John T. Smit

Naturalis Biodiversity Center | NCB · Department of Terrestrial Zoology

The European species of the potter wasp genus Eumenes Latreille, 1802 (Vespidae, Eumeninae) are illustrated and a new illustrated key to the 13 recognised species is presented. Eumenes mediterraneus aemilianus Guiglia, 1951 is synonymised with E. papillarius (Christ, 1791) (syn. nov.), E. obscurus André, 1884 and E. andrei Dalla Torre, 1894 with E....

This field guide covers all species of bumblebees that have ever been found in the Netherlands and Belgium. The extensive species descriptions are richly illustrated with both photos and detailed drawings that show the different color forms within a species. With the simple color pattern-based identification key you can quickly identify bumblebees...

This European Red List of Hoverflies is an output of the Hoverfly Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, funded by the European Commission Service Contract ‘Status assessment of European Hoverflies (Syrphidae) – European Red List of Hoverflies (EU and pan-Europe)’ (No. 07.0202/2018/792937/SER/ENV.D.2).

Hylaeus sinuatus new for the Dutch fauna (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) In 2021 yet another new bee species was recorded for the fauna of the Netherlands: Hylaeus sinuatus. On June, 27 2021 a male was found at a small wasteland near the town of Rhenen. On August 15 a female was found at the same locality. The male can be recognized by the characteristic...

Diversiteit De 21 soorten zijn verdeeld over vier families, elk met hun geheel eigen groep aan gastheren: Elenchidae (spoorcicaden Delphacidae), Halictophagidae (heide-cicaden Ulopidae en cicaden Cicadellidae), Stylopidae (bijen Hymenoptera, Apoidea) en Xenidae (plooivleu-gelwespen Hymenoptera, Vespidae). De bouw van de verschillende families is st...

The genus Psilota Meigen, 1822 is recorded for the first time from China, and the species Psilota bashanensis Huo and Zhao sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on the adult male. The complete cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of this new species has been successfully obtained and compared to that of other congeneric species. An updat...

Syrphid flies are important ecological indicators and provide crucial ecosystem services, being important pollinators and biological control agents of insect pests. These charismatic insects are conspicuous and, due to their size and colourful patterns, are relatively easy to identify. However, the lack of user-friendly literature (e.g. photographi...

The first population of Villa longicornis in the Netherlands (Diptera: Bombyliidae) In June 1924 a single female of Villa longicornis was found near the town of Mook, province of Limburg, in the east of the country. In 2014 this species turned up in the coastal dunes of Walcheren, province of Zeeland, in the west of the country. At first it was tak...

To address the decline in biodiversity, international cooperation in monitoring of threatened species is needed. Citizen science can play a crucial role in achieving this challenging goal, but most citizen science projects have been established at national or regional scales. Here we report on the establishment and initial findings of the European...

By tradition, the effectuation of measures to restore nature quality in the Netherlands is dominated by a systems ecological approach in which the response of the vegetation is central. This has led to evident successes for plants. For the threatened fauna, however, despite that attention has substantially increased, recovery still lags behind. Thi...

Pteromalus aartseni reared from Noeeta pupillata on Hieracium laevigatum.

This paper presents a first critical review of the beetle species (Insecta: Coleoptera) reported from the (former) Dutch Antilles as well as a history of beetle collecting and collectors on the islands. The introductory section provides a concise overview of the location, climate, geology and vegetation of the six islands. The catalogue is conclude...

An ongoing investigation on the Greek hoverfly fauna using adult morphology has revealed new species within three genera. In this study, the knowledge of the Mediterranean hoverfly fauna has been enhanced by describing the following species: Cheilosia candida Vujić et Radenković sp. n. (Pindos Mountains), Paragus thracusi Radenković, Likov et Vujić...

During the assessment of the species composition and abundance of flowers on several heathlands in the province of Overijssel, two populations of Andrena intermedia were discovered. This species is critically endangered in the Netherlands, with few recent records. This species belongs to the difficult subgenus Taeniandrena Hedicke, 1933 commonly ca...

A checklist of the tephritid fauna (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Madeira archipelago is presented, including 17 known species and new distribution records for Porto Santo and Desertas Islands. An identification key to Madeira Tephritidae species with detailed illustrations is also provided. A new species of Oedosphenella Frey 1936, discovered in Made...

The phylogenetic relationships of Tephritis Latreille, one of the largest genera of true fruit flies, are poorly understood due to the large number of species, lack of reliable morphological characters and difficulties in identification. In the present study we used two datasets to address these problems: one with 35 species of the genus Tephritis...

Eumerus Meigen, 1823 is a very speciose genus of flower flies from the Eastern Hemisphere. Several reports of introduced species of this genus in the Americas have been recorded since early in the twentieth century, with a present list of six species recorded to date from the Americas and the US territory of Hawaii. In this paper we give new geogra...

A new species of Eumerus , Eumerus druk Smit sp. nov. , is described from Bhutan. This species belongs to the bactrianus subgroup of the strigatus species group. Seven species are currently known within this subgroup: four European, one of which is also found in the Near East, and three more only known from Tajikistan. The new species extends this...

The Strepsiptera fauna of the Netherlands is revised. Recent molecular work provided new insights in the taxonomy of the genus Stylops, raising the number of species in Europe from one to thirty. With this knowledge all available Strepsiptera material from the Netherlands is reexamined and additional DNA barcode sequences are generated and analyzed...

Waarom een atlas leuke vliegen? Sommige vliegen trekken de aandacht door hun fraaie uiterlijk of opvallende gedrag. Zweefvliegen zijn daarvan een goed voorbeeld, maar er zijn nog enkele andere families die daaraan voldoen. Wij hebben daarvoor de term ‘Leuke vliegen’ geïntroduceerd. In navolging van de zweefvliegenatlas (Reemer et al. 2009) hebben w...

The black soldier fly Hermetia illucens has its origin in the tropical parts of America, most probably South-America. It is a very adaptable, saprophagous species, the larvae living as a scavenger in decaying organic matter of both plant and animal origin. The ease with which the larvae can be bred, makes it interesting for commercial use. At first...

The kingdom of Bhutan is a small, landlocked country in the eastern part of the Himalayas. It is bordered by Tibet in the north, the Indian states of Sikkim in the west, Arunachal Pradesh in the east and by Assam and West Bengal in the south. The landscape ranges from lush subtropical planes in the south to the subalpine Himalayan mountains in the...

Eumerus Meigen (Diptera, Syrphidae) is one of the most speciose hoverfly genera in Europe, with several species groups recognized within. As part of the tricolor group of species, a subgroup of long-legged representatives stands out. We name it Eumerus binominatus subgroup and provide descriptions for two new European species which belong to this s...

Four species of robber flies are recorded from Sint Eustatius, Lesser Antilles. Efferia exaggerata sp. n. is described, as well as the male of Ommatius prolongatus Scarbrough.

In this paper 4 species of bat ectoparasites are recorded from the island of Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean. One species of true bug (Hemiptera: Polyctenidae) as well as 3 species of bat flies (Diptera: Hippoboscidae: Streblinae) are recorded. All species are photographed. The first DNA barcodes for 3 bat ectoparasite species (Trichobius frequens,...

Six species of dragonflies are recorded for the island of Sint Eustatius, Lesser An-tilles. Breeding records are established for four out of the six species, despite the lack of natural fresh water sources. DNA barcoding was used to match the larvae with the adults.

Kniksprieten zijn bijzondere zweefvliegen. De volwassen vliegen hebben gereduceerde monddelen en bezoeken geen bloemen. De larven leven in nesten van mieren. Bovendien is van twee soortkoppels in Europa bekend dat de volwassen vliegen niet van elkaar te onderscheiden zijn, alleen de larven en poppen. Dat is eveneens hoogst ongebruikelijk bij zweefv...

The bombylid fly Villa cingulata found in the Netherlands (Diptera: Bombyliidae) The genus Villa was represented by four species in the Netherlands, of which only two species had recently been recorded: V. hottenttota and V. modesta. Both other species, V. fasciata and V. longicornis, seem to have disappeared. On June 10, 2018 a specimen of V. cing...

Location data of the specimens used for DNA barcoding.

Thick-headed flies of the genus Myopa Fabricius are a common sight in early spring in Europe. Several species can befound flying among Salix catkins together with their supposed Andrena Fabricius hosts (Hymenoptera: Apidae) (John Smit observations). Despite the fact that some of these Myopa species are very common, little is known about their actua...

The status of Tolmerus atricapillus calceatus (Meigen) is discussed. Based on morphological, ecological as well as genetic information it is concluded that Tolmerus calceatus stat. rev. should be treated as a valid species separate from T. atricapillus (Fallén). Characters to separate both are provided as well as a key to all Tolmerus species of no...

The status of Tolmerus atricapillus calceatus (Meigen) is discussed. Based on morphological, ecological as well as genetic information it is concluded that Tolmerus calceatus stat. rev. should be treated as a valid species separate from T. atricapillus (Fallén). Characters to separate both are provided as well as a key to all Tolmerus species of no...

In 1972, a female of Merodon caucasicus Portschinsky was collected in the western part of the Netherlands, in an area where commercial floriculture is booming business. Here we record a second female, collected some 25 years later a mere eleven kilometers from the first site. Due to the floriculture, there is a lively international trade in bulbs a...

A field guide, in Dutch, to the extant bumblebee species of the Netherlands. Keys are provided and all species are illustrated with 32 full color photographs and some 30 color drawings.

A pictorial key to the Bombyliidae and Mythicomyiidae of Northwest Europe.

Hoverflies are often big and attractively coloured flies and many species mimic bees and wasps. Adults are commonly found on flowers and are important pollinators. The larvae of some 40% of the species are zoophagous, mostly feeding on aphids, which makes them especially valuable for agro-ecosystems (Ssymank et al., 2008). Therefore, hoverflies pla...

Hoverflies are often big and attractively coloured flies and many species mimic bees and wasps. Adults are commonly found on flowers and are important pollinators. The larvae of some 40% of the species are zoophagous, mostly feeding on aphids, which makes them especially valuable for agro-ecosystems (Ssymank et al., 2008). Therefore, hoverflies pla...

Smit et al. ‒ Leopoldius carceatus nu ook in nederland. Blaaskopvliegen zijn kleine tot grote (3-20 mm), meestal slank gebouwde vliegen. Het merendeel is geelzwart gekleurd, maar er zijn ook grijze, zwarte en geheel roodbruine soorten. Alle Europese soorten parasiteren op volwassen bijen of wespen. De eitjes worden in het achterlijf van de gastheer...

A new Conopid fly for the Belgian fauna is reported: Leopoldius valvatus

The first record of Rhagoletis completa for the Netherlands is provided. Several damaged fruits of a walnut tree Juglans regia were found in Helden (province of Limburg), on September 2, 205. These fruits contained larvae of R. completa. A few weeks later fruits infected with R. completawere found in Helmond (province of Noord-Brabant). The ident...

Psilota is een genus van kleine, zwarte zweefvliegen, waarvan de larven leven achter boomschors. In 1988 werd Psilota anthracina voor het eerst in Nederland waargenomen en lange tijd is het een zeldzame soort geweest. De laatste jaren wordt ze steeds algemener, vermoedelijk door een veranderd bosbeheer. Gaandeweg is gebleken dat er een tweede soort...

The return of Stelis signata in the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Megachilidae)?Stelis signata had not been recorded in the Netherlands since 19. In 2013 and 2014 the species was found in the Strabrechtse Heide (province of Noord-Brabant) and Afferden (province of Limburg), respectively. On July 16, 2015 a single female was found at the Spre...

Wespblaaskoppen Leopoldius worden ondanks hun opvallende uiterlijk maar weinig waargenomen. De soorten zijn lastig van elkaar te onderscheiden en bovendien werden tot voor kort variabele kenmerken gebruikt, wat tot veel verwarring heeft geleid.Nu blijkt dat alleen vrouwtjes met zekerheid te herkennen zijn aan de vorm van het klampje. Dit is een lep...

The robber fly Choerades igneus new to the Netherlands (Diptera: Asilidae) A new species of Asilidae of the subfamily Laphrinae is reported to the Dutch fauna: Choerades igneus (Meigen, 1820) (fig. 1). It is very similar to the black and red Choerades gilvus (fig. 2). Several authors treat this taxon as a synonym of C. gilvus (Jaennicke 1867, Lehr...

In Nederland is Tetanops sintenisi een recente aanwinst voor de fauna. De soort is in heel Europa zeldzaam, maar lijkt zich de laatste jaren uit te breiden, zo ook in Nederland. Een waarneming in de Noordelijke Friese Wouden nabij Oostermeer was bijzonder omdat het dier gevonden werd als prooi van een springspin. De meeste boor- en prachtvliegen he...

In October 2013, a female specimen of the social parasitic Polistes atrimandibularis was found with a pupa of a male twisted-wing insect in its abdomen. This turned out to be a new host for the genus Xenos, and is one of only few known cases of parasitism of a social parasite by Strepsiptera. Given the numbers of Polistes dominula present at the si...

Two new species of the genus Callicera Panzer are described from the Palaearctic region: C. exigua sp. nov. from the Russian Altay and C. scintilla sp. nov. from Jordan. A key is provided for all Callicera species of the Palaearctic Region.

Melangyna pavlovskyi new for the Netherlands (Diptera: Syrphidae) The first records of Melangyna pavlovskyi (Violovitsh, 1956) from the Netherlands are presented. This species has been described from the island Sakhalin in the Russian Far East. Recently this species has spread to Europe and has been recorded from Denmark and Poland (Bygebjerg 20...

A feasibility test of molecular identification of European fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) based on COI barcode sequences has been executed. A dataset containing 555 sequences of 135 ingroup species from three subfamilies and 42 genera and one single outgroup species has been analysed. 73.3% of all included species could be identified based on t...

Collection data of all specimens included in this study. (doi: 10.3897/zookeys.365.5819.app) File format: Microsoft Excel file (xls).

Rhingia rostrata rediscovered in the Netherlands (Diptera: Syrphidae) After more than a hundred years of absence in the Netherlands a male of Rhingia rostrata was caught in the spring of 2010 This record had been preluded by the rediscovery of this species in Belgium in 2009, after 65 years of absence. In 2012 later the species was found in Belgium...

duistere heiderouwzwever in collectie 49 inleiding Naturalis is momenteel bezig met het digitaliseren van een deel van de collectie, waaronder de Nederlandse wolzwevers (Bombyliidae). Tijdens de voorbereidingen werd tussen de exemplaren van Exoprosopa capucina (Fabricius, 1785) een vrouwtje gevonden van E. cleomene Egger, 1859 (fig. 1), een soort d...

villa hottentotta toch op de nederlandse lijst 23 de hottentottenvilla villa hottentotta toch op de nederlandse lijst (diptera: bombyliidae) John Smit Wolzwevers zijn vliegen waarvan de larven parasitair leven bij andere insecten. Wol zwevers van het genus Villa veroorzaken vaak determinatieproblemen. Deze problemen lijken verleden tijd met recent...

Begrazing als beheervorm wordt breed toegepast in heidegebieden om op een betaalbare manier openheid van het landschap en variatie in levensgemeenschappen te handhaven. De wijze van uitvoering luistert daarbij nauw, maar goede inzichten in de effecten van graasdruk op insecten ontbraken tot nu toe. Dit artikel geeft de resultaten van een veldonderz...

Zodion kroeberi, a conopid fly new to the Netherlands (Diptera: Conopidae) Zodion kroeberi is recorded for the first time in the Netherlands. The species is found on two localities in the southeast of the country: Verdronken land Saeftinghe (a salt marsh) and Stoppelbergen (heath land). The most probable host is Collectes succinctus, but also C. ha...

A huge population of stylops melittae (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae) An account is given on a huge nest aggregation of the bee Andrena vaga Panzer, 1799 infested with its twisted winged parasite: Stylops melittae Kirby, 1802. A very early record of A. vaga on February 13, 2011 at ‘the Stompert’ near the town of Soest revealed it was parasitized by Styl...

The hover fly Cheilosia vulpina new for the Netherlands (Diptera: Syrphidae) In this paper Cheilosia vulpina (Meigen, 1822) is added to the Dutch list. Several specimens have been collected in 2012 in different parts of Zuid-Limburg, the extreme southeast of the country. Details of these records are provided and the differences between C. vulpina a...

pherbellia annulipes nieuw voor nederland 67 inleiding Er zijn talloze kleine vliegjes met getekende vleu-gels. Dit is niet alleen handig voor de herkenning door insectenonderzoekers, maar heeft ook een functie voor de vliegen zelf. Ze gebruiken hun vleugels om rivalen weg te jagen en bereidwillige vrouwen te lokken. Dit fenomeen is veel waar te ne...

smit & belgers ‒ boor-en prachtvliegen in nederland  inleiding Boorvliegen (Tephritidae) en prachtvliegen (Ulidiidae) zijn relatief kleine vliegjes, die vaak fraai ge tekende vleugels hebben. Met het ver-schijnen van de determinatiesleutel voor de Nederlandse boorvliegen (Smit 2010a) zijn beide families te onderscheiden van de grote hoeveel-heid...

Van de verspreiding van boor- en prachtvliegen in Nederland is nog maar weinig bekend. In dit artikel worden waarnemingen van 17 soorten boorvliegen en drie soorten prachtvliegen behandeld. Het gaat hierbij of om zeldzame het gaat hierbij of om zeldzame soorten of om waarnemingen die een aanzienlijke uitbreiding van het areaal betreffen. Daarnaast...

1. The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is thought to be widely distributed across its range, but a detailed description of its occurrence is lacking. 2. Researchers in 41 countries were contacted and information sought on various life history characteristics of the insect. Data on adult body size were collected from seven countries. 3. Habita...

callopistromyia annulipes nieuw voor nederland  inleiding Prachtvliegen (Ulidiidae) zijn over het algemeen kleine vliegjes (4-10 mm) waarvan de meeste soor-ten een opvallende vleugeltekening hebben. Ze zijn nauw verwant aan boorvliegen (Tephritidae) en worden hier vaak mee verward. Veel soorten hebben echter een minder samenhangend vlekkenpatroon...

Boorvliegen trekken de aandacht door hun fraai getekende vleugels. De gevarieerde patronen van banden en vlekjes zijn niet alleen aantrekkelijk om te zien, ze zijn ook bijzonder handig: vrijwel elke soort is hieraan te herkennen. Van deze eigenschap is dan ook veelvuldig gebruik gemaakt in de determinatiesleutel in deze uitgave. Bovendien is van el...

The picture-winged fly Melieria picta in large numbers on Elytrigia atherica on Schiermonnikoog (Diptera: Ulidiidae) On August 7-9, Melieria picta (Meigen, 1826) was found in large numbers on Elytrigia atherica (Poaceae) on the island of Schiermonnikoog. This is the first record for the Friesian Islands. Based on the suspected biology of two other...

A b s t r a c t : The first records of Eoxenos laboulbenei PEYERIMHOFF 1919 (Strepsiptera, Mengenillidae) from Greece. Two males of Eoxenos laboulbenei PEYERIMHOFF 1919 were collected with a malaisetrap in Greece.

In Nederland komen steeds meer exotische insecten voor. Vooral soorten die als larve in planten leven hebben een goede kans om geïmporteerd te worden. De larven van boorvliegen leven in stengels, bladeren en vruchten en worden dan ook veel met plantenmateriaal verplaatst. Ze vormen een economisch belangrijke groep omdat sommige soorten schade aanr...

In memory Bob van Aartsen (15 May 1920 – 1 July 2007) On the 1st of July Bob van Aartsen passed away after a brief illness. He is one of the most remarkable entomologists in the Netherlands. His great virtue lies in the collection of Dutch insects, especially Diptera. He has always taken the opportunity to collect in nearly every corner of the coun...

Het vliegend hert is een beschermde keversoort met een lange ontwikkelingsduur tot volwassen insect, minimaal 4 tot zo’n 8 jaar, en een beperkte verspreidingscapaciteit. Deze beide facetten maken haar tot een kwetsbare soort. Daar komt bij dat de weinige vindplaatsen veelal geïsoleerd liggen waardoor de soort extra kwetsbaar is. Het oorspronkelijke...