Nemotelus niloticus Olivier, 1811

Mason, Franco, Rozkošný, Rudolf & Hauser, Martin, 2009, A review of the soldier flies (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) of Sardinia *, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 507-530 : 512-514

Nemotelus niloticus Olivier, 1811

( Figs 6–20, 21–24, 62–63)

Material examined. Carbonia-Iglesias prov. : Isola di Sant’Antioco, Stagno di Santa Caterina, close to “Centro Sperimentale ENEL”, N 39°05’18.4” E 8°29’10.5”, 24.VI.2007, C. Meloni leg., 88 ♀♀, 47 ♂ sweep net, on Salicornia sp. ( FMV); Sant’Anna Arresi, Stagno di Punta Pino N 38°58’24.0” E 8°36’34.4”, 22.VI.2007, F. Mason, D. Birtele & F. Mazzocchi leg., 25 ♂, 26 ♀♀, sweep net, on Salicornia (FMV) .

Other material examined. Israel, Newe Zohar , 19.03.1995, net, B. Merz leg. 1 ♂, 1 ♀, ( FMV) ; Tunisia, near Nefta , palme grove, 31.05.1994, net, S. Becvar leg., 2 ♂ ( FMV) ; Algeria, Skah , Biskra, 18.04.1949, A. Giordani Soika leg., 1 ♂, 1 ♀ ( FMV) .

Remarks. Nemotelus niloticus was treated as a species incertae sedis by Rozkošný (1977) in his revision of the West-Palaearctic Nemotelus Geoffroy, 1762 ; the same author illustrated the diagnostic characteristics of N. albifacies Becker, 1902 , which was later considered as its synonym by Hauser (2008). The specimens recently collected in Sardinia have a yellow spot limited to the area between the apex of the facial projection and the base of the antennae (typical, according to Hauser (2008), of specimens from the Tunisian coast). Records from Sardinia confirm the Mediterranean distribution pattern of the species ( Rozkošný 1977, 1983). The Sardinian specimens were collected in a salt marsh with Salicornia sp. and Limonium sp. vegetation. Specimens of both sexes were attracted in great numbers by white surfaces, e.g. clothes, insect nets or white cars (Mason, pers. obs.; Meloni, pers. comm.). The biometric measurements refer to the population collected on the same day at Stagno di Santa Caterina (see above). Males (n = 21): body = 4.2–5.4 mm, wing = 2.5–3.7 mm, head index = 1.9–2.1; females (n = 26): body = 4.3–5.7, wing = 2.5–3.7, head index = 1.9–2.1 mm. The head index ranges from 1.6–1.7 (males) and 1.9 (females) for specimens from Algeria and Israel, to 2.0–2.3 for males from Tunisia. The Sardinian specimens are characterized by a relatively long facial projection (see Tab. 1).

Distribution. First record for Europe. This species was known from Algeria and Egypt ( Rozkošný 1977), and was recently recorded from Libya ( Troiano & Toscano 1997), Tunisia ( Hauser 2008), Israel ( Hauser 2008) and the United Arab Emirates ( Hauser 2008).