Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893)

Clogmia albipunctata (Williston, 1893) View in CoL *

Material examined. Middle Atlas: 1♂, 11♀♀, Aire de repos Zaouiat Cheikh, 16. VI.2015, aspirator; 1♂, Oued Amlil, 23. V.2022, sweep net. High Atlas: 2♂♂, Aire de repos Chichaoua, 12.IV.2015, aspirator. Anti-Atlas: 5♂♂, 24♀♀, Aire de repos Sidi Abou, 11. V.2015, 11♀♀, 13. V.2015, aspirator; 7♀♀, Aire de repos Bab Lkhmis, 15. V.2015, aspirator; 14♂♂, 59♀♀, Hotel Atlas Saghir, 24. V.2015, aspirator; 7♀♀, Hotel Yasmina, 12. VI.2015, aspirator; 2♀♀, Aire de repos Tiznit, 13. VI.2015, aspirator. Sahara: 5♀♀, Aire de repos Laayoune, 15.IV.2015, aspirator; 4♂♂, 14♀♀, Aire de repos Sidi Ifni, 17. V.2015, aspirator; 1♂, 3♀♀, Aire de repos El Filaha, 18. V.2015, aspirator, coll. Belqat, UAE-FST.

General distribution. This widespread species occurs in tropical and subtropical countries ( Oboňa & Ježek, 2012a; Ježek et al., 2012; Akhoundi et al., 2022). In North Africa, it is known from Algeria ( Tonnoir, 1920; Satchell, 1955), Egypt ( Tonnoir, 1920; El-Badry et al., 2014), and Morocco ( Afzan & Belqat, 2016).

Habitat. Our new findings expand the known range of C. albipunctata in Morocco to the Sahara, passing through the Middle, High, and Anti-Atlas Mountains. We collected it from the stream Oued Amlil, whose banks were populated by vegetation, especially Dittrichia viscosa, Juncus acutus, Nerium oleander , and Tamaris africana . We also aspirated it from the walls of lobbies leading to bathrooms in rest areas and hotels.

Comment. This species is typically known as a mechanical vector and a sign of poor hygiene standards, particularly in hospitals; it is the cause of nasopharyngeal, intestinal, and urinary myiasis in humans worldwide ( Zittra et al., 2020).