A faunistic study of robber flies (Diptera： Asilidae) from some regions of Iran

Najmeh SAMIN Hamid SAKENIN Milan HRADSKy Majid NAVAEIAN

(1.Young Researchers and Elite Club, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran；2.Department of Plant Protection, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mazandaran, Iran；3.Mldkovice 40, 281 44 Zásmuky, Czech Republic； 4.Department of Biology, Yadegar-e Imam Khomeini (RAH) Shahre Rey Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)

Abstract： Robber flies (Diptera： Asilidae) are powerful predators of other insects.In this faunistic paper, totally 20 species in 16 genera were collected and identified from some regions of Iran.Four species are new records for the fauna of Iran： Erax punctipennis (Meigen, 1820), Laphria ephippium (Fabricius, 1781), Lasiopogon cinctus(Fabricius, 1781), and Machimus fimbriatus (Meigen, 1804).

Key words： Asilidae； fauna； new records； Iran

1 Introduction

The family Asilidae (Diptera) is one of the most taxonomically diverse, speciose, and conspicuous families of Diptera (Barneset al, 2007), currently with more than 7 500 described species, distributed worldwide except in the Arctic and the Antarctic (Geller-Grimmet al, 2016；Sakhvonet al, 2017； Lavigneet al, 2019).The adults attack wasps, bees, dragonflies,grasshoppers, other flies, and some spiders.Robber flies are opportunistic predators, their diets often reflecting prey availability in a particular habitat.Robber flies generally establish a perching zone in which to locate potential prey.Perching height varies by species, but generally occurs in open, sunny locations.Asilidae seize their prey in flight and inject their victims with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes.This injection, inflicted by their modified mouthparts(hypotharynx), rapidly immobilizes prey and digests bodily contents.The robber fly soon has access to a liquid meal, which is generally consumed upon returning to a perched position (Hull, 1962；Theodor, 1980； Lehr, 1988； Lavigneet al, 2019； Ghahariet al, 2014).

The fauna of Iranian Asilidae was catalogued by Ghahariet al(2014) with 289 species and subspecies within 88 genera and 9 subfamilies (Apocleinae, Asilinae, Atomosinae, Dasypogoninae,Laphriinae, Laphystiinae, Leptogastrinae, Ommatiinae, Stenopogoninae).The objective of this faunistic paper is to study of distribution of 20 species of Asilidae in different regions and various ecosystems of Iran.

2 Material and Methods

The asilids and their preys were collected at different localities in Iran.Additionally, many materials of different insect collections in some universities were studied.Additionally, some materials deposited in NMPC (National Museum of Prague) and HNHM (Hungarian Natural History Museum) were studied.Determining of specimens was done by the authors using of some identification keys, Engel (1930), Oldroyd (1958), Tsacas (1968), Theodor (1980) and Lehr(1988, 1996), and some of them by Medeea Weinberg (Musée national d′histoire naturelle"Grigore Antipa", Romania).The taxonomic arrangement and distributional data for regions outside Iran are those of Lehr (1988, 1996), and Geller-Grimmet al(2016).Identification of preys was done by different authorized taxonomists during rather long period.Photos are given for new country records in Figure 1.

Figure 1 New records of Asilidae from Iran

3 Results

In this research, totally 20 asilid species in 16 genera were collected and identified.Among them,Erax punctipennis(Meigen, 1820),Laphria ephippium(Fabricius, 1781),Lasiopogon cinctus(Fabricius, 1781), andMachimus fimbriatus(Meigen, 1804) are newly recorded from Iran.The list of identified asilid species and their preys data are given below.

Family Asilidae Latreille, 1802

Genus Ancylorhynchus Berthold, 1827

Ancylorhynchus brussensis (Schiner, 1867)

Material examined： Qorveh, Kurdistan Province, Iran, 2♀2♂, May 2016, predator ofApis meliferaLinnaeus (Hymenoptera： Apidae), andTachytes matronalisDahlbom (Hymenoptera：Crabronidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Greece, Turkey.

Genus Dioctria Meigen, 1803

Dioctria arcana Richter, 1966

Material examined： Golestan National Park, Golestan Province, Iran, 3♀2♂, August 2011,predator ofPrionyx kirbii kirbii(Vander Linden) (Hymenoptera： Sphecidae), andTenthredo(Zonuledo)zonulaKlug (Hymenoptera： Tenthredinidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Armenia, Turkey, former USSR.

Genus Didysmachus Lehr, 1996

Dysmachus setiger (Loew, 1848)

Material examined： Golestan National Park, Golestan Province, Iran, 3 ♀, June 2017,predator ofXylocopa violacea(Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera： Anthophoridae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Germany, Spain, Turkey.

Genus Erax Scopoli, 1763

Erax punctipennis (Meigen, 1820)

Material examined： Gandoman, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran, 2♀, September 2009, predator ofBombus incertusMorawitz (Hymenoptera： Apidae).New record for Iran.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain,Switzerland.

Genus Eutolmus Loew, 1848

Eutolmus polypogon (Loew, 1848)

Material examined： Shahrud, Semnan Province, Iran, 1 ♀ 1 ♂, June 2011, predator ofStrongylogaster xanthocera(Stephens) (Hymenoptera： Tenthredinidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Turkey.

Genus Heteropogon Loew, 1847

Heteropogon manni Loew, 1854

Material examined： Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran, 2 ♀ 2 ♂, June 2011, predator ofBombylius cinerascensMikan ( Diptera： Bombyllidae), andHemichroa crocea( Geoffroy)(Hymenoptera： Tenthredinidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Algeria, Greece, Turkey.

Heteropogon ornatipes Loew, 1851

Material examined： Borazjan, Bushehr Province, Iran,3♀, April 2008, predator ofCeramius fonscolombeiLatreille (Hymenoptera： Vespidae), andBombylisoma senegalenseMacquart (Diptera：Bombyllidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Israel, Turkey, former USSR, former Yugoslavia.

Genus Laphria Meigen, 1803

Laphria ephippium (Fabricius 1781)

Material examined： Takestan, Qazvin Province, Iran, 1 ♀ 1 ♂, August 2015, predator ofAndrena haemorrhoa(Fabricius) (Hymenoptera： Andrenidae).New record for Iran.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark,France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Roumania, Sweden, Switzerland, former USSR,former Yugoslavia.

Laphria varia Loew, 1865

Material examined： Najaf-Abad, Isfahan Province, Iran, 2♀, May 2014, predator ofBombus(Thoracobombus)ruderarius(Müller) (Hymenoptera： Apidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Turkey, former USSR.

Genus Lasiopogon Loew, 1847

Lasiopogon cinctus (Fabricius, 1781)

Material examined： Azna, Lorestan Province, Iran, 1♀1 ♂, September 2010, predator ofTenthredo obsoletaKlug (Hymenoptera： Tenthredinidae).New record for Iran.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, Belgium, Bulgara, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, former USSR, former Yugoslavia.

Genus Leptogaster Meigen, 1803

Leptogaster helvola Loew, 1871

Material examined： Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran, 3♀, May 2013, predator ofBombus rehbinderiVogt, andPsithyrus campestris(Panzer) (Hymenoptera： Apidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Kazakhstan, Turkey, former Yugoslavia.

Genus Machimus Loew, 1849

Machimus fimbriatus (Meigen, 1804)

Material examined： Borazjan, Bushehr Province, Iran, 2 ♀ 2 ♂, April 2011, predator ofCerceris arenaria(Linnaeus), andLiris niger(Fabricius) (Hymenoptera： Crabronidae).New record for Iran.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Poland,Romania, Tunisia, Turkey, former Yugoslavia.

Machimus largus Richter, 1963

Material examined： Bileh-Savar, Ardebil Province, Iran, 1♂, September 2009.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Armenia, former Yugoslavia.

Machimus sareptanus Becker, 1923

Material examined： Ferdows, Southern Khorasan Province, Iran, 2♀, April 2008.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Turkey, former USSR.

Genus Neoepitriptus Lehr, 1992

Neoepitriptus setosulus (Zeller, 1840)

Material examined： Khomein, Markazi Province, Iran, 2 ♀ 1 ♂, May 2011, predator ofEpicometis senicula(Menetries) (Coleoptera： Scarabaeidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany,Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, former USSR, former Yugoslavia.

Genus Neomochtherus Osten Sacken, 1878

Neomochtherus caspicus (Richter, 1966)

Material examined： Oshnavieh, West Azarbayjan Province, Iran, 1♀, July 2007.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Turkey, former USSR.

Genus Pamponerus Loew, 1849

Pamponerus germanicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material examined： Khoy, West Azarbayjan Province, Iran, 1♀2♂, August 2007, predator ofXylocopa valgaGerst?cker (Hymenoptera： Anthophoridae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland,United Kingdom, former USSR, former Yugoslavia.

Genus Pycnopogon Loew, 1847

Pycnopogon pallidipennis (Brullé, 1836)

Material examined： Mah-Neshan, Zanjan Province, Iran, 2 ♀, July 2009, predator ofAcantholyda erythrocephala(Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera： Pamphiliidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； France, Greece, Turkey.

Genus Stenopogon Loew, 1847

Stenopogon milvus (Loew, 1847)

Material examined： Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province, Iran, 2♀, October 2010, predator ofCionus schultzeiReitter (Coleoptera： Curculionidae).

Distribution： Palaearctic； Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey.

Genus Stichopogon Loew, 1847

Stichopogon albofasciatus (Meigen, 1820)

Material examined： Pataveh, Kuhgiloyeh and Boyerahmad Province, Iran, 1♂, April 2008.

Distribution： Palaearctic； Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Morocco,Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, former USSR, former Yugoslavia.

Acknowledgements：The authors are grateful to Dr.R.Hayat (Turkey), Dr.R.J.Lavigne(Australia), and Dr.J.Bosák (Czech Republic) for providing of some papers, the late M.Weinberg (Bucharest, Romania) for identification of some specimens, Dr.S.Imani (Iran),and Dr.J.Rastegar (Iran) for providing of some specimens.This research was supported by Islamic Azad University.