A Taxonomic Account of Hover Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Syrphidae) with 4 New Records from Cold Dry Zones of Himachal Pradesh, India

Eighteen (18) species of hover flies (Insecta:Diptera:Syrphidae) under 14 genera and 2 subfamilies has been reported from the Cold dry zone of Himachal Pradesh which includes Kinnaur, Lahul & Spiti and Pangi range of Chamba districs. 4 species namely Chrysotoxum violaceum Brunetti, 1923, Sphiximorpha triangulifera (Brunetti, 1913),Mallota (Mallota) orientalis (Wiedemann, 1824), Mallota (Mallota) varicolor(Walker, 1856) has been reported from the first time from this cold and dry zone zone as well as from the state of Himachal Pradesh. Their taxonomic keys and detail diagnosis of the reported species has been discussed along with the distributional pattern of these species along the cold dry zone of Himachal Pradesh.