South African Nose Flies (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Rhiniinae): Taxonomy, Diversity, Distribution and Biology

Background: Rhiniinae (Diptera, Calliphoridae) is a taxon of nearly 400 known species, many of them termitophilous. Approximatelly 160 valid species in 16 genera are Afrotropical, with over 60 of them occurring in South Africa. The taxonomy of this group is outdated, as most studies of the South African taxa were conducted 40 to 70 years ago (mostly by Salvador Peris and Fritz Zumpt). Published information on their biology and ecology is also scarce.

New Information: An annotated checklist of 73 species of Rhiniinae for South Africa was developed, based on the holdings of sixteen entomological collections in Africa, Europe and North America. Over 3,700 specimens were examined, revealing nine new species records for South Africa ( Malloch, 1926, (Curran, 1938), Zumpt, 1974, Séguy, 1933, Curran, 1931, (Lehrer, 2007), Kurahashi, 2001, Kurahashi, 2001 and (Villeneuve, 1920)). We propose one new combination (Zumpt, 1981) (= Zumpt, 1981)). Additionally, evidence is presented to remove Villeneuve, 1927 from synonymy with (Walker, 1849). Relevant novel biological and seasonality information, historical occurrence maps and high-definition photographs for each species are compiled.