First report of <em>Symphoromyia immaculata</em> (Diptera: Rhagionidae) from Italy, with the description of its attack and blood-feeding behaviour on human hosts

Abstract

Specimens from a swarm of Symphoromyia immaculata (Meigen, 1820) were collected in the act of biting people in a farmhouse in Central Italy. The species is distributed in West and Central Europe and eastwards in Northwest Russia. This is the first record of S. immaculata in Italy, with a documented case of humans suffering from bites of this species.

Keywords

• Tabanoidea
• Rhagionidae
• blood-sucking fly
• Symphoromyia
• Umbria
• Italian fauna