Merodon dobrogensis, Bradescu, 1982

Zorić, Ljiljana Šašić, Ačanski, Jelena, Vujić, Ante, Ståhls, Gunilla, Djan, Mihajla & Radenković, Snežana, 2020, Resolving the taxonomy of the Merodon dobrogensis species subgroup (Diptera: Syrphidae), with the description of a new species, The Canadian Entomologist 152 (1), pp. 36-59 : 49-51

Merodon dobrogensis species complex

Diagnosis. Eyes completely covered with black pile ( Figs. 25, 28), as long as pedicel (grey and short in M. rojoi ). Pile on mesoscutum longer than pedicel, white, except for a patch of black pile near wing basis ( Figs. 15, 31). Posterior quarter of sternum IV in the male covered with pale pile.

Species distributed in Eastern Mediterranean and Balkan Peninsula. The complex comprises two species: Merodon dobrogensis and M. puniceus . Morphological differences between the species are small.

https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2019.72 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2019.72 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Radenković et al. (2011) stated that Merodon puniceus is very similar to M. dobrogensis except for the denser and longer pile on its mesonotum, more darkened wing especially along the veins, and in the female with more dense pile on the eyes. However, these differences actually apply to M. puniceus and M. rojoi , because Radenković et al. (2011) had misidentified specimens from the continental part of Greece as M. dobrogensis because they did not have the type material of the real M. dobrogensis from Romania for comparison. Based on the analysis of two available populations of both species, the only morphological difference is the infuscation of the wings: much darker in M. puniceus than in M. dobrogensis ( Figs. 19–20).