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Golden-tailed Beebandit
Mallophora fautrix
Mallophora fautrix is a species of robber fly in the family Asilidae, commonly known as the golden-tailed bee bandit or bee killer robber fly.
From the article Mallophora fautrix on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
An adult M. fautrix is typically in the range of 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) long, with brown wings and a black thorax. The body is otherwise covered with hairs in a pattern of black, white, and yellow that resembles workers of the bumble bee species Bombus sonorus. Male and female adults are similar in appearance.
Range & habitat
M. fautrix is found in Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is the only member of genus Mallophora found in California.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
The bee killer robber fly perches in wait for the approach of a suitable prey insect. It eats honey bees, wasps, and other arthropods of similar size. Eggs of M. fautrix are laid in the ground.
Wikipedia: “Behavior”
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Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Mallophora fautrix in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 244378.