Syritta flaviventris Macquart, 1842

Syritta flaviventris Macquart, 1842: 135 . Type locality: Senegal.

Syritta nigricornis Macquart, 1842: 134 . Type locality: Egypt.

Syritta spinigera Loew, 1848b: 331 . Type localities: Greece, Italy (Sicily) & Turkey.

Syritta albifacies Bigot, 1859: 439 . Type locality: Madagascar.

Syritta aculeipes Schiner, 1868: 367 . Type locality: South Africa (Cap).

Syritta spinigerella Thomson, 1869: 502 . Type locality: St. Helena.

Syritta armipes Thomson, 1869: 503 . Type locality: South Africa (Cap).

Material examined: 1 female, Ein Gedeirat, 13–22.IV.1938, leg. Shafik; 1male, Faraskure, 7.VII.1926, leg. Tewfik; 2 females, Fayoum, 30.IV.1943, leg. Shafik; 1 female, Geneiva, 12.X.1926, leg. Tewfik; 2 males, Helwan, 5.IX.1935, leg. Farag [EFC].

World distribution: AF: Cape Verde Is., Eastern parts of the Afrotropical Region to the southern tip of Africa, Madagascar, Mascarene Is., Mauritius, Reunion, Senegal, St. Helena, South Africa. NE: Mexico, USA (Texas). NT: Argentina, Brazil and Chile. PA: Corsica, Crete, Egypt, Europe (Portugal, Spain and round the Mediterranean from the southern coast of France to Turkey), Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Sardinia, Sicily, Syria.

Egyptian localities: It is a very common species, distributed in all Egyptian ecological zones [Sources: Shaumar & Kamal (1978) and the examined museum material].

Activity period in Egypt: Throughout the year.

Remarks: Adults fly low among sparse vegetation beside water, settling on stones or dried mud. They usually visit yellow composites (Speight 2017). It seems very strange that the extremely common and widespread species Syritta pipiens (L.) has been recorded from every North African country except Egypt.