Sphaeromias pictus ( Meigen, 1818 )

Alwin-Kownacka, Alicja, Szadziewski, Ryszard & Szwedo, Jacek, 2017, Predatory midges of the tribes Palpomyiini and Sphaeromiini (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Middle East, with keys and descriptions of new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 318, pp. 1-30 : 25-26

Sphaeromias pictus ( Meigen, 1818)

Ceratopogon pictus Meigen, 1818: 80 (♀, Germany).

Ceratopogon punctatus Meigen, 1830: 264 (♀, probably Germany).

Ceratopogon elegans Winnertz, 1852: 58 (♀, Poland).

Xylocrypta miricornis Kieffer, 1919: 77 (♂, Hungary).

Sphaeromias pictus – Goetghebuer 1934: 59 (combination; = C. elegans ).

Diagnosis

Body brown, scutellum slightly paler. Legs brown, mid and hind legs darkest; fore tibia with distinct pale band at apex (poorly developed on mid tibia); tarsomeres 1–4 yellow, with more or less brown tips, tarsomeres 5 brown; fore femur slightly swollen, with 8–9 ventral spines, mid femur slender, with 5–6 spines, hind femur with 8–10 spines; tarsomeres 5 with 6 massive ventral batonnets; female claws equal, long, curved, with basal inner teeth. Female with 2 sub-equal, rounded seminal capsules with short necks, and distinct seminal duct.

Material examined

ISRAEL: 1 ♀, Golan Aniam, 18 May 1983, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 2 ♀♀, Hula, 1 Jul. 1993, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 1 ♀, Berekhat Ya’ar, 14 May 2003, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 2 ♀♀, same collection data except 23 May 2003 ( TAU); 1 ♀, En HaHoresh, 21 May 2005, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU).

Distribution

Belarus, Belgium, Great Britain, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia (central, northwest and southern regions), Slovakia, Ukraine ( Remm 1988; Szadziewski et al. 2013). We provide the first records for the Middle East, from Israel.