Merodon obscurus Gil Collado, 1929

Vujić, Ante, Radenković, Snežana, Likov, Laura, Tubić, Nataša Kočiš, Popov, Grigory, Gilasian, Ebrahim, Djan, Mihajla, Milosavljević, Marina Janković & Ačanski, Jelena, 2024, Revisions of the clavipes and pruni species groups of the genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 (Diptera, Syrphidae), ZooKeys 1203, pp. 1-69 : 1-69

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.3897/zookeys.1203.118842

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C1A2654B-7DC3-4451-91B7-49B29304FBED

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11373364

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3B3B3089-93D1-5DCD-98DA-2D2569ACDB25

treatment provided by

ZooKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

Merodon obscurus Gil Collado, 1929
status

stat. nov.

Merodon obscurus Gil Collado, 1929 View in CoL stat. rev.

Merodon pruni var. obscurus Gil Collado, 1929: 407 View in CoL .

Type locality.

Morocco (“ Tanger ”). Merodon obscurus was described as a variety of M. pruni . Holotype: male, Morocco, ( MNCN) [specimen dry pinned]. Original label: [ Tanger, Mz. Escalera / M. pruni var. obscurus Gil Tipo, Gil Collado det. / M. N. C. N. Madrid] (examined).

Notes.

This species was listed as synonym of Merodon pruni by Peck (1988: 173) and Hurkmans (1993: 185). Based on our morphometry and molecular data, this is a valid taxon distributed in North West Africa, far from the range of M. pruni in the Eastern Mediterranean (Fig. 37 View Figure 37 ).

Diagnosis.

Sternum 3 with long, equally distributed pilosity (Fig. 30 C View Figure 30 ). In male calcar at metatrochanter distinct (Fig. 25 E View Figure 25 ); metafemur medium broad, ~ 5 × longer than wide, with ventral margin slightly curved and covered with sparse pilosity ventrally (Fig. 25 E View Figure 25 ); sternum 4 in Fig. 28 C View Figure 28 . Female with angular metatrochanter and sparse pile on metafemur ventrally (Fig. 31 B View Figure 31 ). Male genitalia in Fig. 36 View Figure 36 . Similar to Merodon pruni except for the posterior surstylar lobe that is broader (~ 2.2 × longer than wide) and more rounded apically (Fig. 36 A View Figure 36 : pl) (in M. pruni the posterior surstylar lobe is ~ 2.5 × longer than wide and tapering to the tip; Fig. 29 A View Figure 29 : pl). Merodon obscurus stat. rev. occurs in North Africa, while M. pruni is an Eastern Mediterranean species (Fig. 37 View Figure 37 ). Molecular and morphometric data clearly separated these two species (Figs 15 View Figure 15 , 16 View Figure 16 , 17 View Figure 17 , Suppl. material 3).

Distribution and biology.

This species occurs in Algeria, Libya and Morocco (Fig. 37 View Figure 37 ; Suppl. material 2). The preferred environment of Merodon obscurus stat. rev. includes sparsely-vegetated open ground and dry / semi-arid grassland with scattered tall herbs. Flowers visited: Ferula , Foeniculum . Flight period: April / September. Developmental stages: not described.

MNCN

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Diptera

Family

Syrphidae

Genus

Merodon

Loc

Merodon obscurus Gil Collado, 1929

Vujić, Ante, Radenković, Snežana, Likov, Laura, Tubić, Nataša Kočiš, Popov, Grigory, Gilasian, Ebrahim, Djan, Mihajla, Milosavljević, Marina Janković & Ačanski, Jelena 2024
2024
Loc

Merodon pruni var. obscurus Gil Collado, 1929: 407

Merodon pruni var. obscurus Gil Collado, 1929: 407 .