The Tabanidae (Diptera) of the Greek islands and Cyprus: An annotated checklist with remarks on ecology, zoogeography, and new records on the East Mediterranean fauna

Abstract

The horse-fly fauna of the East Mediterranean is poorly known and, in some geographical areas, has not been studied for decades. The present study summarizes the results of tabanid collections performed over 30 years in the Greek islands (the Cyclades, Dodecanese, North Aegean and Crete) and Cyprus. In total, 18 species were known from the study territory. The present study reports an additional 10 species. Previously, only 1 horsefly species was known from the Dodecanese islands, 1 from the North Aegean islands, and 2 from the Cyclades. This study has raised the number of species to 6, 7, and 9, respectively. The combined taxa for the three island groups have increased from 4 to 17 species. Specifically, the number of species has increased from 3 to 7 in Crete and from 11 to 19 in Cyprus. Additionally, we report 1 new record from the Greek mainland, 1 from the Levantine region, 2 from Lebanon, and 2 from Israel. Four Afrotropical–Palearctic vector species: Atylotus agrestis (Wiedemann, 1828); Tabanus gratus Löw, 1858b; Tabanus sufis Jaennicke, 1867; and Tabanus taeniola Palisot de Beauvois, 1806; are recorded for the first time from Cyprus, and A. agrestis from southern Italy. Their status as invasive species in Europe is discussed, the four species are illustrated.