Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) aegyptica Salem, 1935

Wang, Chao, Sun, Haoran, Zhu, Weibing, Pape, Thomas, Liu, Qiyong & Zhang, Dong, 2022, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Chinese species of Sarcophaga Meigen, 1824 (Diptera, Sarcophagidae), ZooKeys 1108, pp. 141-159 : 141

Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) aegyptica Salem, 1935

Fig. 4

Sarcophaga dux aegyptica Salem, 1935: 56. Egypt, Alexandria; Egypt, Abbassieh; Egypt, Monsouriah.

Parasarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) parkeri Rohdendorf, 1937: 217. Ukraine, south shore of Crimea.

Material examined.

1♂, China, Qinghai, Minhe , 22.vii.1976, Shaoyuan Ma leg. (SECA) .

Remarks.

There has been disagreement among authors as to whether Parasarcophaga parkeri is a valid species or a junior synonym of S. aegyptica . Rohdendorf (1937) evidently knew Salem’s (1935) work on Sarcophaga (s.l.) from Egypt, but he did not study any material identified as S. aegyptica and therefore quoted Salem’s description. Furthermore, the diagnostic differences in the shape of the juxtal arms and harpes outlined in the key by Rohdendorf (1937: 440) were assessed based on Salem’s illustrations. Gregor and Povolný (1960) synonymized the two nominal species, which was accepted by Rohdendorf (1970), and these taxa have since been considered either as separate species, e.g., by Lehrer (1995), Pape (1996), El-Ahmady et al. (2018), and Verves and Khrokalo (2020), or as synonyms, e.g., by Xue and Chao (1998), Nandi (2002), Povolný and Hula (2004), and Richet et al. (2011). The recent conspectus of Egyptian species of Sarcophaga (s.l.) by El-Ahmady et al. (2018) separated Sarcophaga aegyptica and Sarcophaga parkeri by vesica with two short processes apically and narrow harpes ( Sarcophaga aegyptica ) versus vesica with three short processes apically and broad harpes ( Sarcophaga parkeri ). The material at our disposal was not sufficient for a thorough assessment of the relevant morphological characters, but we have the impression that both the vesica and the harpes are variable structures, which furthermore present themselves very differently depending on the type of preparation and condition of the specimen. We have therefore chosen a conservative approach and consider the two nominal taxa as synonyms.

Figures

Figure 4. Sarcophaga (Liosarcophaga) aegyptica Salem, 1935; male (China, Qinghai; in SECA) A habitus, lateral view B terminalia, lateral view C head, lateral view D head, anterolateral view E head, anterior view. Scale bars: 1 mm.