Anthrax analis (Lichtenstein 1796)

Anthrax analis Say

Anthrax analis Say, 1823, p. 45.—Osten Sacken, 1858, p. 39.—Johnson, 1925, p. 108 [anole].—Curran, 1927, p. 85.— Painter, 1930, p. 794.—Painter, 1933, p. 5 [anale].—Maughan, 1935, p. 32.—Brimley, 1938, p. 341.—Strickland, 1938, p. 195.

Argyramoeba analis.—Osten Sacken, 1877, p. 242.—Osten Sacken, 1878, p. 89.—Osten Sacken, 1886, p. 101.—Coquillett, 1894, p. 95.—Johnson, 1895, p. 325.—Rau, 1926, p. 231 [Argyromoeba anale].

Spongostylum anale.—Aldrich, 1905, p. 222 [Spogostylum].—Johnson, 1913, p. 55 [Spogostylum].—Shelford, 1913, p. 213 [Spogostylum].—Malloch, 1915, p. 328 [Spogostylum]—Cole and Lovett, 1921, p. 243 [Spogostylum].—Cole, Malloch, and McAtee, 1924, p. 185 [Spogostylum].

Anthrax georgicus Macquart, 1834, p. 406 [georgica].—Macquart, 1840, p. 346 [georgica].—Osten Sacken, 1858, p. 40.—Painter and Painter, 1962, p. 75.

Argyramoeba gideon.—Coquillett, 1894, p. 95 [not Fabricius, 1805].

Spongostylum gideon. Aldrich, 1905, p. 223 [Spogostylum] [not Fabricius, 1805].

Spongostylum occidentalis.—Johnson, 1913, p. 56 [Spogostylum].

MALE.—Body black, tibiae sometimes red or yellow, femora sometimes red; integument light and dark brown pruinose. Front with black setae and scales; face with black setae extending almost to antennae. Occiput with sparse black setae and a few black scales; fringe of hairs on posterior margin black. First antennal segment about as long as apical width; second segment biscuit shaped, flattened apically; base of third segment flattened laterally, narrowing abruptly to styliform part, about as wide as second segment; styliform part about one-half longer than base, two to three times longer than style (Figure 116).

Discs and lateral margins of mesonotum and scutellum with linear black scales. Sternopleuron, lower half of mesopleuron, and anterior part of pteropleuron with black setae and linear black scales; upper half of mesopleuron with black pile and fine and coarse black setae. Prosternum, propleuron, and anterior margin of mesonotum with black pile, some white pile often present on latter; postalar tuft of pile black, or rarely mixed black and white. Coxae with black bristles and scales.

Wing typically dark brown basally, hyaline apically (Plate 3a); pigment extending out to a line from tip of vein R1 across cell R1 slightly basad along vein R2+3 and perpendicularly across cells R2+3 and R5, or diagonally across cells R2+3 and R5 about to bifurcation of vein M1+2, along vein M1+2 halfway to r–m crossvein, and thence posteriorly to tip of cell 2A; extreme tip of cell 1A sometimes hyaline. Base of cell R4 evenly rounded; r–m crossvein at basal two-fifths of cell 1M2, vein R2+3 arising opposite. Contact of cells 1M2 and Cu1 slightly shorter or longer man width of base of cell Cu1; cell 1A closed at margin or short petiolate; cell 2A not narrowed, wider than cell 1A postmedially; alula not reduced, posterior margin rounded. Stigmatic area pigmented. Calypter pigmented, fringe of hairs white or brown. Stem of halter brown, knob brown basally, yellow apically.

Legs with black scales. Middle and hind femora with one or two macrochaetae anterodorsally, or with only a few toward the apex; hind tibia with a single or double row of macrochaetae anterodorsally.

Sides of first abdominal tergum with black, white, or mixed pile; terga two through four, and sometimes five, six, and seven with black pile, setae and scales laterally. Posterior margin of first tergum with linear black scales; discs of terga two through four, and middle of five with linear black scales; remainder of terga with dense or sparse, linear or lanceolate, truncate, posteriorly produced, white scales sometimes restricted to lateral margins and occasionally absent. Venter with black setae and linear scales.

MALE GENITALIA (Figure 64).—Gonocoxites very broad basally, dorsal margins tapering concavely to acute apices in lateral view; apices bluntly rounded in ventral view, mesal sulcus very narrow; setae evenly distributed as far as midway between medial fold and base. Basal segment of gonostylus elongate basally, slightly convex dorsally in lateral view; distal segment round basally in cross section, tapering to acute apex which is slightly bent upward and outward; ventral margin curved sharply upward before styliform part; setae present laterally and ventrally on basal part. Apex of epiphallus with a raised dorsal plate formed at a 45° angle, plate right angled basally, truncate apically in dorsal view; ventrolateral part curved inward below, extending out as far as middle of dorsal plate. Dorsal bands united mesally, without setae. Aedeagus narrow, tapering to junction with ventral bands before junction of dorsal bands.

FEMALE.—Similar to male. White scales on posterior abdominal terga restricted to lateral margin of fifth tergum or absent.

FEMALE GENITALIA (Figure 93).—Tenth tergum without spines. Ventral arm enlarged and bilobate apically. Dorsomedial angle of sclerite on each side of gonopore produced dorsointeriorly as a short, sharp, acuminate lobe; lateral arm tapering and curved upward apically; ventral arm broad basally, tapering to sharp apex which is slightly curved mesad. Each spermathecal duct about as long as bulb; first section very short; second section enlarged apically, about one-fourth longer than third section which is about half as long as bulb; bulb ovoid, narrowing basally to duct and somewhat constricted premedially.

DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY.—Anthrax analis occurs throughout North America from northern Canada to Central America (Map 24). It is found in areas of sand dunes, along beaches, and in sandy or gravelly areas along rivers. It seems to be replaced in the forested areas of Mexico and Central America by gideon, although their distributions broadly overlap.

TYPES.—The type of A. analis Say apparently has been lost along with the remainder of Say’s collection. Say’s description, however, leaves little doubt as to the identity of the species. The type-locality is Georgia.

Painter and Painter (1962) found the type of Anthrax georgicus Macquart, a female, in the Ville de Lille, Museu d’ Histoire naturelle. The head has been glued on, the antennae are nearly gone, and it has been in liquid at some time. The photograph of the wing is like that of a typical specimen of A. analis. The type-locality is Georgia.

The type female of Anthrax cedens Walker is in the British Museum. According to Painter and Painter (1962), it “bears the green type label with ‘A cedens Walk.’ on back, a second label ‘68–4,’ a small yellow label with no writing, and ‘U.S.A. pres. W. W. Saunders 1868–4.’ ” A photograph of the wing of the type shows it to be a rather heavily pigmented female like those discriminated below.

Painter and Painter (1962) stated that there were three female specimens in the Bigot collection in the British Museum under the name Hemipenthes latelimbatus. One specimen carried the pin label “Hemipenthes latelimbatus m, f, n. sp. Inédit. Avril 1889 J. Bigot Jun (?) Carolin.” The best preserved specimen was selected as a lectotype. The photograph of the wing and description given by Painter and Painter clearly indicate that this species is synonymous with A. analis, f. cedens Walker.

The type male of Spongostylum grossbecki Johnson is deposited in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History and has been studied by the author. It lacks the head but is otherwise in excellent condition and is typical of males of the form grossbecki discussed later. Johnson (1913) erroneously referred the female of this form to A. cephus Fabricius. The type-locality is Lakeland, Florida.

The cotypes of Spongostylum occidentalis Johnson, from Denver, Colorado, and Seattle, Washington, are in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and have been seen by the author. Johnson (1913) named this species in a key to the species related to analis in North and South America but did not give a detailed description. He implied that one of the specimens was a male, although both are females. The specimen from Denver was in good condition except that one of the forelegs and the last segment of the antenna were missing. The specimen from Seattle was missing the head, one foreleg, and one hind leg, and was slightly rubbed. Both specimens fall within the range of variation of analis in the western United States.

BIOLOGY.—Shelford (1913) gave an excellent account of the life history and habits of analis which he reared from the burrows of “Cicindela scutellaria Say, var. lecontei Hald.” (Coleoptera: Cicindellidae). Malloch (1915) described the larva and pupa, utilizing specimens collected by Shelford. Anthrax analis has been collected many times by the author in sandy areas where the females were seen ovipositing in holes in the sand. This species may parasitize bees and wasps nesting in such areas, in addition to tiger beetles.

MAP 24.—Distribution of Anthrax analis (horizontal lines) and A. funebris (vertical lines).

Anthrax analis Say

Shelford (1913) gave an excellent account of the life history and habits of A. analis, which he reared from burrows of “Cicindela Scutellaria Say, var. lecontei Hald.” (Coleoptera: Cicindellidae). Malloch (1915) described the larva and pupa, utilizing specimens collected by Shelford. The specimen described here is from the R. H. Painter collection (see table). It agrees well with Malloch’s description, although the latter is rather incomplete, due to a lack of closely related species for comparison.

Integument of pupa yellowish hyaline with yellow setae and reddish brown black-tipped tubercles and spines. Anterior cephalic tubercle (Plate 2A) broadly separated from middle and posterior ones, long, narrow, acuminate, and with sharp lateral, mesal, and ventral ridges; medial and posterior tubercles united about halfway to apex of posterior tubercle; medial tubercle formed well inside line between tips of anterior and posterior ones, narrow, acuminate, and with sharp dorsal, mesal, and posterolateral ridges; posterior tubercle slightly curved mesad, acuminate, sharp, with sharp dorsal, ventral, and lateral ridges. Facial sclerite about seven times longer than narrowest width, posterior end shallowly emarginate. Anterior facial tubercles anteroposteriorly flattened, long, broad basally, tapering to sharp apices, meeting at acute angle mesally. Posterior facial tubercles undeveloped, represented by rounded node.

Spiracles produced distinctly above surrounding integument; thoracic spiracle with about seventeen sections, posterior ones reduced; abdominal spiracles with about ten sections, anteroventral ones reduced. Flanges undeveloped.

Sixth and seventh terga with small, single spines between setae. Eighth tergum without spines or setae. Medial process on ninth tergum undeveloped, represented by low, acutely pointed node. Anal tubercles (Plate 3A) long, narrow, curved upward, and separated by about one and a half times width of one tubercle mesally. Each tubercle without denticles at base or on ventral side; dorsomesal side with poorly defined denticle about one-half of distance to apex formed by apical extension of thin, sharp dorsomesal ridge; apex narrow, curved slightly upward and mesad, sharp, and with poorly defined lateral, dorsomesal, and ventromesal ridges.

The pupa of A. analis is most similar to that of koebelei. A. analis may be readily recognized, however, by absence of spines on the eighth abdominal tergum and by acuminate rather than rounded anterior facial tubercles. These two species may be separated from all other species studied, except xylocopae and tigrinus, by the absence of denticles at the bases of the anal tubercles, and from the latter by being much smaller and having acuminate rather than rounded cephalic tubercles.

Anthrax analis is a species of bee fly in the family Bombyliidae. It's a parasitoid whose hosts include Cicindela scutellaris, Cicindela hirticollis, Cicindela marginata, Cicindela punctulata, and Cicindela tranquebarica.