Paragus (Serratoparagus) pusillus Stuckenberg, 1954b

Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A., Ahmad, Syed Kamran, Al-Dhafer, Hathal & Turner, James, 2020, An overview of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 4855 (1), pp. 1-69 : 47-48

Paragus (Serratoparagus) pusillus Stuckenberg, 1954b

( Fig. 54 )

Paragus pusillus Stuckenberg, 1954b: 401

Examined specimens. 1♀, Jazan, Abu-Aresh, Al-Mahdag Villiage , 1.ii–3.iv.2011, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 2♂, same locality but 21–24.ii.2013 ( CERS) ; 1♀, same locality but 1.ii–3.iv.2011 ( CERS) ; 1♂, Asir, Abha, Hay Al-Nusub ( Abha Farm Centre), 3.vi.2001, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah & M.A. Abdullah ( CERS) ; 2♂, Jazan, Fifa, Al-Tatweer Centre, 10-31.vii.2013, Malaise trap, H.A. Dawah ( CERS) ; 1♂, same locality but 6.v.2014 ( CERS) .

Distribution. This is the first record from Saudi Arabia. It was described from Zimbabwe (as “ Rhodesia ”) and further recorded from Namibia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen ( Smith & Vockeroth 1980; Whittington 2003; Smit et al. 2017).

Remarks. Stuckenberg (1954b) described Paragus pusillus . Stuckenberg (1954a) established the subgenus Pandasyopthalmu s in addition to the subgenus Paragus Latreille. Smith & Vockeroth (1980) listed it under P. (Paragus) pusillus . Following Vujić et al. (2008) P. (Paragus) pusillus was therefore put under P. (Serratoparagus) pusillus .

Genus Phytomia Guérin-Méneville

There are approximately 26 species of Phytomia worldwide of which 19 species are found in the Afrotropical region ( De Meyer et al. 2020). De Meyer et al. (2020) has published a taxonomic revision of the Afrotropical species of Phytomia with an identification key and has investigated their interrelationships based on morphological and DNA data. Dirickx (1998) and Whittington (2003) listed 18 species of Phytomia found in the Afrotropical region. De Meyer et al. (2020) have synonymised three species listed by Dirickx (1998) and Whittington (2003) namely: P. neavei Bezzi is considered a junior synonym of P. kroeberi (Bezzi) , P. noctilio Speiser a junior synonym of P. pubipennis Bezzi and P. ephippium Bezi a junior synonym of P. melas (Bezzi) . They described three new species: P. austeni sp.n., P. memnon sp.n. and P. pallida sp.n. They also validated P. curta (Loew) and differentiated if from P. natalensis (Macquart) . Therefore, the total number of Phytomia in the Afrotropical region is 19. The larvae of some species of Phytomia have a semiaquatic saprophagous life cycle and therefre, can be found in a wide range of habitats including bodies of water. Some species of Phytomia are observed to play an important role as pollinators (Njorege et al. 2004).

Figures

FIGURE 54. Habitus of Paragus (Serratoparagus) pusillus Stuckenberg, 1954b. Male, dorsal view.