Actocetor (Actocetor) indicus ( Wiedemann, 1824 )

Dawah, Hassan A., Ahmad, Syed K., Abdullah, Mohammed A. & Zatwarnicki, Tadeusz, 2019, An overview of the Ephydridae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 4711 (3), pp. 401-445 : 405

Actocetor (Actocetor) indicus ( Wiedemann, 1824)

Notiphila indica Wiedemann, 1824: 58 .

Actocetor indicus ( Wiedemann, 1824) : Cogan & Wirth 1977: 328 [generic combination]; Dikow & Mathis 2002: 261–271 [revision]; Dawah & Abdullah 2006: 386 [ Saudi Arabia]; El-Hawagry et al. 2016: 124; 2017: 1515 ; 2019: 32 [ Saudi Arabia]; Mathis et al. 2017: 640 [ Oman, United Arab Emiates].

Ephydra margaritata Wiedemann, 1830: 594 : Dikow & Mathis 2002: 261 [synonymy].

Actocetor margaritatus: Becker 1903: 170 [generic combination]; Stower et al. 1958: 27 [scavenger in egg pods of desert locusts]; Greathead 1963: 452 [reared from damaged egg pods of desert locusts]; Dabbour 1979b: 117; Dabbour 1979a: 82 [ Saudi Arabia]; Dabbour & El-Dawy 1981: 41–42 [ Saudi Arabia]; Al-Houty 1989: 144–145 [ Kuwait]; Al-Ahmadi & Salem, 1999: 158 [ Saudi Arabia]; El-Hawagry et al. 2016: 124; 2017: 1515 [ Saudi Arabia].

Actocetor beckeri Hendel 1917: 41 [preoccupied, de Meijere 1916].

Actocetor hendeli de Meijere 1924: 202 [replacement name for Actocetor beckeri Hendel 1917 , not de Meijere 1916]: Dikow & Mathis 2002: 261 [synonymy].

Actocetor margaritatus panelii Frey 1958: 46 : Dikow & Mathis 2002: 261 [synonymy].

Specimens examined. 2 ♀, Asir, Abha, Madenate Al-Ameer Sultan, Hay Al-Sad , 25. ii.–25. v. 2002, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( NMWC) .

Other Saudi Arabian records: Al-Qassim Region: Buraidah ( Dabbour 1979a, b); Al-Baha Region: Jabal Shada al-A’la Nature Reserve ( El-Hawagry et al. 2016); Asir Region: Garf Raydah Nature Reserve ( El-Hawagry et al. 2017); Abha, Madinat al-Ameer Sultan ( Dawah & Abdullah 2006); Makkah Region: Al Shumisy (Dabbour & El- Dawy 1981); Riyadh Region: Rawdhat Khorim National Park ( El-Hawagry et al. 2019).

Distribution. Previously recorded from Saudi Arabia by Dabbour (1979a, b); Dabbour & El-Dawy (1981), Dawah & Abdullah (2006), by El-Hawagry et al. (2016 & 2017) under two names: junior and senior synonyms and recently by El-Hawagry et al. (2019). It was described from India and further recorded from: Afrotropical Region: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sokotra Island, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Sudan and United Arab Emirates; Palaearctic Region: Canary Islands, Egypt, Israel, Spain; Oriental Region: India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.

Remarks. This species has been reared from decaying matter in damaged egg pods of desert locusts Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål 1775) in Eritrea ( Greathead 1963, as Acocetor [sic]; Stower et al. 1958) and from domestic cat dung in Israel ( Dikow & Mathis 2002). This species has been found in sandy areas with little or no vegetation that were surrounded by or close to grass-covered habitats with organic debris or garbage that had accumulated at the high tide mark on sandy beaches ( Dikow & Mathis 2002; Mathis & Zatwarnicki 2003). Dikow & Mathis (2002) have given some observations on the mating behaviour of this species.