Review of Indian species of Monoceromyia Shannon (Diptera: Syrphidae) with description of two new species

Insects are the most interesting and diverse group of organisms on earth, many of which are useful as pollinators of crops and wild plants while others are useful as natural enemies keeping pestiferous insects in check. It is important to conserve these insects for our survival and for this the diversity of insect species inhabiting the different ecosystems of our country must be known. The cornerstone to studies of any kind of organismal diversity is their taxonomic identity. Even after over two and half centuries of studies, so little is known of the insect wealth of our country. It has contributions from taxonomists who have been studying Indian insects for long, this book offers up to date information on many important groups of Indian insects seeking to fill the lacuna of a long felt need for a comprehensive work on the taxonomy of Indian insects.Salient features: Provides an up-to-date taxonomy of major insect groups of India Presents identification keys with illustrations of several important groups of Indian insects Gives a new insight into why insects are so abundant Addresses fundamental questions in mechanoreception and cross kingdom interactions using insects as model systems Indian Insects: Diversity and Science is a festschrift to Professor C. A. Viraktamath, an insect taxonomist par excellence. It has been designed to cater to the needs of academicians, researchers and students who wish to identify insects collected from local environments and will be an invaluable aid for those working in the areas of systematics, ecology, behaviour, diversity and the conservation of insects. Review of Indian species of Monoceromyia Shannon (Diptera: Syrphidae) with description of two new species Introduction Materials and methods Results Monoceromyia Shannon, 1922 Diagnosis Distribution Biology Remarks Monoceromyia eumenioides (Saunders, 1841) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Remarks Monoceromyia fenestrata (Brunetti, 1923) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Monoceromyia flavoscutata Sankararaman, Anooj and Mengual, sp. nov. Differential diagnosis Description Material examined Distribution Etymology Biology Monoceromyia javana (Wiedemann, 1824) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Monoceromyia nigra Sankararaman, Anooj and Mengual, sp. nov. Differential diagnosis Description Material examined Distribution Etymology Biology Monoceromyia obscura (Brunetti, 1907) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Monoceromyia patricia (Brunetti, 1923) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Monoceromyia polistoides (Brunetti, 1923) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Remarks Monoceromyia tredecimpunctata Brunetti, 1923 Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Monoceromyia trinotata (de Meijere, 1904) Redescription Material examined Distribution Biology Key to the Indian species of Monoceromyia Declaration of Competing Interest Acknowledgements References "Insects are useful as pollinators of crops and wild plants and many are useful as natural enemies of pestiferous insects. It is important to conserve these insects, hence there is a need for reliable identification techniques for these insects. This volume brings together indigenous taxonomic expertise on various taxa of insects from India"-- Provided by publisher.