Diptera: Athericidae)
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Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (S.E.A.), nº 54 (30/6/2014): 349–350. FIRST PORTUGUESE RECORD OF THE GENUS ATRICHOPS VERRALL (DIPTERA: ATHERICIDAE) Rui Andrade Rua Calouste Gulbenkian 237 4H3, Porto, Portugal – [email protected] Abstract: The dipteran family Athericidae is, in Portugal, insufficiently known with only one species recorded to date. In this paper, the species Atrichops crassipes (Meigen, 1820) is recorded for the first time in Portugal increasing the number of species of this family in the country from one to two. Key words: Diptera, Athericidae, Atrichops crassipes, new record, distribution, Portugal. Primera cita portuguesa del género Atrichops Verrall (Diptera: Athericidae). Resumen: La familia de dípteros Athericidae está insuficientemente conocida en Portugal, de donde se ha citado sólo una especie hasta ahora. En este trabajo, la especie Atrichops crassipes (Meigen, 1820) se cita por primera vez de Portugal, incrementando el número de especies de esta familia en el país de una a dos. Palabras clave: Diptera, Athericidae, Atrichops crassipes, cita nueva, distribución, Portugal. Athericidae (Diptera) is a small family of brachyceran flies The location where the single specimen was collected, related to the Tabanidae. The adults are medium sized with which is situated on the outskirts of the city of Valongo, suf- dark bodies often with transversely fasciate abdominal ter- fers from intense human pressure. The watercourses on the gites. The eyes in males nearly meet, while females are di- area are polluted and is common to find garbage along the choptic, and both have ocelli. Antenna is short with flagellum margins. The dominant tree species is the eucalyptus (Euca- reniform. The wings are relatively large and, in many species, lyptus globulus), and species of the exotic Acacia can also be with dark markings. The elongated legs bear apical spurs on found. Despite the negative effects that result from human mid and hind tibiae (Oosterbroek, 2006). presence, the riparian corridors still retains some natural fea- This family occurs all over the world and, in Europe, is tures, and there it is possible to find many native plant spe- represented by just 10 species included in 4 genera (Rozkošný cies: Salix atrocinerea, Fraxinus sp., Frangula alnus and, & Knutson, 2013). In Portugal athericids are poorly known going up the slope, Quercus robur, Arbutus unedo, Pinus and, up to now, only Ibisia marginata (Fabricius, 1781) was pinaster, among others. recorded, while in Spain possibly up to 4 species belonging to 3 genera are known (Carles-Tolrá Hjorth-Andersen, 2002; Acknowledgements Rozkošný & Knutson, 2013). In this work the species The author is very grateful to Prof. Rudolf Rozkošný for the identifi- Atrichops crassipes (Meigen, 1820) is recorded for the first cation of the male of Atrichops crassipes mentioned in this work. time from Portugal, being the genus Atrichops Verrall, 1909 Thanks also to Jorge Almeida for providing a reference and to Pedro also new to the country. This species is also known from the Andrade for comments on the manuscript. following countries (Murányi et al., 2009): United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Germany, Hun- References gary, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Romania. A. crassipes is a medium-sized (6.5-7.0 mm) fly with a CARLES-TOLRÁ HJORTH-ANDERSEN, M. 2002. Catálogo de los brownish body colour and wings with an indistinct dark pat- Diptera de España, Portugal y Andorra (Insecta). Monografías tern but a well visible pterostigma. The abdomen shows a S.E.A., 8. Zaragoza. 323 pp. ringed pattern of alternating yellow and brown bands (Tho- MURÁNYI, D., N. TARJÁNYI & K. SCHÖLL 2009. First record of the genus Atrichops Verrall, 1909 in Hungary (Diptera: Atherici- mas, 1974). The larvae are aquatic (as happens in all species dae). Opusc. Zool. Budapest, 40(2): 103–105 of the family) and live in the sediment of slow moving or OOSTERBROEK, P. 2006. The European Families of the Diptera: standing waters where they prey on other aquatic inverte- Identification, diagnosis, biology. KNNV Publishing, Utrecht. brates (Thomas, 1975, 1997). Adults can be found along 205 pp. watercourses and they are known to be haematophagous on ROZKOŠNÝ, R. & L. KNUTSON 2013. Fauna Europaea: Athericidae. frogs (Rana esculenta L.) (Stuckenberg, 2000). In: Pape, T. & Beuk, P. Fauna Europaea: Diptera Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 2.6.2, http://www.fauna Atrichops crassipes (Meigen, 1820) eur.org. Portugal: Porto, Valongo, Campo, 41°10'46.70"N, 8°28' STUCKENBERG, B.R. 2000. A new genus and species of Athericidae 57.00"W, cca. 100 m. Collected by sweeping on the low (Diptera: Tabanoidea) from Cape York Peninsula. Records of vegetation near the margin of a small stream. 12.v.2011, 1♂, the Australian Museum, 52: 151-159. THOMAS, A.G.B. 1974. Diptères torrenticoles peu connus: I.- Les R. Andrade leg. The specimen is preserved in 70% ethanol Athericidae (larves et imagos) du Sud de la France (Brachy- and deposited in the author’s private collection. cera, Orthorrhapha). Annales de Limnologie, 10: 121-130. 349 Fig. 1: a) Habitus of the male collected; b) habitat where the specimen was found. THOMAS, A.G.B. 1975. Diptères torrenticoles peu connus: III. Les THOMAS, A.G.B. 1997. Rhagionidae and Athericidae, Snipe flies. In: Athericidae du sud de la France (régime alimentaire des Nilsson, A. (ed). Aquatic Insects of North Europe. A taxo- larves: aspect qualitatif) [Brachycera, Orthorrhapha]. Annales nomic Handbook, Volume 2, Stenstrup, pp. 311-320. de Limnologie, 11: 169-188. 350 .