Hoverfly diversity (diptera: Syrphidae) in a mediterranean scrub community near athens, greece

Abstract

We studied the syrphid fauna of a Mediterranean scrub community near Athens, Greece. Collecting was carried out systematically using an entomological net for flower-visiting insects (4-year survey: 1983–1987) and a Malaise trap for passive collection (2-year survey: 1991–1993). A total of 59 species were collected by both methods combined. Twenty-six species have a Mediterranean distribution and another 27 a European to worldwide distribution. Among the Mediterranean species one is new to science and another one new to Greece. There was a strong year-to-year variation in the number of hoverfly species recorded, a finding that was detectable in both surveys/methods considered independently. Neither of the collecting methods yielded 100% of the total hoverfly fauna and 55.9% of the species were caught by one method only (19 species by net and 14 by Malaise trap). This may be due partly to the strong interyear variation in hoverfly phenology as well as to the differential efficiency of the entomological net vs. Malaise trap in catching hoverflies. We conclude that in order to draw a complete species list of an area both collecting methods should be combined. A comparison with the hoverfly fauna of five well-studied East Mediterranean areas showed that the study area enjoys a higher contribution of Mediterranean hoverfly species vs. other East Mediterranean areas located at higher latitudes, viz. Thessaly (C. Greece) and Morinj (Montenegro). Still, the high contribution of non-Mediterranean species (viz. 54%) indicates that a large proportion of the hoverfly fauna originates from other habitats both present to date (e.g. surrounding the study site) or pre-existed in the area (e.g. disappeared forests). © 2011 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.