A faunistic study on the Tachinidae (Diptera) family in Mersin (Türkiye) province with new records for Türkiye

OpenAlex İngilizce

This study was conducted between 2020 and 2021 to reveal the Tachinidae (Diptera) fauna of Mersin province. For this purpose, Tachinidae specimens from agriculture, forest and other areas (grassland, pasture, etc.) of 8 districts (Anamur, Çamlıyayla, Erdemli, Gülnar, Mezitli, Silifke, Toroslar, Yenişehir) selected to represent the province were collected together with the plants they visited. Additionally, insect species from different orders were reared in a laboratory to determine their status as hosts for Tachinidae species. In total, 32 species were determined and identified during the study. These species were categorized into subfamilies and genera: Exoristinae subfamily: 6 genera and 7 species; Tachininae subfamily: 5 genera and 7 species; Dexiinae subfamily: 6 genera and 8 species; Phasiinae subfamily: 4 genera and 10 species. Among them Prosopea nigricans (Egger, 1861), Estheria hertingi Cerretti & Tschorsnig, 2012 and Stomina calvescens Herting, 1977 were recorded for the first time in Türkiye. P. nigricans is the first record of the genus Prosopea Rondani, 1861 from Türkiye. The distribution in Türkiye, visited plants and hosts known from Türkiye of the determined species were also given. In addition, Leucostoma crassa (Kugler, 1966) was reared from Spilostethus pandurus (Scopoli, 1763) (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), and it was determined that this host-parasitoid-couple is a new record for Türkiye. This is the first comprehensive research of the Tachinidae family in Mersin province.