Abstract
An intertidal survey of 34 sampling stations on the main Mascarene Islands of La Réunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues, was conducted between 2015 and 2018. Results of the survey revealed five species of Tethininae, viz. Afrotethina aurisetulosa (Lamb), Dasyrhicnoessa ferruginea (Lamb), D. insularis (Aldrich), D. vockerothi Hardy & Delfinado and Pseudorhicnoessa rattii Munari, all of which are new to one or more of the Mascarenes (A. aurisetulosa, D. ferruginea and D. insularis new to all three islands; D. vockerothi new to Mauritius and Rodrigues; and P. rattii new to Rodrigues). Sampled species exhibit a very close affinity with those that occur on Seychelles and the composition of the two faunas is notably superimposable. The distributions of the five species on the three main islands is mapped and an identification key to all genera and species of both archipelagos is provided, with the most significant diagnostic features illustrated. The survey also revealed that the rather common Afrotropical genus Horaismoptera Hendel, which is represented in East Africa, Madagascar, and the southern Arabian Peninsula by H. vulpina Hendel, is most likely absent from both archipelagos.
References
Aldrich, J.M. (1931) New acalyptrate Diptera from the Pacific and Oriental Regions. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society, 7, 395–399.
Cumming, J.M. & Wood, D.M. (2017) 3. Adult morphology and terminology. In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 1. Introductory chapters and keys to Diptera families. Suricata 4. SANBI Graphics and Editing, Pretoria, pp. 89–133.
Foster, G.A. & Mathis, W.N. (1998) A revision of the family Tethinidae (Diptera) from the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Bermuda. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 100, 601–632.
GADM (2018a) Country—Mauritius (Shapefile). Available from: https://www.gadm.org/download_country_v3.html (accessed 29 May 2020)
GADM (2018b) Country—Reunion (Shapefile). Available from: https://www.gadm.org/download_country_v3.html (accessed 29 May 2020)
Gerlach, J. (2009) Family Canacidae (including Tethinidae). In: Gerlach, J. (Ed.), The Diptera of the Seychelles Islands. Seychelles Fauna Monographs 5. Pensoft, Sofia-Moscow, pp. 342–344.
Hardy, D.E. & Delfinado, M.D. (1980) Family Tethinidae. In: Hardy, D.E. & Delfinado, M.D. (Eds.), Insects of Hawaii. Vol. 13. Diptera: Cyclorrhapha III. University Press of Hawaii. Honolulu, pp. 369–379.
Hendel, F. (1907) Neue und interessante Dipteren aus dem kaiserl. Museum in Wien. Wiener Entomologische Zeitung, 26, 223–245.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.8886
Hendel, F. (1913) Acalyptrate Musciden (Dipt.) II. In: H. Sauter’s Formosa-Ausbeute. Supplementa Entomologica, 2, 77–112.
Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. (2017) 1. Introduction and brief history of Afrotropical dipterology. In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 1. Introductory chapters and keys to Diptera families. Suricata 4. SANBI Graphics and Editing, Pretoria, pp. 1–133.
Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & McGregor, A. (2009) Disjunctions in the Diptera (Insecta) fauna of the Mediterranean and southern Africa and a discussion of biogeographical implications. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 64, 32–52.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00359190909519236
Kirk-Spriggs, A.H., Ismay, J.W., Ackland, M., Roháček, J., Mathis, W.N., Foster, G.A., Pape, T., Meier, R. & Cranston, P.S. (2001) Inter-tidal Diptera of southwestern Africa (Chironomidae, Sphaeroceridae, Chloropidae, Tethinidae, Canacidae, Ephydridae, Coelopidae, Anthomyiidae and Sarcophagidae). Cimbebasia, 17, 85–135.
Lamb, C.G. (1914) The Percy Sladen Trust Expedition to the Indian Ocean in 1905, under the leadership of Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner, M.A. Volume V. Number XV.—Diptera: Heteroneuridae, Ortalidae, Trypetidae, Sepsidae, Micropezidae, Drosophilidae, Geomyzidae, Milichidae. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, Series 2, Zoology 16, 307–372.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1913.tb00152.x
Loew, H. (1865) Ueber die europäischen Arten der Gattung Rhicnoëssa. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift, 9, 34–39.
Malloch, J.R. (1914) Formosan Agromyzidae. Annales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, 12, 306–336.
McAlpine, D.K. (2007) The surge flies (Diptera: Canacidae: Zaleinae) of Australasia and notes on tethinid—canacid morphology and relationships. Records of the Australian Museum, 59, 27–64.
https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.59.2007.1468
Munari, L. (1981) Sul genere Pseudorhicnoessa Malloch, 1914 (Diptera Tethinidae). Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, Lavori, 6, 91–96.
Munari, L. (1988) Contributo alla conoscenza dei Tethinidae afrotropicali. III. I Tethinidae dell’arcipelago delle Seychelles. (Diptera, Cyclorrhapha). Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, Lavori, 13, 41–53.
Munari, L. (1990) Contributo alla conoscenza dei Tethinidae afrotropicali. IV. Tethinidae raccolti ad Aldabra dalla “Aldabra Atoll Royal Society Expedition (1967–68)”e nel Sud Africa da R.E. Turner e B. & P. Stuckenberg, con descrizione di due nuove specie (Diptera, Acalyptratae). Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali, Lavori, 15, 51–68.
Munari, L. (2002) New species, records, and a new synonymy in the genera Dasyrhicnoessa Hendel, 1934 and Pseudorhicnoessa Malloch, 1914 (Diptera: Tethinidae). Studia dipterologica, 8, 539–551. [2001]
Munari, L. (2014) New Indo-Pacific species of Dasyrhicnoessa Hendel, 1934 and Pseudorhicnoessa Malloch, 1914 (Diptera: Canacidae: Tethininae). Zootaxa, 3784 (3), 281–293.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3784.3.8
Munari, L. (2015) Additional distributional records for the family Canacidae (Diptera, Brachycera, Acalyptratae). Bollettino del Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia, 66, 27–53.
Munari, L. & Mathis W.N. (2010) World catalog of the family Canacidae (including Tethinidae) (Diptera), with keys to the supraspecific taxa. Zootaxa, 2471 (1), 1–84.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2471.1.1
Munari, L. & Mathis W.N. (2020) 94. Canacidae (beach flies, shore flies and surf flies). In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), 2019. Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Volume 3. Brachycera: Cyclorrhapha, excluding Calyptratae. Suricata 6. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [in press]
NASA (2014) Shuttle radar topography mission 1 Arc-second global, tiles S20E063, S20E057, S21E057, S21E055, S22E055. Available from: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/science/usgs-eros-archive-digital-elevation-shuttle-radar-topography-mission-srtm-1-arc?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects(accessed 29 May 2020)
Orian, A.J.E. (1962) A list of the Diptera recorded from Mauritius. Bulletin of Mauritius Department of Agriculture, 94, 1–31.
Sasakawa, M. (1974) Oriental Tethinidae (Diptera). Akitu, 1, 1–6.
Sasakawa, M. (1995) Insects of Micronesia. Vol. 14. No. 8. Diptera: Tethinidae. Micronesica, 27, 51–72.
Udvárdy, M.D.F. (1975) A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper, Morges, Switzerland, 18, 1–48.