Mimegralla Rondani

Mimegralla Rondani, 1850: 180 . Type species Calobata coeruleifrons Macquart, 1843 .

Mimegralla is a large, mostly Oriental genus in need of revision and redefinition. All Afrotropical species previously included in the genus are now treated as either Hybobata or Tanypomyia Verbeke (Marshall 2017), so the Mimegralla species here newly recorded from the Mascarenes represents the first legitimate record of the genus from the Afrotropical Region. Mimegralla splendens (Figs 1 G-H) is probably introduced from India or Sri Lanka and is now abundant at a few coastal locations in Mauritius, where larvae probably develop in taro roots. Species identification of Mimegralla is a problem in the absence of a current revision or even useable descriptions; this species was identified as M. splendens (Wiedemann) by matching it to the type specimen (labelled M. leucopeza splendens) in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Mimegralla splendens, which was treated by Steyskal (1977: 17) as a subspecies of M. albitarsis (Wiedemann), otherwise occurs in India and Sri Lanka.

Material examined: MAURITIUS: Savanne, Baie du Cap at: 20°29ʹ32”S, 57°22ʹ40”E, 11.xii. 2016, 1 m, S.A. Marshall (12 specimens); same date and locality, A.H. Kirk-Spriggs & B.S. Muller, sweeping coastal swamp (9 specimens, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa); Mahebourg, roadside swamp, 4.xii.2016, S.A. Marshall (5 specimens) .