Morphology and identification key to the group of species related with Tabanus nebulosus (Diptera: Tabanidae), with the description of a new species

• Grant number: 22/16744-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Dalton de Souza Amorim
• Grantee: Maria Carolina Pimenta Dutra
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The family Tabanidae (Diptera: Brachycera), composed of flies popularly known as horseflies, has about 4,500 valid described species distributed in 156 genera. The horseflies have economic and medical importance since most females are hematophagous, and many species are vectors of diseases for man and other animals. The family is a generalist and can attack cattle and cause weight loss when present in abundance. In addition, males of several species are floral visitors, and many are pollinators, thus playing a crucial role in biodiversity conservation. The genus Tabanus (Linnaeus, 1758) contains the highest species richness of the family (about 1,350 valid species), and evidence suggests that it is not a monophyletic group. Thus facilitating taxonomic studies within the genus, part of the fauna has been separated into groups of species based on morphological similarity. One of these groups, the nebulosus group, has very uniform morphology, and there is evidence of its monophyly. The nebulosus group has economic importance since it is documented in the literature that at least one species of the group, T. nebulosus, is a relevant vector of bovine trypanosomiasis, which causes severe anemia and weight loss in cattle. This proposal aims to propose a new identification key to the group of species related to Tabanus nebulosus, including high-definition images, distribution maps of species, and a description of a new species of the group.