Afroestricus Scarbrough, 2005

Scarbrough, A. G., 2010, An overview of the Afrotropical Ommatiinae (Diptera: Asilidae) with a key to genera, Zootaxa 2540, pp. 1-47 : 7

publication ID	1175-5326
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5310802
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038C87F8-FF9A-FFEC-FF7B-6AAAE561FCAA
treatment provided by	Felipe (2021-08-23 02:17:37, last updated by Plazi 2023-11-04 11:04:10)
scientific name	Afroestricus Scarbrough
status

Treatment

Afroestricus Scarbrough View in CoL View at ENA

Figs. 1, 7, 13–18, 106

Ommatius Wiedemann, 1821: 213 View in CoL ; Hull 1962: 436; Oldroyd 1974: 139, 1980: 347.

Afroestricus Scarbrough, 2005: 14 View in CoL . Type species: Ommatius macroscelis Bezzi, 1906 View in CoL , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Afroestricus is distinguished by the strongly produced lower 1/2–2/3 of the face ( Fig. 7), the stout preapical bristle on the prothoracic femur, 2–3 long dorsocentral bristles before the transverse suture, and the combined characters of the terminalia of both sexes ( Figs. 13–18).

Distribution. Subsaharan Africa and Madagascar. Data labels indicate that one or more species are active during each month of the year. They are recorded between 40 and 2700 meters in elevation and are associated with various open woodlands and savannas. Adults fly low over vegetation and perch on bare soil, low vegetation, and tree trunks.

Remarks. Afroestricus includes 24 Afrotropical species, 11 of which were transferred from Ommatius (Scarbrough 2005) . The genus with 23 species is widespread on the African continent ( Fig. 106). Only A. persuasus ( Oldroyd 1960) is recorded from Madagascar.

References

Bezzi, M. (1906) Ditteri Eritrei raccolti dal Dott. Andreini e dal Prof. Tellini. Bolletino della Societa entomologica italiana, Parte prima, 37 (1905), 267 - 294. Genova.

Hull, F. M. (1962) Robber flies of the world. The genera of the family Asilidae. United States National Museum Bulletin No, 224, Part 1, pp. 907. Washington DC.

Oldroyd, H. (1960) Synopsis des Asilidae de Madagascar (Diptera). II. Tribus des Leptogasterini, Ommatiini et Asilini. Memoires de Institut scientifique de Madagascar, Serie E, (1959) 11, 291 - 319. Tananarive.

Oldroyd, H. (1974) An introduction of the robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of Southern Africa. Annals of the Natal Museum, 22, 1 - 171. Pietermaritzburg.

Oldroyd, H. (1980) Family Asilidae. In: Crosskey, R. W. (ed.), Catalogue of Diptera of the Afrotropical Region. British Museum (NH), pp. 334 - 373. London.

Wiedemann, C. R. W. (1821) Diptera exotica. Part 1. Kiliae (Kiel), 244 pp.