Bezzia (Pygobezzia) albicornis ( 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 : 10-11

Bezzia (Pygobezzia) albicornis ( Meigen, 1818)

Ceratopogon albicornis Meigen, 1818: 74 (♂, Germany).

Ceratopogon calceatus Haliday in Walker, 1856: 239 ( Great Britain).

Ceratopogon pallidetarsatus Strobl, 1900: 171 (♀, Spain).

Bezzia strobli Kieffer, 1919: 122 (♂, ♀, Hungary).

Bezzia brevinervis Kieffer, 1919: 122 (♂, ♀, Hungary).

Bezzia trilobata Kieffer, 1922: 237 (♂, ♀, Germany).

Bezzia aegyptia Kieffer, 1925: 264 (♀, Egypt – Suez). Syn. nov.

Homobezzia atrata Macfie, 1944: 126 (♂, ♀, figures, description, Egypt).

Bezzia sajana Remm, 1972: 89 (♂, Russia – Siberia).

Bezzia quadridens Remm, 1972: 89 (♂, Russia).

Ceratopogon pallidetarsatus – Becker 1903: 73 (♀, Egypt).

Bezzia albicornis – Goetghebuer 1922: 58 (combination). — Szadziewski 1984: 184 (= C. pallidetarsatus ). — de Meillon & Wirth 1987: 65 (♂, ♀, South Africa; = C. pallidetarsatus , Bezzia strobli , Bezzia brevinervis , Homobezzia atrata ). — Boorman & van Harten 2002: 456 (♂, ♀, Yemen). — Szadziewski et al. 2011: 649 (♂, ♀, United Arab Emirates).

Bezzia atrata – Clastrier 1962: 112 (♂, ♀, descriptions, figures, Algeria).

Bezzia calceata – Tokunaga 1966: 285 (♂, ♀, Afghanistan).

non Bezzia sajana – Remm 1974: 441 (= B. quadridens ).

Diagnosis

Entirely blackish brown species, except tarsomeres 1–3 pale. Scutellum with 6 large setae. Fore femur with 2–4 ventral spines. Male genitalia large; gonocoxite very long and slender, gonostylus short, divided into 3–4 tooth-like lobes; aedeagus with slender, very long median process that is nearly straight

on distal portion; parameres fused, expanded on distal portion, with distinct lateral ribs, apex with 2 small processes. Female with 2 ovoid, distinctly unequal seminal capsules.

Material examined

ISRAEL: 1 ♀, Sadom, 26 May 1976, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 2 ♀♀, Berekhat Ya’ar, 6 Jun. 2003, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 1 ♀, Besor Nature Reserve, Tel Sharuhen, 31º17′ N, 34º29′ E, 11 May 2005, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU); 1 ♂, Herzliya, swamp, 32º10.3′ N, 34º49.4′ E, 11 May 2008, A. Freidberg leg. ( TAU).

LEBANON: 1 ♂, Tyre, 33º16.232′ N, 35 º12.706′ E, net, 12 May 2012, P. Dominiak leg. ( CEIUG).

Distribution

Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Europe ( Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, former Yugoslavia; Szadziewski et al. 2013), United Arab Emirates, Yemen, South Africa. We provide the first records from Israel and Lebanon.

Remarks

In the Middle East and North Africa, the subgenus Pygobezzia is represented by two very similar species, B. albicornis and B. fuliginata . The original description of B. aegyptia by Kieffer (1925), based on a single female, is very poor; however, it matches the description of B. albicornis . Unfortunately, the female holotype of B. aegyptia was probably not saved by Kieffer. Accordingly, we regard B. aegyptia as a new junior synonym of B. albicornis , because the latter species is more common in the region and was reported earlier from Egypt by Becker (1903) as Ceratoogon pallidetarsata and by Macfie (1944) as B. atrata .