Syneches Walker

Grootaert, Patrick & Shamshev, Igor, 2013, The flies of the family Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) collected during the Boyekoli Ebale Congo 2010 Expedition in Democratic Republic of Congo, Zootaxa 3603 (1), pp. 1-61 : 7

Genus Syneches Walker

Syneches Walker, 1852: 165 . Type species: Syneches simplex Walker, 1852 (by monotypy).

Pterospilus Rondani, 1856: 152 . Type species: Asilus muscaria Fabricius, 1794 (by monotypy). Harpamerus Bigot, 1859: 306. Type species: Harpamerus signatus Bigot, 1859 (by monotypy). Epiceia Walker, 1860: 149 . Type species: Epiceia ferruginea Walker, 1860 (by monotypy).

Parahybos Kertész, 1899: 176 . Type species: Parahybos iridipennis Kertész, 1899 (by monotypy).

Remarks. Recently, Sinclair (2011) re-defined the generic limits of Syneches resulting in the synonymy noted above, which we follow in the present paper. The genus includes about 175 described species worldwide. Smith (1980) noted 14 species of Syneches from the Afrotropical Realm. Later, Raffone (1994) described one species from Sierra Leone; Charbonnel (1998) and Charbonnel and Daugeron (2000) described three species from Cameroon, Central African Republic and Cote d'Ivoire. There is also a questionable record of S. iridipennis ( Kertész 1899) from the Seychelles ( Collin 1922; Grootaert et al. 2009). Consequently, there are currently 19 species of Syneches known from the Afrotropics. Only one species ( S. elevatus Bezzi, 1908 ) has been reported from D.R. Congo. Keys of Afrotropical species are available for Southern Africa (Smith 1969) except for S. vittatus ( Walker, 1860) and Uganda ( Garrett Jones (1940).