Kingdom Animalia Family Asilidae Rank Genus | Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Order Fly | |
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Similar Fly, Choerades fimbriata, Laphriinae, Dioctria, Laphria | ||
Choerades is a genus of robber flies described by Walker in 1851, belonging to the family Asilidae, subfamily Laphriinae.
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Description
Genus Choerades is closely related to the Genus Laphria and Bombomima. They can mainly be distinguished by genitalic differences in males, as the shape of the upper forceps or the evolution of lamellae from the fusion of bristles, but also for the length of hairs and bristles on the facial gibbosity. The adults average sizes reach 10–20 millimetres (0.4–0.8 in). These robber flies are quite hairy, their body is usually black, while the bee-mimicking abdomen shows black and yellow stripes. They generally prey insects of a variety of species, including flies, bees, wasps and beetles.
Distribution
The Species of this Genus are distributed in most of Europe, in the Eastern Palearctic ecozone, in the Near East and in the Nearctic ecozone.