The hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of the Integral Natural Reserve of Muniellos, with records new to Asturias (N Spain)
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Hoverflies (Syrphidae) represent one of the largest Diptera families, with more than 6,000 species described globally. Over the last decades, hoverflies have been increasingly recognised as a group with a critical ecological role as pollinators. Moreover, they are considered as good bioindicators of habitats of special conservation concern, such as mature forests. The Integral Natural Reserve of Muniellos (Asturias, Spain), located in the Atlantic bioclimatic region of the Iberian Peninsula, is one of the best-preserved Atlantic oak forests in Europe. A large-scale sampling of the entomofauna of this Reserve was conducted between 2000 and 2002. The material collected during this field campaign was deposited in the Zoological Collection of the University of Oviedo (ZCUO). Here, we present a comprehensive revision of the hoverflies collected in the aforementioned campaigns. All specimens were revised, and undetermined material was identified. As a result, a total of 605 specimens of 70 species belonging to 39 genera of Syrphidae were recorded from Muniellos. A total of seven genera and 17 species are reported for the first time at a regional scale (i.e. Asturias, N Spain), what expands the known distribution of several forest-associated taxa within the Iberian Peninsula. These findings are presented in the form of a checklist that provides a crucial baseline for future ecological and conservation studies of hoverflies in Atlantic forests of Spain.
Institutions: Universidad de Oviedo, University of Alicante
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Funder: Universidad de Oviedo
OpenAlex ID: W7203776055
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