Ephydra flavipes (Macquart, 1843)

Coenia flavipes Macquart, 1843: 412 .

Ephydra flavipes: Mathis 1978: 105 [generic combination]; Walker & Pittaway 1987: 107 [Saudi Arabia]; Al-Houty 1989: 144–145 [Kuwait]; Al-Ahmadi & Salem 1999: 158 [Saudi Arabia]; Dawah & Abdullah 2006: 389 [Saudi Arabia]; Mathis et al. 2017: 739–740 [United Arab Emirates]; El-Hawagry et al. 2019: 33 [Saudi Arabia].

Ephydra opaca Loew 1856: 55; Mathis & Zatwarnicki 1995: 241 [synonymy].

Ephydra helwanensis Steyskal 1968: 110; Wirth 1975: 32–35 [revision]; Mathis 1978: 105 [synonymy].

Specimens examined. 1 ♀, Asir, Abha, Madenate Al-Ameer Sultan, Hay Al-Sad, 25. ii.–25. v. 2002, Malaise trap. H.A. Dawah (CERS) .

Other Saudi Arabian records: without locality (Walker & Pittaway 1987; Al-Ahmadi & Salem 1999); Asir Region: Madinat al-Ameer Sultan, 15 km E of Abha (Dawah & Abdullah 2006) ; Riyadh Region: Rawdhat Khorim National Park (El-Hawagry et al. 2019) .

Distribution. This species was previously recorded from Saudi Arabia by Walker & Pittaway (1987). The species was described from Sudan and has also been recorded from the following area: Afrotropical Region: Aldabra Group, Chad and United Arab Emirates; Palaearctic Region: widespread in Europe, Algeria, Canary Islands, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. There are some specimens of E. flavipes in NMWC collected from Bahrain, Cape Verde Islands, Egypt, Oman and Yemen.

Biology. This species is the most common and widespread of the brine flies occurring around the Mediterranean (Wirth 1975). Ferrar (1987) stated that larvae of Ephydra flavipes feed on algae, bacteria and flagellate protozoa in a variety of specialized aquatic situations. Wirth (1975) reported that the species is most often associated with rice culture in the Mediterranean area. However, Nasr et al. (1970) stated that in Egypt (as Ephydra macellaria Egger) it did not damage rice seedlings grown under test conditions in the laboratory. Gatt & Ebejer (2003) regard it as a predominantly halophilous species. Wirth (1975) in his revision of old World Ephydra gave information on the identity, biology and distribution of Ephydra (E.) flavipes .