Mapping of Sciomyzidae diptera predators of mollusc intermediate hosts of distomatosis in the Zou department (Benin)

The mollusc vectors of schistosomiasis and their predators, the malacophagous Sciomyzids, persist in endemic areas of Benin. The general objective of this study is to map sciomysids flies and their gastropods preys associeted in nine communes of Zou department. Bimonthly catches are made using a swath net from January to December 2023. Insects and molluscs that belong to the targeted biotopes were collected and identified using the determination keys of Verbeke and Knutson. The results revealed 4914 specimens of molluscs divided into ten species, including : Bulinus globosus, Bulinus forskalii, Bulinus truncatus, Biomphalaria pfeifferi, Succinea campestris, Melanoides tuberculata, Subulina octona, Cleopatra guillemmi, Lymnaea natalensis and Physa acuta. In addition, 3551 specimens of Sciomyzidae belonging to five genus were identified, including twelve species : Sepedoninus curvisetis, Sepedonella nana, Sepedon ruficeps, Sepedon knutsoni, Sepedon trichrooscelis, Sepedon umbrosa, Sepedon ornatifrons, Sepedon maculifemur, Sepedon dispersa, Sepedoninus planifrons, Tetanocera sp and Renocera sp. Of these, S. dispersa and S. planifrons were cited for the first time in the study area. While Tetanocera sp and Renocera sp are two new species whose complete identification needs to be refined in order to update the Sciomyzid directory and list in Benin.