Cheilosia (Cheilosia) aerea Dufour 1848

A new taxonomic insight clarifies the identity of Cheilosia (Cheilosia) aerea, a fly species previously confused with others in the proxima group due to shared morphological traits. Distinguishing features include pilose posterodorsal corners of the anterior anepisternum and more pruinose terga with increased black pile, supported by genetic clustering with high bootstrap support (BS = 100%). The study, based on collections from Armenia and Georgia between 2019 and 2022, also resolves synonymies proposed in earlier literature. C. aerea is distributed across the Western Palaearctic and Central Asia, with observations spanning altitudes of 1368 to 2078 meters.

Bot, S., Mengual, X., Meutter, F. V. de, & Skevington, J. H. (2025). Cheilosia (Cheilosia) aerea Dufour 1848. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17514843