Published March 10, 2026 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Merodon caucasicus Portschinsky 1877

  • 1. I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, NAS of Ukraine, Department of Entomology and Collection Management, B. Khmelnytsky str. 15, 01030 Kyiv, Ukraine. & University of Alicante, Department of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Sciences III, Campus of San Vicente, P. O. box 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
  • 2. Falz-Fein Biosphere Reserve " Askania Nova " of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, 03143 Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • 3. Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, Department of Biology and Ecology, T. Shevchenko str., 57, 76018 Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
  • 4. University of Alicante, Department of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Sciences III, Campus of San Vicente, P. O. box 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
  • 5. I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, NAS of Ukraine, Department of Entomology and Collection Management, B. Khmelnytsky str. 15, 01030 Kyiv, Ukraine.

Description

Merodon caucasicus Portschinsky, 1877

Figs 11A, B

Distribution. Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, southern part of European Russia), Turkey, reared from an imported bulb in the Netherlands (Vujić et al. 2020 b). Altitude: 25–1650 м (up to 1880 m, Vujić et al. 2020).

Host plants: Galanthus alpinus (Fig. 11A); G. lagodechianus; G. woronowii.

Examined material. GEORGIA, Adjara, Sakhalvasho, 41.69N, 41.73E, asl 25 m, xii.2014, 1L3 (1 ♂ with puparium) from G. woronowii bulb, R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK.2019.003); ibid., 05.iii.2020, 2L3 (2♂♂) from G. woronowii bulbs, A. Vujić, A. Šebić, G. Popov & R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK.2022.044, SIZK.2023.004); Adjara, Keda District, Pirveli Maisi, 41.59° N, 41.88° E, asl 225 m, 07.iii.2019, 1L3 (1 ♂ with puparium) from G. alpinus bulb, R. Mishustin & D. Zubov leg. (SIZK.2019.046); ibid., 05.iii.2020, 1L3 from G. woronovii bulb (SIZK.2022.045), 2L3 from G. alpinus bulbs (SIZK.2022.046), A. Vujić, A. Šebić, G. Popov & R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK); Kakheti Region, Lagodekhi, 41.82° N, 46.28° E, asl 400 m, 12.iii.2020, 4L3 (1 ♂) from G. lagodechianus bulbs, A. Vujić, A. Šebić, G. Popov & R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK.2022.035-037); Kakheti Region, Gombori Pass, 41.86° N, 45.28° E, asl 1550–1650 m, 13.iii.2020, 8 L3 (2 ♂♂) from G. alpinus bulbs, A. Vujić, A. Šebić, G. Popov & R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK.2022.008–010, SIZK.2022.027, SIZK.2022.040, SIZK.2023.003). ARMENIA: Kapan, 39.20° N, 46.42° E, asl 1100–1115 m, 9–10.iii.2020, 26 L3 (4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀) from G. lagodechianus bulbs, A. Vujić, A. Šebić, G. Popov & R. Mishustin leg. (SIZK.2022.011–014, SIZK.2022.028-031, SIZK.2022.038, SIZK.2022.039, SIZK.2023.001, SIZK.2023.002, SIZK.2023.029, SIZK.2023.030). All specimens in the SIZK collection except SIZK.2023.001, SIZK.2023.002 (FSUNS). Sampling methods 1b, 2. Notes. In Armenia, in the vicinity of Kapan (2020), we observed cannibalism of a larva of M. caucasicus by another larva of the same species in the bulb of G. lagodechianus which seems to be exceptional. In extremely rare cases, we observed cohabitation of Eumerus sp. larvae with larvae of M. caucasicus on G. lagodechianus (Armenia, Kapan). These Eumerus larvae could not be reared through and their identity is still unknown (see below for M. chrysotrichos).

Notes

Published as part of Popov, Grigory, Mishustin, Ruslan, Vujić, Ante, Shparyk, Viktor, Radenković, Snežana, Pérez-Bañón, Celeste, Aracil, Andrea, Korneyev, Valery, Likov, Laura, Zamoroka, Andrew & Rojo, Santos, 2026, True elves: a review of the members of the Merodon constans group (Diptera: Syrphidae) breeding in snowdrops and snowflakes (Galantheae), with description of two new Caucasian species, pp. 151-192 in Zootaxa 5768 (2) on page 173, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5768.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/19178403

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References

  • Portschinsky, I. (1877) Materialy dlya istorii Rossii i Kavkaza. Shmeleobraznye dvukrylye [Contribution to the history of the fauna of Russia and the Caucasus. Bumblebee-like dipterans]. Trudy Russkogo Entomologicheskogo Obshchestva [Proceedings of the Russian Entomological Society], 10 (3), 102-198. [in Russian]
  • Vujic, A., Radenkovic, S., Likov, L., Andric, A., Jankovic, M., Acanski, J., Popov, G., de Courcy Williams, M., Sasic Zoric, L. & Djan, M. (2020 b) Conflict and congruence between morphological and molecular data: revision of the Merodon constans group (Diptera: Syrphidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 34, 406-448. https://doi.org/10.1071/IS19047
  • Vujic, A., Speight, M., de Courcy Williams, M., Rojo, S., Stahls, G., Radenkovic, S., Likov, L., Milicic, M., Perez-Banon, C., Falk, S. & Petanidou, T. (2020 d) Atlas of the hoverflies of Greece (Diptera: Syrphidae). Leiden, Boston, Brill, 384 pp. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004334670