Eumerus obliquus ( Fabricius, 1805 )

Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A., Ahmad, Syed Kamran, Al-Dhafer, Hathal & Turner, James, 2020, An overview of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 4855 (1), pp. 1-69 : 30-31

Eumerus obliquus ( Fabricius, 1805)

( Fig. 34 )

Milesia obliqua Fabricius, 1805: 194

Examined specimens. 2♂, Al-Souda, Bani Mazen , 25.ii–1.v.2013, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♂, Asir, Abha, Hay Al-Nusub , 20.iv.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CRES) ; 2♂, same locality but 3–24.viii.2013 ( CERS) ; 2♂, same locality but 15–30.v.2014 ( CERS) ; 1♀, same locality but 1–20.xi.2013 ; 2♂, same locality but 3–24.viii.2013 ; 1♂, same locality but 18.vi–9.vii.2013 ; 1♀, same locality but 20.iv.2013 ; 1♂, same locality but 1–25.v.2013 ; 1♂, Abha, Madenate Al-Ameer Sultan, Hay Al-Sad , 25.ii–25.v.2002, Malaise trap, H.A.Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♀, Asir, Keratha, Al-Ethrebany fruit farm 7–28.viii.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( NMWC) ; 2♂, Jazan, Harob, Wadi Lejab , 30.xi– 17.xii.2015, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♀, Jazan, Fifa, Al-Tatweer Centre, 9–24.viii.2015, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 2♂, Al-Baha, Hay Al-Dhafir , 3.xi.2015, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♂, 3♀, Najran, Al-Shurfa , 13–30.iii.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♂, Al-Baha, Dhee Ain village , 13.x.2010, H. Al-Dhafer & H. Kondratieff, Ashufa, B. Jadi, H. Algharbawy, sweeping ( KSMA) .

Distribution. This species was previously recorded for Saudi Arabia by Abu-Zoherah et al. (1993). It was described from “ Guinea ” (this is the southern coast of West Africa). In Smith & Vockeroth (1980: 498) it is mentioned only as Guinea without specification of which part of the coast it was. At the time of species description there was no names to many part of this area a part from Guinea. It is a widespread species in Afrotropical Region: Angola, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Mascarene islands, Mauritius, Nigeria, St. Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zaire and Zimbabwe; Palaearctic Region: Algeria, Austria, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Corsica, southern France, Italy (Sicily), Malta: Neacrtic Region; Brazil and Paraguay; Australaisian Region: Australia ( Smith & Vockeroth 1980; Dirickx 1994; 1998; Haeseler 2002; Whittington 2003; Smit et al. 2017; Speight 2020; Mebarkia et al. 2020; Garcete-Barrett et al. 2020).

Remarks. Garcete-Barrett et al. (2020) provided illustrations to separate the male and female E. obliquus from E. aurifrons by the abdominal pattern and the pattern of mesonotal pollinosity. The hind tarsus of males of E. obliquus is laterally compressed and the males’ eyes are holoptic. In Africa E. obliquus has been found to attack onions (J.C. Deeming, per. comm.). Larvae have been reared from the decaying tissues of fruiting bodies, tubers or bulbs of a wide range of plant families (e.g. Cucurbitaceae ; Euphorbiaceae ) also reared from fruits and platyclades of Opuntia maxima Mill. ( Moor De 1973) . Adults fly fast and low over thinly-vegetated ground, settling on bare ground and stones in sunlight ( Speight 2020). In Asir, Abha, Hay Al-Nusub and Madenate Al-Ameer Sultan ( Table 2) onions are the main crop and Eumerus obliquus could be associated with it but this needs further investigation.

Figures

FIGURE 34. Habitus of Eumerus obliquus (Fabricius, 1805). Male, lateral view.