Abstract
The phytophagous hoverfly genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 (Diptera, Syrphidae), which comprises more than 160 species distributed in Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions, can be differentiated into multiple groups of species that harbor high levels of hidden diversity. In this work, the serrulatus species group of Merodon is revised, providing an illustrated key to species, a detailed discussion on the taxonomic characters and a morphological diagnosis, including also the first data about the preimaginal morphology of this species group. The study includes characteristics of the 13 species of the M. serrulatus group, along with the available distributional data. Moreover, descriptions are provided for seven new species, namely M. defectus Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., M. disjunctus Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., M. medium Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., M. nigrocapillatus Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., M. nigropunctum Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., M. opacus Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov., and M. trianguloculus Vujić, Likov & Radenković sp. nov. In addition, the taxa M. serrulatus (Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822), M. bequaerti Hurkmans, 1993, M. hirsutus Sack, 1913, M. kawamurae Matsumura, 1916, M. sacki (Paramonov, 1936) and M. sophron Hurkmans, 1993 are redefined and redescribed. Following a detailed study of the type material sourced from different entomological collections, the status of all available taxa related to M. serrulatus is revised and a new synonymy is proposed: M. tener Sack, 1913 syn. nov. (junior synonym of M. serrulatus). The identity of M. trizonus (Szilády, 1940) could not be assessed as the type specimens are lost. Thus, the name M. trizonus is considered as nomen dubium. The monophyly and composition of this species group are assessed through Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood analyses of the mitochondrial COI and nuclear 28S rRNA gene sequences.
Highlights
The phytophagous hoverfly genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 contains more than 160 species distributed across the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions (Ståhls et al 2009)
We present a taxonomic review of the serrulatus species group based on a detailed examination of material gathered as a part of our long-term field research in the Palaearctic region, especially in the Mediterranean and the Middle East
Our aims are 1. to review materials stored in several major entomological institutions and private collections holding specimens of this group; 2. to define and describe the taxa within the serrulatus species group, including new species; 3. to infer the phylogenetic relationships among the members of this species group using mtDNA c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and the 28S rRNA gene; and 4. to present the first data about the preimaginal morphology of the M. serrulatus species group
Summary
The phytophagous hoverfly genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 contains more than 160 species distributed across the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions (Ståhls et al 2009). An integrative taxonomic approach combining morphological and molecular information has been adopted and resulted useful in resolving taxonomic ambiguities in hoverflies, e.g., in Merodon equestris species complex (Marcos-García et al 2011), Merodon avidus complex (Popović et al 2015; Ačanski et al 2016), Merodon aureus species group (Šašić et al 2016), genus Chrysotoxum Meigen, 1803 (Nedeljković et al 2013, 2015) and Melanostoma Schiner, 1860 (Haarto and Ståhls 2014)
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