Grichanov, I.Ya.
September 6-13, 1998
ABSTRACT
Afrotropical Sciapodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae): distribution and taxonomy
Igor Ya. Grichanov (All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Podbelskogo 3, St.Petersburg-Pushkin, 189620, Russia).
The last catalogue of Afrotropical dolichopodid fauna (Dyte and Smith, 1980) included about 180 species belonging to 8 genera of Sciapodinae, of which 3 genera were later synonymized, status of 1 genus was changed, and all species of the genus Sciapus were transferred to other genera. As a result, only 65 previously known Afrotropical species are placed now in the sciapodine genera sensu Dyte and Smith. Now 12 genera are known from the Region, of which Ethiosciapus, Bickeliolus and Gigantosciapus are endemic for Continental Africa and Madagascar, and Bickelia and Mascaromyia are confined to western Indian Ocean islands. Dytomyia was found on Madagascar and in Australia. The number of Afrotropical species belonging to sciapodine genera are as follows: Chrysosoma (67), Amblypsilopus (43), Mascaromyia (21), Plagiozopelma (17), Condylostylus (15), Gigantosciapus (13), Ethiosciapus (10), Bickeliolus (7), Mesorhaga (5), Dytomyia (3), Bickelia (3) and Sciapus (1). The well-known fauna of Congo (Kinshassa) comprises 84 species; Tanzania numbers 25, South Africa 22, Uganda 20, Nigeria 19, Kenya and Cameroons – 16 species each. Adjacent African islands are poorly studied. 29 species were recorded from Madagascar, 16 from Mauritius and 11 from Seychelles. In total, 205 Afrotropical species are known today. The major fraction of species was described by O. Parent (71 species including 7 placed in synonymy), I.Ya. Grichanov (41 and 1), C.H. Curran (37 and 7), Th. Becker (21 and 2), P. Vanschuytbroeck (15 and 3) and C.G. Lamb (9). Treating material from the collection of the Natural History Museum (London) mainly and some other museums, I found about 130 species of the subfamily Sciapodinae. 15 species were synonymized, about 30 replaced, and some previous species records from Madagascar, Congo (Kinshassa) or even all Africa were shown to be incorrect. A revised catalogue and keys to all Afrotropical species of Sciapodinae were compiled.
Key words: Diptera, Dolichopodidae, Sciapodinae, taxonomy, Tropical
Africa.
