The specimen is in good condition and also the 
photographs send to me by Mr. D. J. Gibbs revealed that 
the scape, very clearly, has long stiff yellow/golden hairs 
mixed with the black ones on the lower inside surfaces 
(Fig. 2). 
We collected C. mauritanicus and/or C. heteropilosus 
in several localities in Morocco, including the type 
locality of C. heteropilosus and more to the North East 
near Mrirt close to the Algerian border. We noticed that 
within the same colony, some specimens have the black 
hairs on the inner underside of the scape intermingled 
with a few and other specimens with a considerable 
amount of golden-yellow hairs. 
Considering that the holotype of Conophorus 
mauritanicus Bigot, 1892 in Oxford also bares yellow- 
golden hairs on the inner underside of the scape and that 
Bigot himself, in his French translation writes "de longs 
poils noirs mélangés de gris" indicates that Conophorus 
mauritanicus Bigot, 1892 is a variable species and 
therefore, the distinction of C. heteropilosus, based on 
this character alone (Timon-David 1952) does not hold 
any longer. As other distinctive characters are also 
absent, we have to conclude that Conophorus 
heteropilosus Timon-David, 1952 is a junior subjective 
synonym of Conophorus mauritanicus Bigot, 1892. 
Acknowledgment 
I wish to thank David J. Gibbs, Mr. Amoret Spooner 
and Dr. Adrian Pont for their kind assistance and the 
good photographs. 
References 
Timon-David J. 1952. Contribution a la connaissance de la faune entomologique du Maroc. Diptera: Asilidae, Bombyliidae, 
Nemestrinidae et Syrphidae. — Bulletin de la Société des Sciences naturelles du Maroc 31: 131-148. 
Bigot J. M. F. 1892. Diptères nouveaux ou peu connus. 37e partie. XLVI Bombylidi (mihi) lre partie. — Annales de la Société 
entomologique de France 61: 321-376. 
Engel E. O. 1932-1937. Bombyliidae. - in Lindner E. (ed.), Die Fliegen der Palaearctischen Region, 4(3): 1-48. — E. Schweizerbart, 
Stuttgart. 
Evenhuys L. N. & Greathead D. J. 1999: World Catalog of Bee Flies ( Diptera : Bombyliidae). — Backhuys Publishers, Leiden 
Netherlands. 
Phegea 41 (3) 01.ix.2013: 62 
ISSN 0771-5277 
