Dipalta is a genus of flies belonging to the family Bombyliidae (bee-flies). The genus is closely related to Villa.[1]

Dipalta
Dipalta sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Bombyliidae
Subfamily: Anthracinae
Tribe: Villini
Genus: Dipalta
Osten Sacken, 1877
Type species
Dipalta serpentina

Description

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These medium-sized flies, with conical faces, have three marginal wing cells on mottled wings with erratic wing venation. Wing length is 10–13 mm, and body length is 9–10 mm. The species are very variable; Hull suggests there could be other species, or only one very variable one.[1]

Species

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Distribution

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One species is from Mexico and the western United States, and the other from Virginia and Ohio.[1]

Ecology

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Adults are found on low growing flowers in desert areas. Larvae are parasitic on ant lions.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Hull, F.M. (1973). Bee flies of the world. The genera of the family Bombyliidae. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 687 pp. ISBN 0-87474-131-9.