The African endemic hover fly Meromacroides meromacriformis (Bezzi, 1915) (Syrphidae, Eristalinae) was described more than a century ago and its monotypic status established in 1927, but subsequent collections and publications are rare. Only the male has been described and nothing is known about its biology. We re-describe the male, including geographic variation, describe the female for the first time and provide the first DNA barcodes for the species. Despite the large range and observed variations, there is insufficient evidence to describe additional taxa in the genus. Biological observations are presented, which may shed some insight into this rare and enigmatic hover fly, whose known distribution now spans the Afrotropical Region.

We would like to thank N Wyatt and A H Kirk-Spriggs (NHMUK) for their assistance during the authors’ visits to the collection and L Njoroge (NMK) and D Grimaldi (AMNH) for information and making material available for study; Simon van Noort and Aisha Mayekiso (SAMC) are also thanked for their assistance with the authors’ visit to the collection. We also thank Menno Reemer and Marc De Meyer for their valuable comments towards improving the manuscript. This project was financed through the JRS ...

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.62.68360

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Georg Goergenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-0495

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.62.68360

Plant Production and Health

Agronomy; Disease Control; Food Security; Plant Breeding; Plant Diseases; Plant Ecology; Plant Health; Plant Production

Africa; Dna; Morphology; Taxonomy; Syrphidae

Africa; Central Africa

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

African Invertebrates