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The first Oriental species of the genus Trichopsomyia Williston, 1888, Trichopsomyia pilosa sp. nov. (Java), has been discovered and is now described. This Oriental species of Trichopsomyia has several characters strongly differing from the other species within this genus. It is hypothesized that it forms a separate group within Trichopsomyia. One species, Trichopsomyia formiciphila Downes, Skevington & Thompson, 2017, from Australia, is similar to the Oriental species described here, and the group is named after this first described species, hence the formiciphila group. The characters for a future phylogenetic analysis are discussed. The character states of the pilosity of the katepisternum and the shape of the metasternum hitherto used in a phylogenetic analysis of Syrphidae Latreille, 1802 are discussed too.

A genus of flower flies, which is endemic to south-east Asia, is renamed Eosmallota Thompson, Wyatt & Mengual, new name for Klossia Curran, 1931. The one included species, O. singularis (Walker, 1857) comb. n., is diagnosed, illustrated and lectotype designated.

The first case of myiasis caused by Lucilia caesar (L.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in a wild boar, Sus scrofa L. (Artiodactyla: Suidae) is described. The myiasis occurred in October 2019 in Southern Italy and the identification of the agent was based on adult male morphology. The wild boar had a wound on its right side, near the neck, which was largely infested by larvae. The ecology, distribution and current literature status about cases of animal myiasis by this species is also included.

The Hajar Mountain Range of Northern Oman is an important centre of species endemism, and of biogeographical interest as a crossroads between the Afrotropical and Palaearctic regions. Despite this, the invertebrate fauna of the region is largely unknown, with very little dedicated research or surveys having been undertaken until now. Here we present the invertebrate species collected and identified from five different survey locations within the Hajar Mountains. This preliminary checklist contains 296 records, of which 36 are new records for Oman. Our surveys also discovered two new species of ant: Lepisiota omanensis collected from Jebel Qahwan Reserve and at the base of Jebel Akhdar, and Anochetus annetteae from Hibra Village in the Nakhl Region.

The tiger-fly Coenosia attenuata is a globally widespread predatory fly which is not only associated with greenhouse crops, but also occurs in open fields. It is a potential control agent against some of the more common pests in these crops. Assessing the genetic structure and gene flow patterns may be important for planning crop protection strategies and for understanding the historical processes that led to the present distribution of genetic lineages within this species. In the present study, the phylogeographical patterns of this species, based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and nuclear white and elongation factor-1α genes, are described, revealing relatively low genetic diversity and weak genetic structure associated with a recent and sudden population expansion of the species. The geographical distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes indicates the Mediterranean as the most likely region of origin of the species. Some dispersal patterns of the species are also revaled, including at least three independent colonizations of North and South America: one from Middle East to North America with a strong bottleneck event, another from Europe to South America (Chile), with both likely to be a result of unintentional introduction, and a third one of still undetermined origin to South America (Ecuador). © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114, 308–326.

Species of Chrysomya Robineau-Desvoidy are important in disease transmission and can be used as forensic indicators. An identification key is presented here for adults of the genus Chrysomya from the Afrotropical Region. Notes on the distribution and biology of the 12 species are also given.

First ever record of family Xenasteiidae (Diptera: Brachycera: Cyclorrhapha) from mainland India is provided. Most of the previous records of this family are from coastal sites, as they have usually been found on islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For the first time biology and life stages of Xenasteia are illustrated. Xenasteia members were found associated with an exotic rugose spiraling whitefly (RSW) colony of Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in the coastal areas of Karnataka in southern India, however no direct obligate association could be diagnosed. Also for the first time Ooencyrtus sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was recorded from the genus Xenasteia as its solitary parasitoid. Worldwide, this is the first ever report of parasitism associated with any member of this little-known family Xenasteiidae. Erratum: The identity of the parasitoid reported as Anagyrus sp. in this article is now corrected as Ooencyrtus sp.

Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) is a major cause of traumatic myiasis in livestock in Central and Eastern Europe and in countries bordering the Mediterranean. The present study explored the utility of external body characters, genitalia characters and mitochondrial DNA characters for identification of this and related species in the subfamily Paramacronychiinae. Sequence analyses of the 3' terminal 273 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene revealed two lineages of W. magnifica, one from Spain and France and the other from the rest of Eurasia, differing by only two base pairs. Phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome b showed that W. magnifica and Wohlfahrtia vigil Walker were sister species; this conclusion was not contradicted by a phylogenetic analysis of the morphological characters. Based on cytochrome b, the genetic distance between specimens of W. vigil from Europe and North America was sufficiently large to justify the recognition of more than one species. A new species, Wohlfahrtia monegrosensis, from northern Spain, was described, based on morphology and cytochrome b. A unique combination of external body characters of males or females were diagnostic for W. magnifica, the W. vigil group and Wohlfahrtia bella, but only the genitalia characters were diagnostic for all nine species studied.

The Lucitrap (Miazma Pty Ltd, Queensland, Australia) combined with a synthetic odour bait, Lucilure (Miazma Pty Ltd, Queensland, Australia), is a commercially available trap for sampling and control of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) in Australia. It was tested in Hungary against Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a cause of sheep strike throughout temperate Europe. The standard Lucitrap was tested against black or yellow sticky target traps. Both trap types were baited with either Lucilure or liver and 10% w/v sodium sulphide solution. With Lucilure as bait, L. sericata were caught on sticky traps but not in Lucitraps. With liver and sodium sulphide as bait, sticky traps caught 500-1500 times more L. sericata than Lucitraps. An adhesive sheet fitted to the top of a Lucitrap captured 30-300 times more L. sericata then were captured inside an unaltered Lucitrap. Direct observation of metallic green calliphorids (92.1% L. sericata) alighting on Lucitraps indicated that most flies stayed for a short while (modal class 2-4 s) and only a few stayed longer, to an observed maximum of 28 s. Flies explored a mean of 1.5 entry holes (range 0-7) during a visit but only 6% entered the trap. Size of L. sericata was not a physical barrier to Lucitrap entry, because many larger species were captured. However, L. sericata captured inside Lucitraps were significantly smaller than those captured on sticky traps, demonstrating that size was of behavioural importance. The data demonstrate that the Lucitrap is not effective as a trap for L. sericata in Hungary, due mainly to a failure of flies to enter the trap in large numbers. In Australia and South Africa, L. sericata is commonly caught in Lucitraps baited with Lucilure, although L. cuprina is more numerous. Our study highlights the potential for diversity of fly behaviour between different geographical populations of the same species. Such diversity can have a significant effect on the functioning of systems for fly sampling and control, when these systems depend for their success on certain behavioural responses of the target species.

Results from a study of species of the Oriental and Australasian syrphid genus Citrogramma present in the collections of The Natural History Museum are presented. The identities of 3 species described by Curran are clarified, with the designation of lectotypes. Five NEW species are described: citrinoides, flavigena, robertsi, solomonensis and vockerothi. A key is provided to the 23 included species, although four are not formally named.

Background Chrysomya spp are common blowflies in Africa, Asia and parts of South America and some species can reproduce in prodigious numbers in pit latrines. Because of their strong association with human feces and their synanthropic nature, we examined whether these flies are likely to be vectors of diarrheal pathogens. Methodology/Principal Findings Flies were sampled using exit traps placed over the drop holes of latrines in Gambian villages. Odor-baited fly traps were used to determine the relative attractiveness of different breeding and feeding media. The presence of bacteria on flies was confirmed by culture and bacterial DNA identified using PCR. A median of 7.00 flies/latrine/day (IQR = 0.0–25.25) was collected, of which 95% were Chrysomya spp, and of these nearly all were Chrysomya putoria (99%). More flies were collected from traps with feces from young children (median = 3.0, IQR = 1.75–10.75) and dogs (median = 1.50, IQR = 0.0–13.25) than from herbivores (median = 0.0, IQR = 0.0–0.0; goat, horse, cow and calf; p, Author Summary While it is well recognized that the house fly can transmit enteric pathogens, here we show the common African latrine fly, Chrysomya putoria, is likely to be an important vector of these pathogens, since an average latrine can produce 100,000 latrine flies each year. Our behavioral studies of flies in The Gambia show that latrine flies are attracted strongly to human feces, raw beef and fish, providing a clear mechanism for faecal pathogens to be transferred from faeces to food. We used PCR techniques to demonstrate that these flies are carrying Shigella, Salmonella and E. coli, all important causes of diarrhea. Moreover our culture work shows that these pathogens are viable. Latrine flies are likely to be important vectors of diarrheal disease, although further research is required to determine what proportion of infections are due to this fly.

The screwworm fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), is the most serious insect pest of cattle in the New World. It has recently been recorded in Libya, where it appears to have become established. This article documents these recent finds, and provides background information on the recognition of the fly, its biology, distribution and importance.

In this paper a blondeliine tachinid, Eomedina hamoyensis sp. nov., from Namibia is described, illustrated and compared with the only known congeneric species E. apicalis (Curran). The Afrotropical genus Eomedina has a blunt, scoop-like and well sclerotized ovipositor, and based on this derived structure appears to belong to the “Medina genus-group”. The new species is known only from several females and they differ from females of E. apicalis in lacking a pair of proclinate orbital setae and in having just one pair of reclinate upper orbital setae.