Simulium (Eusimulium) mellah Giudicelli & Bouzidi

Cherairia, Mouna, Adler, Peter H. & Samraoui, Boudjéma, 2014, Biodiversity and Bionomics of the Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of Northeastern Algeria, Zootaxa 3796 (1), pp. 166-174 : 171

Simulium (Eusimulium) mellah Giudicelli & Bouzidi

We record this species, as larvae, from one stream in Souk Ahras Province at 751 m asl. The only previous Algerian record is from the Tlemcen Mountains ( Giudicelli et al. 2000). Our larvae differed structurally from those of the S. velutinum complex by having less distinct head spots. This character, however, was at odds with the original description ( Giudicelli et al. 2000), which depicted S. mellah with heavily infuscated head spots. Larval pigmentation, however, can be influenced by environment, particularly by the substrate to which the larvae are attached ( Zettler et al. 1998). We associate our larvae with the name S. mellah , based on chromosomal band patterns identical with those of larvae collected near the type locality in Morocco. The Seybouse tributary that supported larvae was about 5 m wide, warm (21.2 °C), slightly mineralized (6.7 µS/cm), with high salinity (3.6%), and slow to moderate current (0.2–0.5 m /s). The substrate was muddy, with rubble, scattered boulders, and abundant vegetation. Larvae were found in December, March, and April.

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