first records of stenopogon heteroneurus (macquart, 1838 ... · abstract: the first records of...

BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

48

First records of Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) in Andalusia,

southern Spain (Diptera: Asilidae) Primeras citas de Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) en Andalucía, sur de España (Diptera:

Asilidae)

Piluca Álvarez Fidalgo 1, Simon Oliver 2

1. Co-coordinator of the Diptera group of Biodiversidad Virtual – Madrid (Spain) –

[email protected]

2. User of BiodiversidadVirtual.org – Granada (Spain) –

[email protected]

ABSTRACT: The first records of Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) for the province of Granada

and for all Andalusia are presented in this paper. Pictures of a copula of this species are also shown for the

first time.

KEY WORDS: Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838), Asilidae, Diptera, Granada, Andalusia, Spain,

Iberian Peninsula.

RESUMEN: En este artículo se presentan los primeros registros de Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart,

1838) en la provincia de Granada y en toda Andalucía. También se muestran las primeras fotos de una

cópula de esta especie.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838), Asilidae, Diptera, Granada, Andalucía,

España, Península Ibérica.

Introduction

Robber flies (Asilidae) are a large family of predaceous flies with over 7,000 species described in the

world (HULL, 1962; MARSHALL, 2012). Over 230 species are known to be present in the Iberian Peninsula

nowadays and, although this seems to be quite a large number, little is known about the Iberian Asilidae as

the study of this family of flies in the Iberian Peninsula has been neglected for a long time. However, due to

a renewed interest in this family in this territory, several new species have been found in the last years,

including new species for science (MORTELMANS et al., 2014; MORTELMANS et al., 2015; CARLES-TOLRÁ,

2017; GARCÍA et al., 2017).

Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) is a species of robber fly only recently registered for the

first time in Spain and Europe. Up to this date, very few records exist and it seems to be a very rare species

within the territory (VAN DEN BROEK & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO, 2017). In 2016 and 2017, some specimens were

photographed in Yegen (Sierra de La Alpujarra, Granada). These are the first records for Andalusia. In

addition, the first photographs of the species in copula are shown.

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

49

New observations

On 22-VI-2016, the second author observed and photographed an unknown species of Stenopogon

(Fig. 1) in bushy slopes of Yegen, Granada, Andalusia. The first author saw the images at the beginning of

January 2018 and recognized the species as S. heteroneurus, which was published as a new species for Spain

and Europe the previous year (VAN DEN BROEK & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO, 2017). The specimen wasn’t collected

but the species is distinctive enough to get a positive identification from good quality images showing the

wing venation. In the following season (2017), there were three more encounters with the species (OLIVER,

2018b; 2018d; 2018e), one of them a copula (Figs. 2 and 3). All photographs were taken with a Canon

PowerShot SX50 HS camera and a Raynox M250 lens.

Fig. 1: Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Male in its natural habitat, Yegen, Granada, 22-VI-2016,

(OLIVER, 2018c).

http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Stenopogon-heteroneurus-(Macquart-1838)-

img963989.html

http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Stenopogon-heteroneurus-(Macquart-1838)-img963989.html


BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

50

Fig. 2: Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). a: Male in copula; b: female in copula, Yegen, Granada,

30-VI-2017, (OLIVER, 2018b).


img963863.html


img963864.html





BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

51

Fig. 3: Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Copula, Yegen, Granada, 30-VI-2017, (OLIVER, 2018b).


img963862.html

Identification

S. heteroneurus is a large (24-32 mm) greyish species that can be easily separated from other similar

species, such as Stenopogon cervinus Loew, 1861, Stenopogon elongatus (Meigen, 1804) and Stenopogon

junceus (Wiedemann in Meigen, 1820), because of the deviant wing venation (Fig. 4), in which cell r5 is

closed and stalked and there is an unique extra cell placed at the distal end of the discal cell (MACQUART,

1838; ENGEL, 1930; THEODOR, 1980).

Fig. 4: Wing of Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) showing the important diagnostic cells. Drawing

extracted from MACQUART (1838).



BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

52

Habitat and ecology

The soil of the area where the species was found (Fig. 5) is coarse grained with sand, gravel and

larger particles up to large boulders in an unsorted mix, and little organic matter. The sandy soil is important

for the deposition of eggs and development of the larvae of Stenopogon species. It is mostly covered in

natural vegetation although also with some small patches of almond trees Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb

(Rosaceae), olive trees Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae) and vines Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae). The main natural

vegetation consists of Ulex sp. (Leguminosae), Retama sp. (Leguminosae), Genista sp. (Leguminosae),

Eryngium sp. (Umbelliferae), Artemisia herba-alba Asso (Compositae), Cistus sp. (Cistaceae), Phlomis sp.

(Labiatae), Rosmarinus sp. (Labiatae), Euphorbia sp. (Euphorbiaceae) and Hyparrhenia sp. (Gramineae),

which is consistent with the observation of the species back in 2015 (VAN DEN BROEK & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO,

2017).

Fig. 5: Habitat of Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838) in Yegen, Granada. (Photo: Simon Oliver)

Stenopogon species usually scan for their prey from a ground-level vantage or from stems in

vegetation, and capture their prey mainly in the air (WILCOX, 1971). In Yegen, S. heteroneurus has been

observed and photographed feeding on beetles of the family Chrysomelidae (Fig. 1). These beetles are

common in the area, and have also been seen as prey of other Stenopogon species in the same location

(OLIVER, 2018a).

All these sightings took place from middle June to middle July, between 13:30 pm and 15:00 pm,

temperatures around 30ºC and always in a small area of about three hectares, at around 1100 m. above sea

level.

Distribution

Type locality: Algeria. Distribution: Asia: Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Israel. North Africa:

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt (LEHR, 1988). Europe: Spain (VAN DEN BROEK & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO,

2017).

BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

53

Presence in Spain

All previously known records were already discussed in VAN DEN BROEK & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO

(2017). To locate all known records of the species up to this date within the Iberian territory, a 10 km × 10

km grid map of Spain has been used in this paper (MINISTERIO DE AGRICULTURA Y PESCA, ALIMENTACIÓN Y

MEDIO AMBIENTE, 2018), while the locations of the provinces of Granada, Madrid, Murcia and Valladolid

are shown in a map of the Spanish provinces and where their respective Autonomous Communities are

indicated (D-MAPS.COM, 2018). All these records are shown in the map represented in figure 6, which shows

the location of each record and the year each of them took place.

Fig. 6: Map showing all records in the different provinces of Spain where Stenopogon heteroneurus

(Macquart, 1838) has been recorded, and the years they took place.

With these new records in the same location in two consecutive years, including a copula, the

presence of S. heteroneurus in Spain is confirmed. As can be seen, records are scarce but widely distributed.

It is important to emphasize the fact that the species has been photographed on five occasions in the last three

years (once in the province of Valladolid in 2015 and four times in the same location in the province of

Granada in 2016 and 2017) after a gap of over 80 years without any records. This might indicate that most

likely it is not as rare as was thought, but simply has been overlooked or misidentified for some other similar

BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

54

species known to be present in Spain. However, there is still too little information to draw any conclusions

about its status on the Iberian Peninsula. The difficulties of identifying Stenopogon species in the Iberian

Peninsula must have been one reason for the scarcity of records but this might easily change in the near

future.

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank André van Eck and Marián Álvarez Fidalgo for their suggestions to improve the

manuscript. Marián Álvarez Fidalgo is also thanked for her help with some technical issues. Our thanks are

further extended to the technical staff and the editorial committee of BV news Publicaciones Científicas for

accepting and publishing this paper.

References

CARLES-TOLRÁ, M. (2017). Citas faunísticas nuevas de Asilidae (Diptera) con la descripción de dos especies

nuevas (Península Ibérica e Islas Canarias). Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.),

61: 23-36.

D-MAPS.COM (2018). Free maps. Spain / Kingdom of Spain. Boundaries, provinces. Available from:

http://www.d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=5672&lang=en.

[Accessed on 2-III-2018].

GARCÍA, M., PÉREZ, G. & PORTILLO, M. (2017). Taxonomic review of the species of Andrenosoma (Diptera:

Asilidae) in Spain and description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4299 (3): 423-431.

ENGEL, E. O. (1930). Asilidae: Diptera. In: LINDNER, E. (ed.): Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region.

Stuttgart. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. 491 pp.

HULL, F. M. (1962). Robber Flies of the World. The Genera of the Family Asilidae. Bulletin of the United

States National Museum, 224. Washington. Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum.

907 pp.

LEHR, P. A. (1988). Family Asilidae. In: SOÓS, Á. & PAPP, L. (eds.): Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera.

Volume 5. Athericidae – Asilidae. Budapest. Akadémiai Kiadó. 446 pp.

MACQUART, J. (1838). Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus. Tome premier. 2e partie. Paris. Librairie

Encyclopédique de Roret. 207 pp.

MARSHALL, S. A. (2012). Flies. The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera. Buffalo. Firefly Books. 616

pp.

MINISTERIO DE AGRICULTURA Y PESCA, ALIMENTACIÓN Y MEDIO AMBIENTE (2018). Spain 10 km × 10 km

grid map. Available from:

http://www.mapama.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/temas/inventarios-nacionales/inventario-especies-

terrestres/inventario-nacional-de-biodiversidad/bdn-ieet-default.aspx.


MORTELMANS, J., TOMASOVIC, G. & NAGY, Z. T. (2014). A remarkable new species of Paraphamartania

Engel from Portugal (Diptera, Asilidae). Zootaxa, 3814 (3): 409-418.

MORTELMANS, J., VAN DEN BROEK, R., MOTA ALMEIDA, J., ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO, P. & NAGY, Z. T. (2015).

Revision of the genus Paraphamartania Engel with description of two new species and comments

on the related Nearctic genus Cophura Osten Sacken (Diptera: Asilidae). BV news Publicaciones

Científicas, 4 (55): 83-102.

OLIVER, S. (2018a). Stenopogon costatus Loew, 1871 [?]. Photograph to be found on

BiodiversidadVirtual.org [Online database]. Available from:

http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Stenopogon-costatus-Loew-1871-img963992.html.


OLIVER, S. (2018b). Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Photographs to be found on



img963862.html,


img963863.html,

http://www.d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=5672&lang=en

http://www.mapama.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/temas/inventarios-nacionales/inventario-especies-terrestres/inventario-nacional-de-biodiversidad/bdn-ieet-default.aspx

http://www.mapama.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/temas/inventarios-nacionales/inventario-especies-terrestres/inventario-nacional-de-biodiversidad/bdn-ieet-default.aspx

http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Stenopogon-costatus-Loew-1871-img963992.html





BVnPC, 7 (91): 48-55 (2018)

55


img963864.html,


img963865.html,


img963866.html,


img963867.html,


img963868.html.


OLIVER, S. (2018c). Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Photograph to be found on



img963989.html.


OLIVER, S. (2018d). Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Photograph to be found on



img963990.html.


OLIVER, S. (2018e). Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838). Photograph to be found on



img963991.html.


THEODOR, O. (1980). Fauna Palaestina. Insecta II. Diptera: Asilidae. Jerusalem. The Israel Academy of

Sciences and Humanities. 448 pp.

VAN DEN BROEK, R. & ÁLVAREZ FIDALGO, P. (2017). Stenopogon heteroneurus (Macquart, 1838), a new

species of the genus Stenopogon Loew, 1847 for the Iberian Peninsula and Europe (Diptera:

Brachycera: Asilidae). BV news Publicaciones Científicas, 6 (83): 120-129.

WILCOX, J. (1971). The genera Stenopogon Loew and Scleropogon Loew in America north of Mexico

(Diptera: Asilidae). Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences, 89. San Francisco.

California Academy of Sciences. 134 pp.

















first records of stenopogon heteroneurus (macquart, 1838 ... · abstract: the first records of...

Documents