Simuliids (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Eastern Andalusia (Spain): Update and New Contributions

This study enhances and improves the current knowledge of blackfly diversity in the mountainous regions of Eastern Andalusia, with a focus on how simuliid species are distributed through altitude. It provides an updated checklist of species recorded in the provinces of Almería, Granada, and Jaén, by integrating published data with new records from the field. This study identified 16 blackfly species based on morphological criteria, increasing the number of known simuliid species in the region from 25 to 28. Three species-<i>Simulium brevidens</i> (Rubtsov, 1956), <i>Simulium quasidecolletum</i> Crosskey, 1988, and <i>Simulium trifasciatum</i> Curtis, 1839-are reported in Granada for the first time. Most of the species were recorded within their previously known altitudinal range; however, <i>Simulium equinum</i> (Linnaeus, 1758) and <i>Simulium lineatum</i> (Meigen, 1804) were found at higher elevations, and <i>Simulium urbanum</i> (Davies, 1966), at lower elevations, resulting in extensions of their known altitudinal ranges. The newly recorded species <i>S. quasidecolletum</i> had a narrow altitudinal range (419 m); <i>S. brevidens</i> and <i>S. trifasciatum</i> were recorded only at one site. The study offers a comprehensive and updated picture of species richness and altitudinal ecology of blackflies in South-eastern Spain.