Catalog of the horse-flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) of Chile

A catalog of the Tabanidae from Chile is provided. All valid names and synonyms for the 116 species and 25 genera known for the country including information about name, author, year of publication, page number, type species, type locality and references are listed. The species Dasybasis albohirta (Walker) is cited for the first time for Chile. The type locality of Dasybasis nigrifrons (Philippi) is corrected to Chile (Todos Los Santos Lake). The dates of the description of Tabanus nigrifrons Philippi (now Dasybasis), and Pangonia australis Philippi (now Pseudoscione) are corrected from their original description by Philippi; the original description dates for Tabanus andicola (now Dasybasis), and Tabanus magellanicus (now synonym junior of Dasybasis trita (Walker)) are corrected from 1865 to 1862. Three species previously recorded from Chile are deemed to have been misidentified or misrecorded from Chile: Esenbeckia (E.) cisandeana Wilkerson & Fairchild and Esenbeckia (E.) enderleini Kröber, and Esenbeckia (E.) testaceiventris (Macquart, 1848). The genus Dasybasis Macquart is the richest genus in Chile, with 33 species. Seven genera (Mycteromyia Philippi, Promycteromyia Coscarón & Philip, Archeomyotes Philip & Coscarón, Austromyans Philip & Coscarón, Chaetopalpus Philippi, Pseudomelpia Enderlein, and Sixtomyia Krolow, Henriques & González), three subgenera (Esenbeckia (Astomyia) Burger, E. (Palassomyia) Fairchild, and Protodasyapha (Protodasyapha) Enderlein), and 64 species are known only from Chile. There are also one subgenus (Protodasyapha (Curumyia) Coscarón), and 36 specie with distribution shared only between Chile and Argentina.

Seasonal Activity of the Horse Flies (Diptera, Tabanidae) from the Central Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria

The seasonal activity of the tabanids (Diptera: Tabanidae) was studied from May to September (2010-2011) in three localities on the territory of the Central Balkan Mountains. A total of 2232 specimens from 25 tabanid species and 8 genera were collected and processed. The first horse flies emerge in the first half of May and the last specimens were collected until mid-September. The tabanids reached their highest peak abundance in the first half of July. The most abundant species of the tabanid assemblages in the Central Balkan Mountains were Tabanus tergestinus Egg. (56.73 %), Tabanus bromius L. (12.71 %) and Haematopota pluvialis L. (8.87 %). The largest number of specimens of T. tergestinus was collected during the peak of the seasonal abundance of horse flies on the territory of the Central Balkan Mountains.

Horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) collected in Central African Republic, Gabon and Liberia with comments on their updated distribution

A zoogeographical review summarized the current distribution of 28 morphologically determined horse fly species recently collected in three Western Africa countries. In Malaise trap collections, the family Tabanidae was represented by three subfamilies, Pangoniinae, Chrysopsinae and Tabaninae (tribes Philolichini, Chrysopsini, Tabanini and Haematopotini), and six genera: Philoliche Wiedemann, 1828 (1 species), Chrysops Meigen, 1803 (3 specis), Ancala Enderlein, 1922 (2 species), Euancala Enderlein, 1922 (1 species), Tabanus Linnaeus, 1758 (13 species) and Haematopota Meigen, 1803 (8 species). Information contained in the principal publication The Catalogue of the Diptera of the Afrotropical Region 1980 is complemented by newly published studies on horse flies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Diversity and seasonality of horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Uruguay

Horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) are hematophagous insects that cause direct and indirect losses in livestock production and are important vectors of pathogens. The aim of this study was to determine the diversity and seasonality of horse fly species at an experimental farm in Tacuarembó and the diversity of species in different departments of Uruguay. For 20 months, systematic collections were performed using Nzi and Malaise traps in two different environments at the experimental farm. Temperature, humidity and rainfall were recorded using a local climatological station. In addition, nonsystematic collections were made at farms located in the departments of Paysandú, Tacuarembó and Colonia. A total of 3,666 horse flies were collected, allowing the identification of 16 species. Three species were recorded for the first time in Uruguay: Dasybasis ornatissima (Brèthes), Dasybasis missionum (Macquart), and Tabanus aff. platensis Brèthes. A species that had not been previously taxonomically described was identified (Tabanus sp.1). In the systematic captures, the most abundant species were Tabanus campestris Brèthes, T. aff. platensis and D. missionum, representing 77.6% of the collected specimens. The environment was an important factor related to the abundance of horse flies, as well as the mean temperature. The horse fly season in Tacuarembó started in September and ended in May, with three evident peaks, the most important one during summer. No horse flies were caught during winter. Variations in the prevalence of species in the different departments were observed, indicating the need to carry out new sampling efforts in different areas.

Taxonomy of Tabanus trivittatus species-group (Diptera: Tabanidae), with description of five new species

The group of species related to Tabanus trivittatus include horse flies with striped abdomens and partially bare, inflated, subcallus. Herein we describe five new species and raise the number of valid species from 15 to 20, four of which occur in Brazil: T. albocapilus sp. n., T. dorsorufus sp. n., T. mackerrasi sp. n., T. macrocerus sp. n. and one that occur in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru: T. noncallosus sp. n. We also modified the keys from Fairchild (1976) for both sexes and briefly discuss the female genitalia.