Ischiodon Sack

Dawah, Hassan A., Abdullah, Mohammed A., Ahmad, Syed Kamran, Al-Dhafer, Hathal & Turner, James, 2020, An overview of the Syrphidae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 4855 (1), pp. 1-69 : 36

Genus Ischiodon Sack

The genus Ischiodon comprises four species with quite distinct distributions namely: I. feae (Bezzi) ( Cape Verde Islands), I. aegyptius (Wiedemann) (Africa and southern Europe), I. scutellaris (Fabricius) (Oriental and Australasian Region) and I. astales Mengual 2018 (Africa) ( Láska et al. 2006; Mengual 2018). The species of Ischiodon have a strong resemblance to the genus of the single species Simosyrphus Bigot , with which it has often been confused (e.g. Bryan, 1934). Species of both genera have been previously placed under one another several times (Mengual 2015) despite some important differences in the male genitalia ( Vockeroth 1969). The generic key by Vockeroth (1969: 40) can be used to identify both genera. A synonymy of both genera was proposed by Láska et al. (2006) based on larval and pupal morphology, supported by a molecular study. Mengual et al. (2018) reported that the current evidence from molecular characters supports the generic rank of Ischiodon and Simosyrphus . The species of Ischiodon are predatory syrphids with an important role in the bio-control of aphid pests in different areas of the world ( Láska et al. 2006; also for more references).