Merodon vandergooti Hurkmans, 1993

Fig. 3

Examined material. IRAN, Esfahan province: 1 ♂, Semirom, Kommeh, 31°02′17.2″N 51°33′08.6″E, 2440 m, 12.v.2007, leg. E. Gilasian ; Fars province: 1 ♂, Darab, Ab Jahan, 28°50′19.5″N 54°33′63.7″E, 1970 m, 17.iv. 2006, leg. E. Gilasian.

Remarks. Merodon vandergooti is distinguished from other Merodon species by the following combination of characters: antenna yellowish orange; flagellum 1.5–1.7 times longer than pedicel; scutum predominantly covered with a mixture of both golden yellow and blackish pile between wing bases; legs predominantly orange, except for hind femur basally; hind femur strongly swollen; abdomen black; tergite 2 with a pair of vague lateral yellow maculae; tergites 2–4 with a pair of greyish pollinose fasciae; male genitalia as in Hurkmans (1993: figure 58).This species was collected in the central region of the Zagros Mountains. The specimens examined in the present study represent the first record of this species after its original description in 1993. The female of this species was described as M. aureotibia by Hurkmans (1993) a species name that was proposed as junior synonym of M. vandergooti by Vujić et al. (2011).