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
Eumerus obliquus
(
Fabricius, 1805
)
(
Fig. 34
)
Milesia obliqua
Fabricius, 1805: 194
FIGURE 34.
Habitus of
Eumerus obliquus
(
Fabricius, 1805
)
. Male, lateral view.
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.