Abstract
The African endemic hover fly Meromacroides meromacriformis (Bezzi, 1915) (Syrphidae, Eristalinae) was described more than a century ago and its monotypic status established in 1927, but subsequent collections and publications are rare. Only the male has been described and nothing is known about its biology. We re-describe the male, including geographic variation, describe the female for the first time and provide the first DNA barcodes for the species. Despite the large range and observed variations, there is insufficient evidence to describe additional taxa in the genus. Biological observations are presented, which may shed some insight into this rare and enigmatic hover fly, whose known distribution now spans the Afrotropical Region.
Funder
JRS Biodiversity Foundation
Subject
Paleontology,Insect Science,Animal Science and Zoology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Reference17 articles.
1. Focus stacking: Comparing commercial top-end set-ups with a semi-automatic low budget approach. A possible solution for mass digitization of type specimens
2. Diptera of the American Museum Congo Expedition. Part I. – Bibionidae, Bombyliidae, Dolichopodidae, Syrphidae, Trypaneidae.;Curran;Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History,1927
3. Specimen database Syrphidae (Diptera) of East Africa. Centre for Biodiversity Research Reports.;De Meyer;Biodiversity Database,1995