1. Merodon chalybeus Subgroup: An Additional Piece of the M. aureus Group (Diptera, Syrphidae) Puzzle
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Jelena Ačanski, Ante Vujić, Ljiljana Šašić Zorić, Snežana Radenković, Mihajla Djan, Zlata Markov Ristić, Gunilla Ståhls, Zoology, Biosciences, and Gunilla Ståhls-Mäkelä / Principal Investigator
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INCLUDING DESCRIPTION ,MEIGEN ,FAUNA ,Ecology ,INTEGRATIVE TAXONOMY ,SYSTEMATICS ,COMPLEX DIPTERA ,SPECIES DIPTERA ,REVISION ,taxonomy ,MOUNTAINS ,1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology ,Animal Science and Zoology ,Syrphidae ,HOVERFLIES ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
In this study, we examined the morphology, genetics and distribution of the members of the Merodon chalybeus subgroup (M. aureus species group): M. chalybeus Wiedemann in Meigen, 1822, M. minutusStrobl, 1893 and M. robustusVeselić, Vujić & Radenković, 2017. Two of the species, M. chalybeus and M. minutus, are morphologically very similar and often misidentified in the literature. Here, by employing an integrative taxonomic approach we provide strong evidence for the separation of M. chalybeus and M. minutus. Our results show their clear allopatric distribution: M. minutus on the Balkan Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, while M. chalybeus is a western Mediterranean species distributed on the Iberian Peninsula and northwest Africa. Data on the distribution of M. robustus were updated, with new records from Cyprus, Israel and Turkey, besides its type locality (Samos in Greece). We provide evidence for M. chalybeus and M. minutus representing a species complex, named the M. chalybeus complex, which together with M. robustus constitute the M. chalybeus subgroup. © 2021 Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board.
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