New predatory flies associated with Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) in Bulgaria

In May 2024, stem cuttings of Pinus sylvestris L. attacked by the first generation of Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) were collected in the Vladimir Village area in Southwestern Bulgaria. The samples were transported to the Laboratory of Entomology at Forest Research Institute in Sofia. The cuttings were placed in photoeclectors and were kept at room temperature (18-22°C). Four predatory dipteran species, Medetera pinicola (Kowarz), M. signaticornes (Loew) (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), Lonchaea collini Hackman (Diptera: Lonchaeidae) and Zabrachia tenella (Jaennicke) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) were reared for the first time from larval galleries of O. erosus. Two species (Medetera signaticornes and Zabrachia tenella) are new for the fauna of Bulgaria. The genus Zabrachia is also new to Bulgarian fauna. In this study, the finding of the species with northern distribution M. signaticornes is the second record on Balkan Peninsula.