The first checklist of black fungus gnats (Diptera: Sciaridae) of Morocco

Summary

The first checklist of black fungus gnats is established; new faunistic records of Sciaridae are presented, providing a list of 10 genera and 55 species. Forty-eight species are newly listed for Morocco, increasing the total of Sciaridae known from Morocco to 69 species, belonging to 12 genera, of which six (Austrosciara Schmitz & Mjöberg, 1924, Bradysiopsis Tuomikoski, 1960, Epidapus Haliday, 1851, Lycoriella Frey, 1942, Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998 and Sciara Meigen, 1803) are newly reported for Moroccan fauna.

Résumé

Premier inventaire des mouches des terreaux (Diptera : Sciaridae) du Maroc. Le premier inventaire faunistique des Sciaridae est établi avec apport de nouvelles citations, fournissant un catalogue de 10 genres et 55 espèces. Quarante-huit espèces sont nouvellement citées au Maroc, augmentant le nombre total de Sciaridae connues du Maroc à 69 espèces, appartenant à 12 genres dont 6 (Austrosciara Schmitz & Mjöberg, 1924, Bradysiopsis Tuomikoski, 1960, Epidapus Haliday, 1851, Lycoriella Frey, 1942, Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998 et Sciara Meigen, 1803) sont nouvellement signalés pour la faune marocaine.

Keywords:

• Faunistics
• new records
• distribution
• North Africa
• Palaearctic region

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of Christian F. Kassebeer for his kindness in giving us the opportunity to study his Sciaridae collected some years ago in Morocco. Special thanks are extended to Dr Michael von Tschirnhaus for his valuable assistance in the field and for providing some collecting on field trips to add to the data for this work. We are grateful to Yassine Fekrani, Fatima Zohra Bahid, Aouatif Adghir and Hind Belhaj for their friendly help in collecting samples, and also Anouar Jaoui, Abdelatif Bourras and Jamal Salhi for their assistance in setting up Malaise traps in the field. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Zotero group (Germany), who provided access to different articles concerning Sciaridae.