Two new European long-legged hoverfly species of the Eumerusbinominatus species subgroup (Diptera, Syrphidae).

Ana Grković,Ante Vujić,Jeroen Van Steenis,Snežana Radenković,John Smit

doi:10.3897/zookeys.858.34663

Abstract

Eumerus Meigen (Diptera, Syrphidae) is one of the most speciose hoverfly genera in Europe, with several species groups recognized within. As part of the tricolor group of species, a subgroup of long-legged representatives stands out. We name it Eumerusbinominatus subgroup and provide descriptions for two new European species which belong to this subgroup: E.grallatorsp. nov. from mainland Spain and E.tenuitarsissp. nov. from Lesvos and Evros, Greece. A key for all five recognized species of the binominatus subgroup is provided.

Highlights

The genus Eumerus Meigen (Merodontini) is one of the most species-rich hoverfly genera in the World
In this paper we add yet another two European species to the list of tricolor group, one from the western Mediterranean and one from the eastern part of it. Both species belong to a species subgroup not previously recorded from the western Palearctic, characterized by slender elongated legs in the male, which is a unique feature within the family of Syrphidae, a long pilose thorax, pilose eyes and a stout abdomen. We included these species into the binominatus subgroup named after the Asian long-legged species E. binominatus Hervé-Bazin, 1923 (Fig. 1A, B), first described by Becker as E. maculipennis, a name preoccupied by Bezzi (1915) for an African species from the ornatus group
The Eumerus binominatus subgroup is a group of long-legged species sharing all diagnostic characters with E. tricolor group (Chroni et al 2017; Grković et al 2017)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Eumerus Meigen (Merodontini) is one of the most species-rich hoverfly genera in the World. The Eumerus tricolor species group, defined by Chroni et al (2017) based on DNA sequencing and described by Grković et al (2017) displays a wide spectrum of species, but is clearly separated from the other members of the genus by a set of apomorphic characters, including a radially wrinkled basoflagellomere and a fossette clearly expressed, most often with partially to completely red abdominal tergites, and includes species without red markings. In this paper we add yet another two European species to the list of tricolor group, one from the western Mediterranean and one from the eastern part of it Both species belong to a species subgroup not previously recorded from the western Palearctic, characterized by slender elongated legs in the male, which is a unique feature within the family of Syrphidae, a long pilose thorax, pilose eyes and a stout abdomen. We included these species into the binominatus subgroup named after the Asian long-legged species E. binominatus Hervé-Bazin, 1923 (Fig. 1A, B), first described by Becker as E. maculipennis, a name preoccupied by Bezzi (1915) for an African species from the ornatus group

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Discussion