Cheilosia ( Taeniochilosia ) armeniaca Stackelberg, 1960

Bot, Sander, Mengual, Ximo, Meutter, Frank Van de & Skevington, Jeffrey H., 2025, Review of the genus Cheilosia Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Caucasus, with the description of 14 new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 1023, pp. 1-181 : 14-15

Cheilosia ( Taeniochilosia) armeniaca Stackelberg, 1960

Fig. 6

Cheilosia armeniaca Stackelberg, 1960: 439 .

Cheilosia ( Taeniochilosia) circassica Ståhls & Barkalov, 2017: 153 . Syn. nov.

Cheilosia armeniaca – Stackelberg & Richter 1968: 245. — Peck 1988: 97. — Barkalov 1993: 712. — Ståhls & Barkalov 2017: 144 . — Mengual et al. 2020: 25.

Cheilosia armeniaca Stackelberg, 1956 [sic] – Gujabidze 2002: 245.

Cheilosia ( Taeniochilosia) circassica – Barkalov & Mutin 2018: 486.

Differential diagnosis

Cheilosia armeniaca belongs within Taeniochilosia to the caerulescens group identified by typically having both bicoloured legs and infuscate wing cross-veins. Within the caerulescens group, it can be distinguished by the combination of face with only slightly pruinosity, postpedicel dark orange to black (not bright orange), meso- and metafemur with yellow pile, terga with whitish pile only and acetabula confluent. Genetically indistinguishable from C. longifacies sp. nov., but morphologically very different. For a differential diagnosis between the two species, see the account of C. longifacies . The male genitalia are figured in Barkalov & Ståhls (1997).

Material examined

Collected in 2018, 2019 and 2021; see Mengual et al. (2020) for detailed records from 2018.

Genetics

DNA barcodes of C. armeniaca are resolved into a cluster with high support (BS = 100%) together with the barcodes of C. longifacies sp. nov. and C. caerulescens .

Remarks

Ståhls & Barkalov (2017) described C. circassica based on two males from Northern Caucasus. These two Caucasus endemic taxa, C. circassica and C. armeniaca , are very similar morphologically, with a single described difference: C. armeniaca has some bare areas of microtrichia in the wing cells bm and cua, whereas C. circassica has the wing completely microtrichose. However, this character is variable, as shown by a male collected in 2018 ( Mengual et al. 2020) with an intermediate pattern (a single small area bare of microtrichia in wing cell bm). We thus consider C. circassica a junior synonym of C. armeniaca .

Biology

During our expeditions, collected between 24 June and 14 July at an altitude between 1836 and 2500 m a.s.l. Occurs in rather rocky, open environments, such as on glacier and river terraces or in rocky high alpine environments. Found feeding on low flowers, e.g., Leucanthemum sp.

Distribution

Caucasus: Armenia, Georgia and Russia.