive today. Laphria is a very large genus of robber flies. It occurs in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and Central America. There are 240 species of Laphria worldwide, 62 species in North America north of Mexico, and at least 13 in Minnesota. Adults prey on flying insects, often larger than themselves, including bees and other robber flies. Larvae prey on insects in rotting wood.

Description

Bee-mimic robber flies, as their name suggests, resemble bees. Laphria are large robber flies. Adults are ½″ to ¾″ long. Some are bee-like, with a long, tapering abdomen. Others are bumble bee-like, with a stout abdomen.


Distribution
		Sources 7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.
11/10/2024


Taxonomy
Order	Diptera (flies)
Suborder	Brachycera
Infraorder	Asilomorpha
Superfamily	Asiloidea
Family	Asilidae (robber flies)
Subfamily	Laphriinae
Tribe	Laphriini

Subordinate Taxa
ashy laphria (Laphria cinerea) bee-mimic robber flies (Laphria canis complex) common black laphria (Laphria canis) dagger laphria (Laphria sicula) (?) western black laphria (Laphria franciscana) Winnemana laphria (Laphria winnemana) (?) bee-mimic robber flies (Laphria index complex) arrowhead laphria (Laphria index) southern arrowhead laphria (Laphria ithypyga) (?) bee-mimic robber flies (Laphria sericea complex) radiant laphria (Laphria atkis) silky laphria (Laphria sericea) undescribed species (Laphria sp.) (?) black-tailed laphria (Laphria flavicollis) black-waisted laphria (Laphria divisor) boreal laphria (Laphria posticata) eastern yellow-backed laphria (Laphria thoracica) Huron laphria (Laphria huron) orange-tailed laphria (Laphria janus) remarkable laphria (Laphria insignis) yellow-waisted laphria (Laphria sacrator)

Synonyms


Common Names
bee-like robber flies bee-mimic robber flies


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Alfredo Colon


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