Spilomyia boschmai Lucas, 1964: 206

Wachkoo, Aijaz Ahmad, B, Jeroen Van Steenis, B, Zubair Ahmad Rather, B, Jayita Sengupta & B, Dhriti Banerjee, 2019, First record of the genus Spilomyia (Diptera, Syrphidae) from the Oriental region, Turkish Journal of Zoology 43 (2), pp. 239-242 : 240-241

Spilomyia boschmai Lucas, 1964: 206 . HT ♀ [NBC]; PT 1 ♀ [NBC]. Italy (Sicily, Monte Soro, Cesaro ).

Diagnosis: Like the other species of the genus, Spilomyia manicata has the following characters: concave face; a dark brown pattern on the eyes; elongate antennae; strongly oblique wing vein r–m; nonpollinose yellow thoracic and abdominal color pattern; metafemur with apicoventral anterolateral spur. It differs from the other species by the combination of the following characters: mesonotum and scutellum long and pilose; macula on scutum in front of scutellum semicircular; scutellum yellow on posterior 1/4–1/3; pleura with 4–6 yellow spots, 1 each on proepimeron, dorsal part of katepisternum, katepimeron, and anepisternum, and sometimes also on dorsal part of metepimeron and katatergite; protarsus entirely black; protibia black on apical 1/4–2/3; anteromedial fascia on tergites II–IV entire to only very slightly separated medially; posterior fascia on tergite IV curved in the male.

Comparison with Spilomyia saltuum : the long pilose mesonotum and scutellum is diagnostic for S. manicata (very short and pilose in S. saltuum ); protarsus entirely black, at most fifth tarsomere light brown ( S. saltuum with at least tarsomeres 4 and 5 light brown to yellow); setulae on protarsus black ( S. saltuum yellow); macula on scutum in front of scutellum semicircular ( S. saltuum subtriangular); anteromedial fascia on tergites II–IV entire, in male sometimes very narrowly separated medially, and posterior fascia on tergite IV curved in the male ( S. saltuum all fascia straight and clearly separated medially).

Distribution: Austria, Balkan Peninsula, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, former Yugoslavia ( Barendregt et al., 2000; van Steenis, 2000; Vujič et al., 2001; de Groot, 2004). New record from Afghanistan and India (Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir).

Material examined: India: Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar , 34.1456°N 74.8775°E, 1800 m a.s.l., 15.x.2015 (1 ♀, CNC) leg. Zubair A. Rather ; Himachal Pradesh, Naggar Castle , 32.1144°N, 77.1747°E, 1887 m a.s.l., 13.vii.2013 (1 ♀, ZSI) leg. D. Banerjee ; Afghanistan: Nouristan, Vallée du Pech , 1800–2400 m a.s.l., 18.viii.1977, (1 ♂, MNHN) leg. G. Meurgues & G. Ledoux.

Habitat and behavior: The Indian specimen from Srinagar was swept from Ageratum houstonianum , an exotic ornamental plant at SKUAST campus in Kashmir Valley in the Northwest Himalayas at moderate elevation (1800 m a.s.l.), with an average annual precipitation of 660 mm and 13 °C average temperature. The other Indian specimen was collected from the Western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh from a local wildflower bush ( Figure 4 ) at moderate elevation (1887 m a.s.l.) with an average annual temperature of 16.1 °C and an average annual precipitation of 110 mm. The specimen from Afghanistan was collected on the south slopes of the Hindu Kush Mountains in the northeastern part of the country.

Despite being widespread, this species has often been misidentified as Spilomyia saltuum . However, van Steenis (2000) clarified the demarcation between the 2 species. This large pollinator species, although widespread in Palearctic distribution, is rare, and is known by only a few recent records from most parts of its range ( Speight, 2013). It is probably threatened over much, if not all, of Europe and may be facing a high risk of threat in the future ( Vujič et al., 2001; Speight, 2013). This species marks the first record of the genus Spilomyia from India and is the third species from Afghanistan. As major areas of the vast Indian subcontinent are poorly sampled, future biodiversity surveys should providemanymorenewrecordsandnewspeciesintheregion ( Wachkoo et al., 2017; Ballal et al., 2018; Háva et al., 2019). This discovery is important in documenting our declining biodiversity and its impact on mankind. The discovery gains more importance with the knowledge that India is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and our prime responsibility as a developing nation is to take stern measures to preserve disappearing biodiversity ( Wachkoo et al., 2018a, 2018b). The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to the global decline of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern, which has resulted in the establishment of special initiatives by the CBD (International Pollinator Initiative) to tackle the issues of pollinator decline ( Potts et al., 2010). Given

Figures

Figures 1–4. 1–3, Spilomyia manicata (Rondani, 1865) (♂) Afghanistan: 1- frontal view; 2- lateral view; 3- dorsal view (photographs courtesy of W van Steenis). 4- Collection locality of S. manicata at Nagar Castle, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.