Anthrax is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of bombyliid

Bombyliidae

Bombyliidae is a large family of flies with hundreds of genera, although their life cycles are not well known. Adults generally feed on nectar and pollen, thus are pollinators of flowers. They superficially resemble bees, thus are commonly called bee flies, and this may offer the adults some...

 flies

Fly

True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...

, commonly known as "bee-flies" due to their resemblance to bee

Bee

Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...

s. Most are dull black flies, and are usually small to medium in size, 4–20 mm (0.15748031496063–0.78740157480315 ), and many species have striking wing patterns.

Anthrax is a very large genus. While worldwide in distribution, most species are from the Palaearctic and Afrotropic regions. The genus includes species parasitic

Parasitism

Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...

 on tiger beetle

Tiger beetle

The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest species of tiger beetle can run at a speed of 9 km/h , which, relative to its body length, is about 22 times the speed of former Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson, the...

s – an unusual trait among the bee-flies. A. anthrax larvae parasitize bees. Many North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n species parasitize solitary wasps.

The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Musca morio Linnaeus, 1758, later found to be a misidentification of Musca anthrax Schrank

Franz Paula von Schrank

Franz von Paula Schrank was a German botanist and entomologist.Schrank was the first director of the botanical gardens in Munich from 1809 to 1832.Shrank was the first author to use the genus name Triops...

, 1781.

Species

• Anthrax aethiops (Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
   1781)
• Anthrax analis Say
  Thomas Say
  Thomas Say was an American naturalist, entomologist, malacologist, herpetologist and carcinologist. A taxonomist, he is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology in the United States. He described more than 1,000 new species of beetles and over 400 species of insects of other...
  
  , 1823
• Anthrax anthrax (Schrank
  Franz Paula von Schrank
  Franz von Paula Schrank was a German botanist and entomologist.Schrank was the first director of the botanical gardens in Munich from 1809 to 1832.Shrank was the first author to use the genus name Triops...
  
   1781)
• Anthrax argentatus (Cole, 1919)
• Anthrax artemesia Marston, 1963
• Anthrax atriplex Marston, 1970
• Anthrax aureosquamosus Marston, 1963
• Anthrax binotatus Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann , was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist...
  
   in Meigen
  Johann Wilhelm Meigen
  Johann Wilhelm Meigen was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera.-Early years:Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margaretha Bick. His parents, though not poor, were not wealthy either. The ran a small shop in...
  
   1820
• Anthrax bowdeni Báez 1983
• Anthrax cascadensis Marston, 1963
• Anthrax cathetodaithmos Marston, 1970
• Anthrax chaparralus Marston, 1963
• Anthrax chionostigma Tsacas 1962
• Anthrax cintalapa Cole, 1957
• Anthrax columbiensis Marston, 1963
• Anthrax cybele (Coquillett
  Daniel William Coquillett
  Daniel William Coquillett was an American entomologist who specialised in Diptera. He wrote Revision of the dipterous family Therevidae...
  
  , 1894)
• Anthrax dentata Becker
  Theodor Becker
  Theodor Becker was a German civil engineer and entomologist primarily known for his work with flies....
  
   1907
• Anthrax distigma Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann , was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist...
  
  
• Anthrax francoisi Evenhuis & Greathead 1999
• Anthrax gideon Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
  , 1805
• Anthrax giselae François 1966
• Anthrax innublipennis Marston, 1970
• Anthrax johanni Zaitzev 1997
• Anthrax koebelei Marston, 1970
• Anthrax larrea Marston, 1963
• Anthrax laticellus Marston, 1970
• Anthrax melanopogon (Becker
  Theodor Becker
  Theodor Becker was a German civil engineer and entomologist primarily known for his work with flies....
  
  , 1892)
• Anthrax nidicola Cole, 1952
• Anthrax nigriventris Marston, 1970
• Anthrax nitidus Marston, 1970
• Anthrax oedipus Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
  , 1805
• Anthrax painteri Marston, 1970
• Anthrax pauper (Loew
  Hermann Loew
  Friedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
  
  , 1869)
• Anthrax pelopeius François 1966
• Anthrax picea Marston, 1963
• Anthrax pilosulus Strobl 1902
• Anthrax plesius (Curran, 1927)
• Anthrax pluricellus Williston, 1901
• Anthrax pluto Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann
  Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann , was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist...
  
  , 1828
• Anthrax punctulatus Macquart
  Justin Pierre Marie Macquart
  Justin Pierre Marie Macquart was a French entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new species.-Early years:...
  
   1835
• Anthrax seriepinctatus (Osten Sacken
  Karl Robert Osten-Sacken
  Baron Karl-Robert von Osten-Sacken was a Russian diplomat and entomologist. He served as the Russian consul general in New York during the American Civil War, living in the United States from 1856 to 1877....
  
  , 1886)
• Anthrax slossonae (Johnson, 1913)
• Anthrax snowi Marston, 1970
• Anthrax stellans (Loew
  Hermann Loew
  Friedrich Hermann Loew was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges...
  
  , 1869)
• Anthrax sticticus Klug
  Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug
  Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug was a German entomologist born 5 May 1775 in Berlin and died 3 February 1856 in the same city.He described the butterflies and some other insects of Upper Egypt and Arabia in Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg and Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich's Symbolæ Physicæ...
  
   1832
• Anthrax striatipennis Marston, 1970
• Anthrax trifasciatus Meigen
  Johann Wilhelm Meigen
  Johann Wilhelm Meigen was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera.-Early years:Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margaretha Bick. His parents, though not poor, were not wealthy either. The ran a small shop in...
  
   1804
• Anthrax vallicola Marston, 1963
• Anthrax varius Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius
  Johan Christian Fabricius was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others...
  
   1794
• Anthrax virgo Egger 1859
• Anthrax zonabriphagus (Portchinsky 1895)