Prosimulium hirtipes (Fries, 1824)

Belqat, Boutaïna, Adler, Peter H., Cherairia, Mouna & Boudghane-Bendiouis, Chafika Chaoui, 2018, Inventory of the Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) of North Africa, Zootaxa 4442 (2), pp. 201-220 : 204-205

Prosimulium hirtipes species group

Prosimulium albense Rivosecchi, 1961

Algeria: Djurdjura Mountains: Lounaci et al. (2000a: 54): first record for Algeria. Lounaci et al. (2000b: 126–127, 133): occurrence, abundance. Chaoui Boudghane-Bendiouis et al. (2012: 306): listed. Haouchine & Lounaci (2012: 143–144, 149–150): occurrence, abundance, bionomics. Chaoui Boudghane-Bendiouis (2016: 41– 45): distribution.

Prosimulium latimucro (Enderlein, 1925) Cytoform ‘C’

Morocco: Rif, High Atlas: Bailly-Choumara & Beaucournu-Saguez (1981: 53–54): record (as groupe latimucro species nova?). Beaucournu-Saguez & Bailly-Choumara (1981: 119): record (as P. latimucro group). Belqat et al. (2011: 47): inventoried with faunistic and bibliographical details. Kúdela et al. (2017: 16): cytoform ‘C’ designation applied.

Comment: Prosimulium latimucro is a complex of at least three distinct entities (probably species), of which Moroccan populations characterized chromosomally by Adler & Belqat (2001) represent cytoform ‘C’ ( Kúdela et al. 2017).

Prosimulium rufipes (Meigen, 1830) (complex)

Algeria: Djurdjura Mountains: Lounaci et al. (2000a: 54): first record for Algeria. Lounaci et al. (2000b: 126–127, 133): occurrence, abundance. Chaoui Boudghane-Bendiouis et al. (2012: 306): listed. Haouchine & Lounaci (2012: 143–144, 149–150): occurrence, abundance, bionomics (incorrectly spelled as P. ruffoi : 150). Chaoui Boudghane-Bendiouis (2016: 41–45): distribution.

Tunisia: Clergue-Gazeau & Boumaiza (1986: 604–605, 606, 608, 610, 612, 618–619, 634–635): dichotomous key, illustrations. Clergue-Gazeau et al. (1991: 54): listed but locality unspecified (as P. cf. rufipes group).

Northwestern Tunisia: Boumaiza & Clergue-Gazeau (1986: 32–35): first record for North Africa (as P. rufipes group), abundance, distribution map, ecology at breeding site.

Comment: We suspect that records of P. rufipes or the P. rufipes “group” in Algeria and Tunisia refer to the P. rachiliense complex, or to a similar species, decribed chromosomally (as P. rufipes ) by Adler & Belqat (2001) from Morocco. Chromosomal evidence based on topotypical material suggests that true P. rufipes does not occur much beyond France, Germany, Italy, and Switzwerland ( Adler & Şirin 2014). Prosimulium rufipes , therefore, is unlikely to be found in North Africa. We tentatively use the name P. rufipes complex here and in Table 1 to indicate an undetermined species of Prosimulium in the P. hirtipes species group in Algeria and Tunisia. We note, however, that the material used by Clergue-Gazeau & Boumaiza (1986) for illustration might be P. rufipes sensu stricto, although its provenance is unknown.

Prosimulium rachiliense Djafarov, 1954 (complex)

Morocco: Beaucournu-Saguez & Bailly-Choumara (1981: 119): record (as P. rufipes - hirtipes group). Rif: Belqat et al. (2001a: 11): record (as P. rufipes ). Adler & Belqat (2001: 413–415, 417): polytene chromosomes described and compared with those of European species (as P. rufipes ). Belqat & Adler (2001: 124–126): distribution map, ecology (as P. rufipes ). Belqat (2002: 113–118, 285–293): distribution map, photographs of specimens, cytotaxonomy (as P. rufipes ). Belqat & Dakki (2004: 93–109, 112–137): record, dichotomous key, photographs and illustrations (as P. rufipes ). Belqat et al. (2005: 51, 54–55): pupal photograph, ecological affinities (as P. rufipes ). Belqat et al. (2008: 62): record, new sites (as P. rufipes ). Belqat et al. (2011: 47): inventoried with faunistic and bibliographical details (as P. rufipes ).

Comment: Original reports of this taxon in Morocco appeared under the name P. rufipes . The chromosomes described by Adler & Belqat (2001), however, indicate that populations in Morocco’s Rif Mountains are not P. rufipes , but instead a species closer to P. rachiliense ( Adler & Şirin 2014) .

Prosimulium tomosvaryi (Enderlein, 1921) Morocco: Beaucournu-Saguez & Bailly-Choumara (1981: 119): record (as P. tomosvaryi group). Rif: Belqat et al. (2011: 47): inventoried with faunistic and bibliographical details.

Comment: The chromosomes of larvae of P. tomosvaryi from Morocco are distinctly different from those of topotypical larvae and of other analyzed populations, suggesting a degree of isolation, perhaps enough to justify a separate species. Analyses of material from the Iberian Peninsula would be particularly informative in deciding the taxonomic status of Moroccan populations.