FIRST RECORD OF THE RARE EUROPEAN ENDEMIC SPHIXIMORPHA BINOMINATA ( VERRALL ) ( DIPTERA : SYRPHIDAE ) FOR THE IBERIAN PENINSULA A

In this short note we provide the first record of the hoverfly Sphiximorpha binominata, as well as one of the few known records of Sphiximorpha subsessilis from the Iberian Peninsula. They are two of the 11 Iberian species of hoverfly thought to be threatened with extinction at the European level. We propose S. binominata as a candidate to be included in the next version of the Invertebrate Red Data Book of Spain.

Twenty-seven species of hoverfly are thought to be threatened with extinction in Europe including Turkey (Speight et al. 2010).In addition, some European states have red lists comprising hoverflies (e.g., Gammelmo et al. 2006, Norway, Verdú andGalante 2006, Spain).Despite hoverflies being one of the best known dipteran groups in Europe-as may be deduced from compilations such as that in Speight (2010)-the precise conservation status of many species within parts of Europe is frequently unclear or is not available (Speight and Castella 2010).In the Invertebrate Red Book of Spain one hoverfly species, Caliprobola speciosa (Rossi), is regarded as "Endangered" and two, Mallota dusmeti Andréu and Meligramma cingulata (Egger) as "Vulnerable" (Marcos-García 2006).However, the Iberian Peninsula excluding Andorra is inhabited by 11 species of hoverfly thought to be threatened with extinction at the European level (Speight et al. 2010).
Sphiximorpha Rondani hoverflies are excellent wasp-mimics with yellow and black habitus and long antennae inserted on a much shorter frontal prominence than in the similar genus Ceriana Rafinesque, and both genera have the arista on the top of the basoflagellomere (Van Veen 2004).Sphiximorpha species live in forests of over-mature trees, mainly Quercus, and their larvae are saproxylic (Speight 2010).Peck (1988)

lists five
European Sphiximorpha species, all of which appear to be highly-localised and under-recorded (Dirickx 1994, Röder 1990).For example, only four specimens (females) of Sphiximorpha petronillae Rondani have been recorded during the last 150 years from localities in Italy and Montenegro; it is one of the rarest European hoverflies (Speight 2010).Three of the 27 hoverfly species threatened with extinction in Europe belong to the genus Sphiximorpha: S. binominata (Verrall), S. petronillae and S. subsessilis (Illiger in Rossi) (Speight et al. 2010).
We provide new distributional data for the European endemic S. binominata (Verrall) by reporting it from the Iberian Peninsula for the first time.One female specimen was netted on 1 st May 2005 in a mixed forest of Fraxinus angustifolia and Quercus faginea in the Cabañeros National Park, central Spain.("Valle de Santiago", X-Y location: 379672-4357088, 760 m) (Fig. 1).S. subsessilis is also present in Cabañeros National Park as a female specimen was taken in an emergence trap on 27 th May 2009 in a riparian forest of F. angustifolia ("Fresneda de Gargantilla", X-Y location: 365590.21-4367922.44,602 m).The emergence trap, which was part of an investigation into saproxylic insects, had been placed over a hole in the trunk of the F. angustifolia tree in which wood boring beetle activity had been reported (J.Quinto pers.com.).Speight (2010) suggests that larvae of some Sphiximorpha species may be associated with tree-trunk microsites caused by the tunnelling activity of beetles.The occurrence of S. binominata and S. subsessilis in the same locality is already known and they have even been reported hovering over the same trunk (Speight 2010).Adults of S. binominata have been recorded from scattered localities in southern France, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia (Speight 2010), and our specimen represents the most southwestern record of the species.The specimen of S. subsessilis recently found in Cabañeros represents one of the very few records of this species in this European region (previously cited in Ricarte and Marcos-García 2008), and is substantially south of the first record, which was reported from the province of Navarra, close to the Western end of the Pyrenees (Kehlmaier 2001).
The hoverfly fauna of several Iberian localities including Cabañeros has been intensively studied during recent years (e.g., Marcos-García 1985a, b, Ricarte and Marcos-García 2008), but, in spite of this, only one specimen of S. binominata has been recorded.This may be due to the rarity of the species, whose early stages and adult habitats are insuffi-ciently known.We note the importance of overmature trees for saproxylic species such as those in the genus Sphiximorpha and propose S. binominata as a candidate to be included in the next version of the Invertebrate Red Data Book of Spain.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.Habitat of the rare hoverfly Sphiximorpha binominata in Cabañeros National Park, Spain.Examined specimens are deposited in "Colección Entomológica Universidad de Alicante (CEUA)", CIBIO, University of Alicante, Spain, and they are bar-code labelled according to a GBIF protocol.