Pollenia Robineau-Desvoidy

Genus Pollenia Robineau-Desvoidy

Pollenia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 412. Type species: Musca rudis Fabricius, 1794: 314, by original designation. For a comprehensive list of generic synonyms, see Rognes (1991a).

Recognition. Members of the genus Pollenia can be recognised by the following combination of characters: ground colour of abdomen and legs usually black (except a few members of the P. v i at i c a species-group); arista plumose; parafacial setulose along its whole length; absence of strong setae in lower part of parafacial; thoracic dorsum and pleuron with numerous long, thin, golden or yellow (very rarely black) curly setulae in addition to black setae and setulae; postalar wall setose; prosternum and proepisternal depression bare; 3(–5) humeral setae; usually 2 posthumeral setae: 1 outer posthumeral in line with or slightly inside line of presutural seta and 1 inner posthumeral; in some species the outer posthumeral is lacking, in other species there are 2 inner posthumeral setae; 1 presutural and 2 postsutural intra-alar setae; coxopleural streak almost always present; metathoracic spiracle large, with anterior lappet of about the same size as posterior lappet; stem vein bare (except P. atramentaria Meigen); subcostal sclerite usually with a bundle of long black or yellow setae among the layer of microscopic pubescence; anal vein not reaching margin; lower calypter broad, with inner edge converging with longitudinal axis of fly; hind coxa bare posteriorly; hind tibia with posterodorsal preapical seta not differentiated or very much shorter than anterodorsal and dorsal preapical setae (Rognes 1991a, 1998).

Species-groups. The genus is now usually subdivided into several species-groups, based mainly on genital but also other features of both sexes: the P. a m e n t a r i a (Scopoli) group (five species) (Rognes 1992b); the P. griseotomentosa (Jacentkovský) group (two species) (Rognes 1988); the P. haeretica Séguy group (two species) (Rognes 2010); the P. japonica Kano & Shinonaga group (one species) (Rognes 1992b); the P. labialis Robineau- Desvoidy group (originally called the P. intermedia Macquart group, two species) (Rognes 1987a); the P. rudis (Fabricius) group (six species) (Rognes 1987b, 1991a); the P. semicinerea Villeneuve group (five species) (Rognes 1988); the P. tenuiforceps Séguy group (four species) (Rognes 1988); the P. vagabunda (Meigen) group (five species) (Rognes 1992a); the P. venturii Zumpt group (one species) (Rognes 1992b) and the P. viatica Robineau- Desvoidy group (eight species) (Rognes 1991b; Rognes & Baz 2008).

These Palaearctic species-groups were defined and keyed, and their phylogenetic relationships examined by Rognes (1988, 1992b). Contributions to the knowledge of the morphology and nomenclature of Pollenia species were also given by Rognes (1991a, 1991b, 1991c). Contributions on the P. tenuiforceps group were given by Szpila (2000) and Rognes (2002), while Szpila & Draber-Mońko (2008) contributed on the P. amentaria species-group. Pioneering work on Pollenia first instar larvae was published by Szpila (2003). Several species-groups have not been fully revised, i.e., the P. amentaria group, the P. griseotomentosa group, the P. japonica group and the P. tenuiforceps group, meaning above all that not all the females have been described, although all the males have. Since all West Palaearctic Pollenia species are well known, I feel justified in describing a new species on the basis of a single male specimen.

In Fan (1997), two species were described from China: Pollenia huangshanensis Fan & Chen and Pollenia shaanxiensis Fan & Wu. Both were included in a key to Pollenia together with other, already known species, i.e., Pollenia sytshevskajae Grunin, a junior synonym (cf. Rognes 1987a) of P. alajensis Rohdendorf (a member of the P. tenuiforceps group), P. pediculata Macquart (belonging in the P. rudis group), P. p ec t i n at a Grunin (belonging in the P. semicinerea group) and P. japonica (the single member of the P. japonica group).

Fan’s (1997) key also included the nominal species Pollenia aurata Séguy, 1934: 22 and P. bazini Séguy, 1934: 23, also from China, but these do not belong in Pollenia. I saw the types of both these Séguy species in MNHN during visits back in 1987 and 1990, and subsequently counted them among the species of Xanthotryxus in the Manual of Palaearctic Diptera (Rognes 1998: 636). Séguy described both species as having the “gênes dénudées” [parafacials bare] and a broad facial carina. This confirms that they belong in the genus Xanthotryxus Aldrich, 1930, comb. nov., which is diagnosed as “[n]ear Pollenia, from which it differs especially by having the parafacials bare, and the face with a broad keel” (Aldrich 1930: 3). Verves (2005: 264) still treated P. a ur a t a as a species of Pollenia. He did not mention P. ba z i n i.

Feng (2004) described two additional new species from China in Pollenia, i.e., P. erlangshanna and P. sichuanensis.

The published illustrations of the genitalia of P. huangshanensis, P. shaanxiensis, P. erlangshanna and P. sichuanensis indicate that these species possibly also belong in the P. rudis species-group.

Diversity and distribution. Forty-two species were reported by Rognes (1998) to occur in the Palaearctic Region. Since then, one species was described from Spain (P. rufifemorata Rognes & Baz) in addition to the two species described from China by Feng (2004, see above). Six of the 45 Palaearctic species also occur in the Nearctic Region (Whitworth 2006) and are possibly all introduced there. In the Australasian and Oceanian Region an additional 41 species were listed (not counting two widespread Palaearctic species), most of which from New Zealand, by Kurahashi (1989). Dear (1986) reported that the New Zealand species do not have the “long, crinkled thoracic ground setulae. In some of them the abdomen is metallic blue or green, without distinct dusting …”. Nevertheless, he considered them congeneric with the Palaearctic species. In the Afrotropical Region there are no endemic species of Pollenia, although P. pediculata has recently been recorded from South Africa, obviously as a recent introduction. In the Oriental Region outside China a definite number of species cannot be given as several species treated by Senior-White et al. (1940) and catalogued by James (1977) in Pollenia belong in other genera (Polleniopsis Townsend, Morinia Robineau-Desvoidy, Dexopollenia Townsend). However, both Pollenia chotei Kurahashi & Tumrasvin from Thailand and Pollenia hazarae Senior-White from India have a setose parafacial and seem to have been assigned to the correct genus (see Kurahashi 1992). In the Oriental Region Dexopollenia and Xanthotryxus seem to be much more common than Pollenia.

The finding of a new species of Pollenia from Jordan is surprising. The calliphorid and rhiniid fauna of Israel and adjacent areas (West Bank, Golan Heights and Sinai) has been recently revised (Rognes 2002) and the species was not among the material investigated then.

FIGURES 1–10. Pollenia bartaki sp. nov., holotype ♂ (CULSP). 1. Head, dorsal view. 2. Head, anterior view. 3. Head, lateral view, slightly from below. 4. Thorax, dorsal view. 5. Habitus, after dissection. 6. Second costal sector of wing, ventral view. 7. Tegula, basicosta and costagium. 8. Distal section of wing (artificial fold in wing makes R4+5 appear too curved). 9. Original label. 10. Holotype label.