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Abstract Species of the genus Spogostylum are ectoparasitoids of solitary bees and wasps (order: Hymenoptera), Meloidae (order: Coleoptera), and immature stages of Pyralidae (order: Lepidoptera). Some species were also recorded as predators of egg pods of Acrididae (order: Orthoptera). Spogostylum niphasoides sp. nov. was collected from South Sinai, Egypt. It is described in the present study where it differs from closely related species in having all hairs and bristles mostly white, except some few hairs on outer side of pedicel, short spines on legs, and short hairs on costal margin of wing which are black. Also, antennae and legs mostly yellowish-brown, tibial spines short, about half the tibial width, and the male genitalia are obviously distinctive, having the aedeagal sheath with a broad and complicated tip, enclosing the aedeagal tip. An updated checklist of the Egyptian Spogostylum spp. is provided.

Abstract Tachinid flies are an important group of parasitoids in their larval stage, and all their hosts are of the Arthropoda, almost exclusively other insects, including important insect pests in agriculture and forestry. All known Egyptian taxa of the family Tachinidae are systematically catalogued. Synonymies, type localities, type depositories, world distributions by biogeographic realm(s) and country, Egyptian localities, and dates of collection are provided. A total of 72 tachinid species belonging to 42 genera, 15 tribes, and 4 subfamilies has been treated.

The first list of insects of Al-Baha Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was published in 2013 and contained a total of 582 species; an addendum to this list was published in 2015 adding 142 species and bringing the total number recorded from the province to 724 insect species representing 17 orders. The previous two studies excluded Jabal Shada al-A’la Nature Reserve (SANR), so the present study in SANR, as belonging to Al-Baha Province, are complementary to the previous two. The present study presents a preliminary list of Diptera (Insecta) in SANR, with remarks on their zoogeography, and is the first of a series of planned ecological and systematic studies on different insect orders as one of the outputs of a project proposed to study the entire insect fauna of SANR. A total number of 119 Diptera species belonging to 87 genera, 31 tribes, 42 subfamilies, and representing 30 families has been recorded from SANR in the present study. Some species have been identified only to the genus level and listed herein only because this is the first time to record their genera in KSA. Fourteen of the species are recorded for the first time for KSA, namely: Forcipomyia sahariensis Kieffer, 1923 [Ceratopogonidae]; Chaetosciara sp. [Sciaridae]; Neolophonotus sp.1; Neolophonotus sp.2; Promachus sinaiticus Efflatoun, 1934; Saropogon longicornis (Macquart, 1838); Saropogon sp. [Asilidae]; Spogostylum tripunctatum (Pallas in Wiedemann, 1818) [Bombyliidae]; Phycus sp. [Therevidae]; Hemeromyia sp.; Meoneura palaestinensis Hennig, 1937 [Carnidae]; Desmometopa inaurata Lamb, 1914 [Milichiidae]; Stomoxys niger Macquart, 1851 [Muscidae]; and Sarcophaga palestinensis (Lehrer, 1998) [Sarcophagidae]. Zoogeographic affinities of recorded fly species suggest a closer affiliation to the Afrotropical region (46%) than to the Palearctic region (23.5%) or the Oriental region (2.5%). This supports the previous studies’ conclusions and emphasizes the fact that parts of the Arabian Peninsula, including Al-Baha Province, ought to be a part of the Afrotropical Region rather than of the Palaearctic Region or the Eremic Zone.

The family Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) is recorded for the first time for the fauna of Saudi Arabia based on Hydrorhoa caffra (Westwood) and Eucharis (Psilogastrellus) affinis Bouček. The record of H. caffra suggests that Al-Baha and Asir provinces should be considered as part of the Afrotropical rather than the Palaearctic region. The previously unknown male of E. affinis Bouček is described and figured. Macrophotographs of the species are provided.