Flies of the family Dolichopodidae (Diptera: Brachycera), excluding the Microphorinae and Parathalassinae, from the Maltese Islands with notes on their habitats and phenology Author Ebejer, M. J. text Zoosystematica Rossica 2021 Zoosyst. Rossica 2021-05-08 30 1 25 39 http://dx.doi.org/10.31610/zsr/2021.30.1.25 journal article 10.31610/zsr/2021.30.1.25 2410-0226 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2569E918-E9B4-4C7E-ACE5-1FF0D22AFFC9 Dolichopus strigipes Verrall, 1875 Material examined . 1 male , Salina , 31 May 1992 , MJE ; 4 males , 3 females , Salina , 13 July 1992 , MJE ; 2 males , 1 female , Salina , 13 July 1992 , PG ; 2 males , 2 females , Marsaxlokk , 26 July 1992 , MJE ; 1 male , Marsaxlokk , 24 Apr. 1993 , PG ; 1 male , 1 female , Salina , 7 July 1993 , PG ; 3 males , 3 females , Salina , 22 Apr. 1994 , CED ( NHMUK ) ; 1 male , Salina , 22 Apr. 1994 , PG . Distribution . In many countries of Europe, where it has an affinity for salt marshes. New record for the Maltese Islands. Comments . Each locality encompassed more than one habitat and the sampling area extended along the length of the watercourse where this occurred, and on any accessible adjacent slopes (generally by several hundred square metres) to include garigue, maquis and steppic habitats wherever these occurred. Some localities not listed in Table 1 : The localities of Balzan and Rabat without further localisation are suburban gardens. Wied il-Mistra is a valley with maquis vegetation west of Mistra that leads to Mistra (locality 2). Tal-Hzejjen is a specific part of the valley Wied Ghajn Rihana (locality 11) near its source; Zebbieh is a village where this valley starts. Marfa Ridge is the whole area north of Ghadira (locality 22). Gharb is a village where the valley Wied il-Mielah (locality 28) starts. Table 2. Collecting sites, number of visits and number of species for each defined habitat; number of species specific to defined habitats.
Types of habitats Surface water1 Exposure to sunshine Number of sites Number of visits2 Number of species Number of species specific to habitat
Sandy beach intertidal − exposed 5 20+ 2 1
dry − exposed 3 20+ 2 2
Sand dune damp freshwater − still exposed exposed 3 2 17 11 14 3 0 1
Coast freshwater flowing exposed 1 4 2 0
Pebble beach intertidal − exposed 3 13 2 1
Rocky coast intertidal dry − − exposed exposed 10 10 18 18 2 3 2 3
Salt marsh − − still flowing exposed exposed 4 2 40+ 8 7 0 6 0
dry (summer) − part shaded 16 20+ 6 6
Valley (wied)3 wet (winter) still part shaded 18 30+ 15 9
− flowing part shaded 15 20+ 16 1
dry (summer) − shaded 4 7 3 0
damp − shaded 1 7 5 0
wet (summer) still exposed 1 7 0 0
− still shaded 1 7 5 1
Woodland − − flowing flowing exposed shaded 0 0 7 7 0 5 0 0
Inland wet (winter) still exposed 4 20+ 4 0
− still shaded 4 20+ 5 0
− flowing exposed 2 20+ 0 0
− flowing shaded 2 20+ 9 0
dry − exposed 33 20+ 5 2
Garigue damp − exposed 12 20+ 7 1
rock pools still exposed 12 20+ 2 0
Maquis dry (summer) damp (winter) − − part shaded part shaded 23 23 20+ 40+ 8 19 2 1
Urban gardens damp dry − − part shaded part shaded 6 6 40+ 40+ 3 2 0 0
Total 30 >230 >4002
1 Surface water available for long periods, i.e. more than just a few days after rain. 2 More sites have been visited, and more frequently than there are records for Dolichopodidae . 3 “Wied” is the Maltese word for valley or watercourse; it is given here to associate this type of habitat with the locality data for the species.