An overview of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia
Author
Dawah, Hassan A.
Author
Abdullah, Mohammed A.
0000-0002-3323-3623
mohd_robiya@hotmail.com
Author
Ahmad, Syed Kamran
0000-0002-6211-2345
entosaif@rediffmail.com
Author
Al-Dhafer, Hathal
0000-0002-4911-2332
hdhafer@ksu.edu.sa
Author
Turner, James
0000-0003-2411-7396
urner@museumwales.ac.uk
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-09-25
4855
1
1
69
journal article
8491
10.11646/zootaxa.4855.1.1
1ad9a0ab-ccd4-4047-9a29-f2dd287dc3e3
1175-5326
4411181
28A15E99-7A79-40CA-A0C6-1DC501B69E46
Genus
Ischiodon
Sack
The genus
Ischiodon
comprises four species with quite distinct distributions namely:
I. feae
(Bezzi)
(
Cape Verde
Islands),
I. aegyptius
(Wiedemann)
(Africa and southern Europe),
I. scutellaris
(Fabricius)
(Oriental and Australasian Region) and
I. astales
Mengual 2018 (Africa)
(
Láska
et al
. 2006
; Mengual 2018). The species of
Ischiodon
have a strong resemblance to the genus of the single species
Simosyrphus
Bigot
, with which it has often been confused (e.g.
Bryan, 1934
). Species of both genera have been previously placed under one another several times (Mengual 2015) despite some important differences in the male genitalia (
Vockeroth 1969
). The generic key by
Vockeroth (1969: 40)
can be used to identify both genera. A synonymy of both genera was proposed by
Láska
et al
. (2006)
based on larval and pupal morphology, supported by a molecular study.
Mengual
et al.
(2018)
reported that the current evidence from molecular characters supports the generic rank of
Ischiodon
and
Simosyrphus
.
The species of
Ischiodon
are predatory syrphids with an important role in the bio-control of aphid pests in different areas of the world (
Láska
et al
. 2006
; also for more references).