Encyclopedia

Poecilanthrax

Genus of flies

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors

2 min read
Source updated March 13, 2026

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Poecilanthrax is a large, primarily Nearctic genus of flies belonging to the family Bombyliidae.

These are large to large robust flies with a body length of 8-14 mm. They have large elongate pictured wings, with 2 or 3 submarginal cells and no vein M2. The abdomen is moderately lengthened, with 7 visible tergites. The front tarsi are reduced, and the tibia smooth. The larvae feed on the moth larva of members of the family Noctuidae. Adults feed on pollen.

01Species

Poecilanthrax alcyon (Say, 1824)^{i c b}
Poecilanthrax alpha (Osten Sacken, 1877)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax apache Painter & Hall, 1960^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax arethusa (Osten Sacken, 1886)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax arizonensis Taber, 2008^{c g}
Poecilanthrax autumnalis (Cole, 1917)^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax bicellata (Macquart, 1847)^{c g b}
Poecilanthrax brachypus Calderwood, 1995^{c g}
Poecilanthrax californicus (Cole, 1917)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax colei Johnson and Johnson, 1957^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax demogorgon (Walker, 1849)^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax effrenus (Coquillett, 1887)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax eremicus Painter & Hall, 1960^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax fasciatus Johnson & Johnson, 1957^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax flaviceps (Loew, 1869)^{c g}
Poecilanthrax fuliginosus (Loew, 1869)^{c b}
Poecilanthrax hyalinipennis Painter & Hall, 1960^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax ingens Johnson & Johnson, 1957^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax interruptus Painter & Hall, 1960^{c g}
Poecilanthrax johnsonorum Painter and Hall, 1960^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax litoralis Painter & Hall, 1960^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax loewi Evenhuis & Greathead, 1999^{c g}
Poecilanthrax lucifer (Fabricius, 1775)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax macquarti Evenhuis & Greathead, 1999^{c g}
Poecilanthrax marmoreus Johnson and Johnson, 1957^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax mexicanus Painter, 1969^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax moffitti Painter and Hall, 1960^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax montanus Painter and Hall, 1960^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax monticola Johnson & Johnson, 1957^{c g b}
Poecilanthrax nigripennis (Cole, 1917)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax painteri Maughan, 1935^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax pallidifrons Evenhuis, 1977^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax pilosus (Cole, 1917)^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax poecilogaster (Osten Sacken, 1886b)^{c g b}
Poecilanthrax robustus Johnson and Johnson, 1957^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax sackenii (Coquillett, 1887)^{c g b}
Poecilanthrax signatipennis (Cole, 1917)^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax tanbarkensis Painter and Hall, 1960^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax tegminipennis (Say, 1824)^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax varius Painter & Hall, 1960^{i c g b}
Poecilanthrax vexativus Painter and Hall, 1960^{i c g}
Poecilanthrax willistonii (Coquillett, 1887)^{i c b}
Poecilanthrax zionensis Johnson and Johnson, 1957^{i c g}

Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

Watch videos about PoecilanthraxExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Poecilanthrax”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Poecilanthrax sp dorsal.jpg by JerryFriedman, CC BY-SA 3.0
1500poecilanthrax eremicus DSC9500 DxO.jpg by Pdeley, CC BY-SA 4.0
1500poecilanthraxapache DSC0235.jpg by Pdeley, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.