Professor Emeritus
Department of Biological Sciences
Towson University
Towson, MD 21252 USA
email: ascarbrough@towson.edu
Education:
Ph.D. University of Illinois
M.S. Arkansas State University
B.S. Arkansas State University
Research Interests:
Currently projects include the systematics and biodiversity of the Subfamily Ommatiinae (Diptera: Asilidae: Ommatius Wiedemann) from the Neotropical and Afrotropical regions. The genus Ommatius, the largest of this Subfamily, is a heterogeneous assemblage of nearly world distributed flies. Because of the absence of well defined character states, the genus as it now defined consists of several small genera. My immediate objectives are to determine character states which delineate these genera, to develop keys for the identification of the genera and species, to clarify the status of existing species, and to report new species. Recent studies proposed reinstating the genus Emphysomera Schiner and subgenus Pygommatius Scarbrough and Marascia, revising the genus from Hispaniola, and reported the Ommatiine fauna of Sri Lanki and two new species groups from the Afrotropics. Presently we have reported > 150 new species and redescribed >50 species from this subfamily. Another 125 species are in manuscripts and are in preparation for publication. A long-term goal is a synopsis of the world genus Ommatius Wiedemann. Recently Dr. Daniel Perez and I have begun to report the asilid fauna of Hispaniola, including a revision the genus Efferia Coquellet from the West Indies.
Current Projects:
1. Revision of the Neotropical and Afrotropical species of Ommatius Wiedemann.
2. A molecular analysis of the higher taxonomic groups of the family Asilidae.
3. Revision of Ommatius and related genera from the Philippine Islands, SE Asia, and Indonesia.
4. The biodiversity of asilids from Hispaniola.
Publications:
Scarbrough, A.G. 2006. Two species of Clinopogon Bezzi (Diptera: Asilidae) from Sabah, Malaysia. Proceedings of the Washington Entomological Society 108: 92-100.
Scarbrough, A.G. 2006. New species of Damalis Fabricius (Diptera: Asilidae) from Thailand and China. Insecta Mundi. 20(1-2): 1-6.
Reeves, W.K., A.G. Scarbrough, and J.W. McCreadie. 2006. New records for Leptopteromyia americana Hardy (Diptera: Asilidae)
in Alabama. Proceedings of the Washington Entomological Society 108:339.
Scarbrough, A.G. and Daniel Perez-Gelabert. 2006. A review of six subfamilies of Asilidae (Diptera) from Hispaniola with six genera
new to the island, new species, and species list. Zootaxa 1380:1-91.
Scarbrough, A.G.2007a. New species of Damalis Fabricius and Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) from India. Proceedings
of the Washington Entomological Society. 109: 643-648.
Scarbrough, A.G. 2007b. A new species of Pygommatius Scarbrough and Hill (Diptera: Asilidae) from Cameroun. Transactions of the American Eentomological Society. 133 (3+4): 467-471.
Scarbrough, A. G. 2007c. A new species of the Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) from Brazil with notes on the Ommatius
costatus species group. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 133(3+4): 465-472.
Scarbrough, A.G. and Daniel Perez-Gelabert.2008. Review of the West Indian Efferia Coquillett (Diptera: Asilidae): Part 1. Bahamas,
Cuba, Cayman Island, Jamaica. Insecta Mundi. In press.
Scarbrough, A.G. and Daniel Perez-Gelabert.2008. Review of the West Indian Efferia Coquillett (Diptera: Asilidae): Part 2. Hispaniola,
Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands, and Lesser Antilles. In press.
Scarbrough, A.G. 2008. Review of Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) from the Philippines with two new species. Zootaxa.
In press.
Scarbrough, A. G. 2008a. New Ommatius Wiedemann from the Americas with two new species groups, keys, and taxonomic notes
(Diptera: Asilidae). Insecta Mundi. 32: 1-14.
Scarbrough, A.G. & Perez-Gelabert, D. 2009. Review of the West Indian Efferia Coquillett (Diptera: Asilidae): Part II. Hispaniola,
Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands, and Lesser Antilles including Tobago and Trinidad. Zootaxa. 1994: 1-66.
Scarbrough, A.G. & Tomasovic, G. 2010a. Ommatomyia, a new Ommatiinae genus from Vietnam (Diptera: Asilidae:Ommatiinae).
Zootaxa. 2366:46-54.
Scarbrough, A.G. & Perez-Gelabert, D. 2010b. A new species of Martintella Artigas from Trinidad. Transactions of the American Entomology Society. 136: 193-198
Scarbrough, A.G. 2010c. An overview of the Afrotropical Ommatiinae (Diptera: Asilidae) with a key to genera. Zootaxa 2540: 1-47
Tomasovic, G. & Scarbrough, A.G. 2010d. A new species of Pygommatius Scarbrough & Hill, 2005 from the Halmhera Island,
Indonesia (Diptera: Asilidae: Ommatiinae). Bulletin de la Société royale belge d’Entomologie. In Press.
Link to a complete listing of publications