The Tabanidae (Diptera) in Brazil: Historical aspects, diversity and distribution

ABSTRACT

We present an overview of horseflies in Brazil. For this, we compiled and analyzed the data available in the Taxonomic Catalogue of the Brazilian Fauna (“Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil” - CTFB). A total of 496 valid species in three subfamilies and 44 genera are recorded from Brazil, of which 46.3% are endemic to the country. The genera with the highest numbers of described species are: Tabanus Linnaeus (15.5%), Fidena Walker (12.9%), Catachlorops Lutz (9.8%) and Dichelacera Macquart (7.8%). The taxonomy of Tabanidae in Brazil began with European researchers in 18^th and 19^th centuries. Brazilian taxonomists, beginning with Adolph Lutz, started publishing on Tabanidae only in 1907. A total of 50 researchers of different nationalities first authored the description of the Brazilian species. Of these, only seven were women. Approximately 45% of the primary types of Brazilian species are deposited in Europe, 33% in Brazil, 16% in the USA, and other 6% in South American countries or their repository is unknown. In Brazilian collections, 98% of the primary types are distributed in only four collections. Species distribution records in Brazil indicate that the regions with the highest number of recorded species (in the North and Southeast) are those that harbor the main collections of Tabanidae, as well as the states with the highest number of species, namely Amazonas, Pará and São Paulo. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest (233 spp.) and the Brazilian Amazon (222 spp.) are the most diverse regarding the distribution of species in those biomes, although the Brazilian Amazon has a greatest number of endemic species (131 spp.). The taxonomic changes proposed in this work are to revalidate the combination of Chrysops lynchi Brèthes, 1910 stat. reval., Stypommisa serena (Kröber, 1931) comb. reval., and the Tabanus ornativentris Kröber, 1929 sp. reval.

KEY WORDS:
Brazilian Catalogue; history; horseflies; taxonomy