Merodon velox Loew, 1869

Gilasian, Ebrahim, Vujić, Ante, Hauser, Martin & Parchami-Araghi, Mehrdad, 2017, New data on the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Iran, with descriptions of two new species, Zootaxa 4303 (1), pp. 27-50 : 45

Merodon velox Loew, 1869

Fig. 3

Examined material. IRAN, North Khorasan province: 1 ♀, Esfarayen, Asadli , 37°14′53.4″N 57°21′55.1″E, 3.vi.2006, leg. E. Gilasian.

Remarks. The females of M. velox are separated from those of other Merodon species by the following combination of characters: antenna black; flagellum almost 1.8 times longer than pedicel; longitudinal pollinose bands on scutum inconspicuous; legs predominantly black; abdomen black; tergite 2 with a pair of vague lateral orange maculae; tergites 2–4 with a pair of widely interrupted greyish pollinose fasciae. The male genitalia were illustrated by Hurkmans (1993). This species was collected in the eastern areas of Elburz Mountains, near the border with Turkmenistan. Prior to the present study, M. velox had only been collected from some parts of the Balkan Peninsula (former Yugoslavia; Greece, including Lesvos island) and Turkey ( Ricarte et al. 2012; Speight 2016).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Distribution of the examined material of the collected hoverfly species in Iran. 1: ■, Pocota hyrcanica Gilasian & Hauser sp. nov.; ●, Sphiximorpha ziegleri Gilasian & Vujić sp. nov. 2: ■, Barchypalpus valgus (Panzer); ●, Cheilosia vicina (Zetterstedt); ▲, Criorhina ranunculi (Panzer); ♦, Eristalis alpina (Panzer); ♣, Eristalis pertinax (Scopoli). 3: ■, Merodon brevis Paramonov; ●, Merodon quadrinotatus (Sack); ▲, Merodon serrulatus Wiedemann; ♦, Merodon schachti Hurkmans; ♣, Merodon vandergooti Hurkmans; ♠, Merodon velox Loew. 4: ■, Neoascia annexa (Müller); ●, Palumbia eristaloides (Portschinsky); ▲, Pseudodoros nigricollis Becker.