Ceraturgus

All are eastern U.S. wasp-mimics, and all are uncommon. They have very long five-segmented antennae. All North American species are included on this page.

Three species have been confirmed in Florida: Ceraturgus cornutus and mitchelli have been collected only at Torreya State Park. Ceraturgus johnsoni is a Florida endemic, though it is only known from four counties.

Visual Index

C. johnsoni
C. cornutus
C. mitchelli
C. aurulentus
C. cruciatus
C. fasciatus
C. elizabethae
C. nigripes
C. similis

Ceraturgus johnsoni

Light smokey wings. Legs (femora, tibiae and tarsi) yellow to reddish brown. Scutum yellow laterally and posteriorly with golden setae throughout. Female abdominal segments 1-7 with yellow posterior bands. Male abdominal segments 3-7 shining brown, with yellow lateral and posterior margins. Male segments 1-2 covered with yellow pollen.

Size: 13.7-17.6 mm

Range: Florida

FL Range: Panhandle and North Florida (Liberty, Levy, Citrus, Volusia)

Season: March-April

Holotype photos from Harvard Collection, CC BY-NC

Ceraturgus aurulentus

Clear wings. Occipital setae golden. Femora and tibia mostly yellow with dark brown or black apices. Small. Barnes (2008) notes that fewer than a dozen specimens have been collected.

Size: 9-11 mm

Range: Eastern U.S. south to Georgia

Season: August-September

Photos by Woolcarderbee (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

Ceraturgus cornutus

Smokey wings. Legs (femora, tibiae and tarsi) yellow to reddish brown. Scutum yellow laterally and posteriorly. Male abdominal segments 1–7 mostly yellow. Female abdominal segments 1-5 with yellow posterior bands. Larger than C. johnsoni.

Size: 14-27 mm

Range: Southeast U.S. (AR, TN, AL, GA, FL)

FL Range: Panhandle: Torreya SP (Barnes, 2008)

FL Season: April 5-May 17

First photo by John Deitsch (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC), others by Roger Bow (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

Ceraturgus cruciatus

Dark wings. Femora yellowish brown or reddish brown, usually slightly darker than tibiae and tarsi. Tibiae and tarsi mostly yellowish brown. Male mystax white, female mystax golden yellow. Postalar callus (lateral margin of the scutum behind the insertion of the wing) mostly white to golden yellow. Abdominal segments with complete posterior bands. Female segment 2 completely or almost completely yellow.

Size: 15-21 mm

Range: Midwestern U.S.

Season: June-July

First photo by Anne McPete (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC), next two by Henry Burton (Bugguide, CC BY-NC), final two by MJ Hatfield (Bugguide, CC BY-NC). The very dark femora on some of these is much darker than in the description, so the femora color appears to be variable.

Ceraturgus elizabethae

Dark wings. Femora yellowish brown to reddish brown, rarely with dorsal side darker. Tibiae and tarsi yellow. Postalar callus (lateral margin of the scutum behind the insertion of the wing) mostly shining brown with a small golden patch posteromesially. Abdominal segments 1-3 with pale bands: Segment 1 with complete band, Segments 2-3 with bands broken in middle. Segment 4 sometimes with pale patch in posterolateral corner, rarely complete. Segment 5 rarely with pale patch in corner. These are found in grassy areas with isolated or scattered trees.

Size: 14-24 mm

Range: Eastern U.S. though uncommon (PA to GA, west to OK and TX)

Season: June-July

Ceraturgus fasciatus

Dark wings. Femora dark brown above, yellowish brown to reddish brown below, darker than tibiae and tarsi. Tibiae and tarsi mostly yellowish brown. Sometimes mid tibiae brown distally. Postalar callus (lateral margin of the scutum behind the insertion of the wing) mostly white or yellow. Mystax brown or bronze. Face rich golden tomentose laterally, brown centrally. Frons mostly shining dark brown, except for golden brown pollinose band along inner eye margin. Abdominal segments with complete posterior yellow bands. Male abdominal segments 2-6 mostly brown with elongate yellow patches in posterolateral corners. Female abdominal segment 2 with complete or broken yellow band.

Size: 13-22 mm

Range: Eastern U.S. and Canada, south to SC, west to MS. Primarily northeastern, however.

Season: June-August

Photos by Giff Beaton (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC), Tom Murray (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC), Erika Mitchell (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC), and Robert Gessing (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

Ceraturgus mitchelli

Dark wings. White mystax. Hind tibiae and tarsi black. Abdominal segments 2–3 with white bands produced forward at lateral margins.

Size: 15.9-19.5 mm

Range: Eastern U.S. north to PA, OH, and MI, west to NE and TX

FL Range: Panhandle (Torreya SP)

Season: March-June

FL Season: April 22-May 17

Photos by Greg Lasley (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

Ceraturgus nigripes

Clear wings. Occipital hairs black. Legs black.

Size: 10-16 mm

Range: NC, SC, GA, TN. Most records are from the southern Appalachians.

FL Range: Unknown. A historic specimen listed as “Florida” in USNM (Johnson, 1913), though Barnes (2008) could not find the specimen and considers it erroneous.

Season: May-June

Photos by Giff Beaton (iNaturalist, CC BY-NC)

Ceraturgus oklahomensis

Clear wings. Legs dark brown to black. Scutum white pollinose laterally and posteriorly. Female abdominal segments 1–5 with white posterior pollinose band. Small.

Size: 10-16 mm

Range: Oklahoma and Texas

Season: March-April

Specimen photo by Herschel Raney

Ceraturgus similis

Clear wings. Occipital setae black. Femora wholly dark brown or black. Tibiae mostly yellow, dark brown or black apically.

Size: 11.3-13.5 mm

Range: Northeastern U.S. (MA, NY, PA, VT, WV)

Season: June-July

Holotype photos from Harvard Collection, CC BY-NC

References

Barnes, J. K. (2008). Review of the genus Ceraturgus Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) in North America north of Mexico. Zootaxa, 1766(1), 1-45.

Johnson, C. W. (1903). A new genus and four new species of Asilidae. Psyche, 10(323), 111-114.

Johnson, C. W. (1913). Insects of Florida. 1, Diptera. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 32, article 3.

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