Diversity of Hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae) in Darab damask rose rain-fed plain, Fars province, Iran

Diversity, community structure, and estimation of flower fly species richness (Diptera: Syrphidae) were measured in Darab damask rose plain, Fars province, Iran. Four Malaise traps were installed in a nearly 500-hectare site from April to October 2019 and checked periodically. The 4-step integrated approach was used to assess the sample completeness profile, to infer true diversities of entire assemblages, to standardize the sample coverage, and to infer diversity via an evenness profile. To estimate the species richness of the Syrphidae community, two models and seven non-parametric indices were used. As a result, a totally of 96 specimens representing 18 species were collected in 18-Malaise trap months (MTM) sampling efforts. One species, Paragus auritus Stuckenberg, 1954 was recorded for the first time from Iran. The aphidophagous hoverflies included 76.3% of all collected specimens. The dominant species were Sphaerophoria scripta (Linnaeus, 1758), Eupeodes corolla (Fabricius, 1794), and Eumerus ahmadii Barkalov & Gharali, 2004. The estimated sample completeness profile showed that our data covers 85% of the total species in this community. Shannon and Simpson diversity indices are measured at 10.88 and 7.04, respectively. The models and non-parametric estimators estimated the species richness of syphids varied from 19 – 24 species. The biodiversity of Syrphidae community in the world's largest rain-fed organic damask rose plain, located at high altitudes of ca. 2600 m a.s.l. of the Zagros Mountains ranges in the south of Iran, provides fundamental data for any future conservation efforts of pollinators and predators and biocontrol programs of sucking pests.