News - October 2011

Illinois Natural History Survey visit - Torsten Dikow visited the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) in order to pick up a large number of mydas-fly specimens collected by Dr. Mike Irwin over the last years all over the world. Interesting specimens from this collection include undescribed species of Leptomydas from India and Plyomydas from Argentina as well as material of the rare genera Midacritus from Chile and Mahafalymydas from Madagascar. In addition, two very large female specimens from Namibia represent a undescribed species that cannot be associated with any described Afrotropical genus. Torsten also spent a few hours in the INHS collection itself and discovered among unsorted robber flies three specimens of the genus Carebaricus (Bathypogoninae) from Argentina, which is most closely related to Bathypogon from Australia and which was previously known only from five specimens all deposited in the Museu de Zoologia (MZSP) in São Paulo, Brazil. These new specimens from La Rioja province in north-western Argentina might represent a yet undescribed species.