The Nemestrinidae in Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Brachycera: Diptera)

Abstract

BackgroundThe Nemestrinidae are a widespread group of moderate to large-sized rather stout flies. All known larvae of these flies are internal parasitoids of nymphs and adults of grasshoppers and larvae of scarabaeid beetles and have the potential to be used as biocontrol agents.ResultsAll known Egyptian and Saudi Arabian nemestrinid taxa are systematically catalogued in the present study. A total number of 13 species classified in only 2 genera, Nemestrinus (subfamily Nemestrininae) and Trichopsidea (subfamily Falleniinae), were investigated. Twelve of these species are represented in Egypt, out of which 5 species are represented in Saudi Arabia as well. Two of the treated species, Nemestrinus ater (Olivier) and N. rufipes (Olivier), are newly recorded herein from Saudi Arabia. Only one species, Trichopsidea costata (Loew), was recorded exclusively from Saudi Arabia. An updated classification, taxonomic data, world and local distributions with collection dates and coloured photographs of some species were provided. Hope that the results of this study will provide the basis for systematic studies and fauna analyses of future works on Nemestrinidae. It seems likely that further species will be discovered with more research involving a variety of collecting methods.ConclusionThirteen nemestrinid species belonging to 2 genera and 2 subfamilies were represented in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Two of these species are newly recorded herein from Saudi Arabia.