Sphaerophoria bengalensis Macquart, 1842

(Figs 58–59)

Sphaerophoria bengalensis Macquart, 1842: 104 .

Examined specimens. 1♂, 1♀, Al-Riyadh, Al-Uyaynah, 45 Km. W. Al-Riyadh, Ashahwan farm, 27.ii.2008, Ashahrany, alfalfa (KSMA) ; 1♂, Al-Riyadh, Al-Kharj, 80 km. S. Al-Riyadh, 3.iv.1982, A. Talhouk & S. Tilkian (KSMA) ; 1♂, Al-Riyadh, Al-Wusayl, 45km. N. Al-Riyadh, Al-Mosa farm, 7.xi.2007, Al-Bahrany (KSMA) ; 1♂, same locality but Ashahwan farm, 27.ii.2008, S. Ashamrany, Alfalfa (KSMA) ; 1♂, Al-Riyadh, Al-Kharj, 80 km. S. Al-Riyadh, 8.iii.1982, A. Talhouk & S. Tilkian (KSMA) ; 1♂, 1♀, Al-Riyadh, Dirab Educational Farm of King Saud University, 31.iii.1987 (KSMA) ; 1♂, same locality but 29.x.1989 (KSMA); 1♂, same locality but 25.xi.1989 (KSMA) .

Distribution. The species was previously recorded from Saudi Arabia by Shalaby (1962) as S. menthastri (L.), while Martin (1972) and Abu-Thuraya (1982) recorded it as S. turkmenica Bańkowska, 1964 . It was described from India (Bengale) and is further recorded from the Palaearctic Region: Afghanistan, Iran, Caucasus (North), China, Korea, and Japan, Turkmenistan; Oriental Region: India, Nepal, Pakistan, Punjab (Peck 1988; Subhan & Shah 2016; Ghorpadé 2009; 2014; Sengupta et al. 2016). In the Arabian Peninsula this species recorded from Oman and UAE (Smit et al. 2017).

Remarks. Ghorpadé (2009: 11) reported that the descriptions and figures of S. turkmenica in Bańkowska (1964) and Knutson (1973) are identical to S. bengalensis and it was therefore established as being a junior synonym (see also Smit et al. 2017). The adults of S. bengalensis are pollinators while their larvae feed on different species of Aphididae, some Psyllidae and Lepidoptera larvae (Rojo et al. 2003).