New records of Muscidae (Diptera) from Mediterranean countries

Abstract New records are provided for Muscidae from four different Mediterranean countries, with new distribution records for species in ten different genera. Seven species are newly recorded for Croatia, four species for Montenegro and one species for Bosnia & Herzegovina. In this paper we give the first confirmation of an aquatic larval stage for Lispocephala brachialis (Rondani, 1877), Lispocephala spuria (Zetterstedt, 1838) and Lispocephala mikii (Strobl, 1893). A first record of the species Coenosia lyneborgi Pont, 1972 since its original description is also provided.


Introduction
Muscid flies are one of the largest groups of Diptera in Europe, with approximately 600 species (Oosterbroek 2006). The family Muscidae comprises seven subfamilies among which the subfamily Coenosiinae, commonly known as "hunter flies", is entirely predaceous in both the larval and adult stages. Larvae of the other subfamilies may be predaceous or saprophagous in decaying organic matter, while most adults feed on nectar. Some adults feed on blood or on the tissues of wounded animals (flies of the subfamilies Muscinae and Azeliinae) and they are facultative vectors of diseases (Oosterbroek 2006, Gregor et al. 2002. In this paper new records of various genera of Muscidae collected from a number of different localities in the eastern Mediterranean and from localities in the Sierra Nevada, Spain, are offered. The fauna of Muscidae from the Mediterranean countries and especially from the eastern Mediterranean is poorly known and has not been sufficiently explored. Apart from the papers by Coe (1960Coe ( , 1962aCoe ( ,b, 1968a on the countries of the former Yugoslavia, the only recent paper involving the Balkan Peninsula is that by Pont and Ivković (2013) that deals with the genus Limnophora Robineau-Desvoidy from some sites in Croatia. "Rearing" records from emergence traps are exclusively from Croatia, while the net-collected records are from different countries, including Croatia. The majority of records are of "hunter flies" as many of them have aquatic larvae and, as all the collecting took place around streams and river banks, the preponderance of these flies was to be expected.

Material and methods
In the course of various ecological and taxonomic projects and surveys by M.I., many muscid flies were collected by means of emergence traps set in streams and small rivers at five sites in Plitvice Lakes National Park and at two sites at Krka National Park, both in Croatia. Traps were emptied once a month, at the end of each month. Each trap had a surface area of 45 × 45 cm (and height 50 cm), was fixed in the sediment of the stream, and contained 2% formaldehyde; six traps were placed at each location ( Fig.  1) and for additional details see Ivković et al. (2014). Each trap was recorded with the initial "P" and a number, e.g. "P5" is pyramid emergence trap no. 5. All flies were collected from March 2007 to October 2014. The occasional presence in the emergence traps of a species that does not have aquatic or semi-aquatic larvae is an anomaly that we cannot explain at present. It may be the result of fluctuations in the water level, allowing an adult fly or a drifting puparium to enter the trap. Such anomalies have been discussed by Malicky (2002).
Additional sampling using an aspirator and a sweep net took place between March 2011 and June 2014 at various localities in the eastern Mediterranean part of Europe and from April to June 2013 in the Sierra Nevada, Spain (western Mediterranean). All Muscidae specimens were placed in 80% ethanol and sent to A.C.P. for identification. They were passed through 2-ethoxyethanol (24 hours) and ethyl acetate (24 hours), and then dried, mounted and labelled. Inevitably, many were freshly emerged and not fully hardened, but nevertheless almost every specimen could be identified to species. The monographs by Hennig (1955Hennig ( -1964, Gregor et al. (2002) and Pont and Ivković (2013) were used for identification. All the material listed here is deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK (BMNH) and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK (OUMNH). GPS coordinates and altitudes for the localities where specimens were trapped and/ or collected are given in Table 1.

Faunistic records
The following format is used for the records given here: country, name of the site, followed by the sampling date (in the case of collections from the pyramid emergence traps, the trap number is also given), and the number of sampled specimens. All the sites are listed in Table 1.

Subfamily Azeliinae
Genus Thricops Rondani, 1856 Remarks. A Holarctic genus. The 26 European species are largely confined to higher altitudes. Twelve species are known from the Balkan Peninsula. Adults are well-known to visit flowers, where they feed on both nectar and pollen (Pont 1993). Larvae are terrestrial and are facultative to obligate carnivores (Skidmore 1985).
Comments. Widespread and common in the West Palaearctic. New for Croatia.

Subfamily Phaoniinae Genus Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
Remarks. This a speciose genus, well represented in all biogeographic regions. There are 83 European species, of which18 have been found in the Balkan Peninsula. Adult Helina are found in many diverse environments. Larvae are carnivorous and develop mainly in moss or humus soil.  (Skidmore 1985).

Genus Phaonia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
Remarks. Another speciose genus, present in all biogeographic regions. There are 81 European species of which 14 are known from the Balkan Peninsula. Adults are mostly found on flowers or resting on tree trunks, wooden posts, etc. Larvae are carnivorous and live in soil, in fungi and in decaying wood. Some live in the tunnels of wood boring beetles (Scolytidae) and feed on their larvae. Comments. A Holarctic species, and common throughout the Palaearctic region. New for Croatia.

Subfamily Coenosiinae Tribe Limnophorini
Genus Limnophora Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 Remarks. A large genus, found in all biogeographic regions. There are 27 species in Europe of which 13 are known from the Balkan Peninsula. Species of the genus Limnophora are usually associated with clean water courses (Rozkošný and Gregor 2004) although Skidmore (1985) writes that Limnophora riparia (Fallén) can tolerate high levels of pollution. Both adults and larvae are predaceous (Werner and Pont 2006). The larvae of many species are found among aquatic mosses in streams and rivers (Rozkošný and Gregor 2004). A key to Croatian species, with four new records and one new species, was given by Pont and Ivković (2013 Comments. Common throughout the Palaearctic region.

Genus Lispe Latreille, 1797
Remarks. Lispe is also a large genus, found in all biogeographic regions, with 31 species known from Europe and 14 from the Balkan Peninsula. Adults are predaceous and can be found around standing and running water, where they actively hunt other small invertebrates even in hot, sunny, open habitats (Werner and Pont 2006). Larvae are semi-aquatic and also predaceous, living in organic sand and mud (Skidmore 1985). Pont, 1972 New record. SPAIN: Río Aguas Blancas, Cenes de la Vega, Sierra Nevada, 13.v.2013, 1♂ 1♀ Comments. This is the first record of the species since its description in 1972, and it is still known only from the Sierra Nevada, Spain. This is a unique species of Coenosia as it has only one pair of frontal setae, set high on the frons (see Pont 1972: fig. 1).

Coenosia lyneborgi
have been re-assessed. For this reason some of the records presented in this paper are not actually new even though they do not appear on the Fauna Europaea site. Moreover, the Fauna Europaea website did not separate Serbia and Montenegro (Pape et al. 2015).
Including the new records given here, current totals for the countries of the former Yugoslavia are as follows: For comparison, 138 species are known from the Greek Mainland and 258 from Spain. It is evident from these figures that much remains to be discovered about the muscid fauna of the Balkan Peninsula, and areas of mountainous and/or temperate broad-leaf forest should prove to be particularly rich in biodiversity.