Dear colleagues,

it seems to me that in recent time I have been the carrier of bad news. Excuse me for that please.

Only recently, with one year delay, we have been informed that Prof. Jan Knoz, Brno (Czech Republic) passed away after losing his battle against a hard illness on October 28, 2014, in the age of 83.

Sincerely,

L. Jedlička

Dear colleagues,

I am very glad to organise the 7th International Simuliidae Symposium in Zaragoza (Spain) in 2016 presented by the University of Zaragoza. Provisional dates are 5 to 10 September 2016.

Zaragoza is a large Spanish city capital of the province and Aragon. It is the fifth most populated Spanish city with 666,058 inhabitants. It is located on the banks of the Ebro, Huerva and Gallego rivers in the center of a wide valley. Its privileged geographical location makes it an important logistical hub and communications; It is located about 300 km from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Toulouse. The city is famous for its folklore, local gastronomy, and landmarks such as the Basilica del Pilar, La Seo Cathedral and the Aljaferia Palace. Together with La Seo and the Aljaferia, several other buildings form part of the Mudejar Architecture of Aragon which is a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.

For more information go to http://www.zaragoza.es/ciudad/turismo?idioma=en&seleccionar=OK

Best regards and I hope to see all of you in Zaragoza.

Ignacio Ruiz

Dear Colleagues,

The British Simuliidae Group Bulletin No. 44 (August 2015) is now available for viewing or download at the usual site:

www.blackfly.org.UK/recentbulls.htm

Items of interest are:
Report on the 33rd Meeting of the British Simuliidae Group at Birmingham.
Update on the Simulium Genome Project
Notice of the next International Symposium in Zaragoza in 2016
Notice of an important cytotaxonomy review by Adler and Crosskey.

If you have any problems accessing this publication please contact me direct at jaybeedee@gmail.com.

John Davies

Dear Fellow Dipterists and Friends,

I am back to you with this friendly reminder. Please remember that the abstract submission deadline is April 15th, 2015 and the registration deadline is April 30th, 2015.

To register, please follow the instruction on our website (here).
Then, send us (syrphidae8@gmail.com) the Registration form and the payment receipt of your wire-transfer. Do not wait until the last minute!

All the information about transport, Students support funds, scientific program, and accommodation may be found in our website: www.iss8.zfmk.de.

We look forward to meeting you all in Monschau.

Best wishes,

Björn Rulik & Ximo Mengual

--
The Organizing Committee
8th International Symposium on Syrphidae
June 4 - 8, 2015. Monschau, Germany

From Valery Korneyev on Facebook:

Sad news from Saint Petersburg: Dr. Vera Andreevna Richter, a famous expert in Tachinidae, Asilidae, Nemestrinidae, and Tephritidae, died tonight, February 7, 2015, from the consequences of a serious stroke happened a week ago. She was born on August 28, 1936, in Yerevan (Armenia) in a family of Margarita Ter-Minassyan, and Andrey Richter, two famous soviet coleopterists. R.I.P.