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Review of the genus Sphenometopa Townsend, 1908 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of the Middle East

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Abstract

This paper is based on a revision of recent collections (about 100 specimens) housed at Tel Aviv University and the Natural History Museum (London). Short characteristics of the genus Sphenometopa Townsend, 1908 and the monotypic subtribe Sphenometopiina, descriptions of three new species, redescription of Sphenometopa (Euaraba) fastuosa (Meigen, 1824) based on the Middle Eastern specimens, key and comments of ten Middle Eastern species and a list of all 50 species are given. Species of the genus are generally distributed in the Palaearctic, mainly in its mountainous eastern part, and several species are known from the Nearctic, Oriental and Afrotropical Regions. Sphenometopa (E.) proxima Verves & Khrokalo, sp. n. is described from Israel and Syria, and both S. (Xantharaba) freidbergi Verves & Khrokalo, sp. n. and S. (X.) theodori Verves & Khrokalo, sp. n. – from Israel. Three species (S. bifasciata, S. elegans, S. steini) are firstly recorded for Israel, and S. claripennis is firstly recorded for Syria and Iran. As a result, the genus Sphenometopa includes seven subgenera [Arabiopsis – 3; Asiaraba – 10; Euaraba – 24; Sahararaba – 1; Sphenometopa (s. str.) – 2; Tarsaraba – 4, and Xantharaba – 5 species], and 50 species.

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Notes

  1. 3 One specimen from this locality is deposited in PCV

  2. The following abbreviatiuons of zoogeographical regions are used: At – Afrotropical; Ne –Nearctric; Or – Oriental; Pa - Palaearctic

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks are due to Prof. A. Freidberg (TAU) and Mr. N. Wyatt (NHMUK) for loan arrangements. We are deeply grateful to Prof. A. Szpila (Torun University, Poland) for preparing of all photos.

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  1. Institute for Evolutionary Ecology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Yuriy G. Verves

  2. Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, National Technical University of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Liudmyla A. Khrokalo

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  1. Yuriy G. Verves
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  2. Liudmyla A. Khrokalo
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Correspondence to Yuriy G. Verves.

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Verves, Y.G., Khrokalo, L.A. Review of the genus Sphenometopa Townsend, 1908 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of the Middle East. Biologia 75, 1643–1656 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00425-x

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