An exploratory survey and assessment of the hoverfly diversity (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Pyrenees of Girona, Spain

Syrphidae are pollinators, pest predators and decomposers in European ecosystems. Camprodon (Girona province, Spain) is a valley with rich vegetation and high habitat diversity in the eastern Pyrenees. However, hoverfly biodiversity in this valley was poorly known. To explore the high potential of this area for Syrphidae, a survey with hand-net was undertaken in July/August 2020 in the valley. The list of Syrphidae species from the valley increases to 88, whilst that of the Girona province now extends to 119 species. Chrysotoxum lessonae is reported for the first time from the Iberian Peninsula. The specimens of Xylota tarda and Cheilosia hypena () represent the first documented records of these species for the Iberian Peninsula and Spain, respectively; i.e. these two species were known to occur in the Iberian Peninsula and Spain but without further locality details. A total of 19 species were new to the region of Catalonia and 23 to the Girona province. Cheilosia was the genus with the highest number of species recorded, as expected from the combination of mountains, diversity of forest vegetation, and presence of rivers/streams of the Camprodon valley. Faunistic results from this fieldwork are relevant to knowledge of Diptera from Catalonia, a region of Spain where this insect family is understudied.Antonio Ricarte’s position (Ref. UATALENTO17-08) at the University of Alicante is funded by the “Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia del Conocimiento”. This research was funded by the Fauna Iberica Project PGC2018-095851-A-C65 of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities