Nemestrinus rufipes (Olivier, 1811)

Figures 1, 2, 86-95, 96-104

Nemestrina rufipes Olivier, 1811: 171.

Nemestrina lateralis Wiedemann, 1828: 560.

Nemestrina ruficornis Macquart, 1840: 15. Syn. nov.

Type material.

Nemestrinus rufipes: Type male, “Aegypten”, Egypt (ZMHB) (pers. comm. Mr. Sven Marotzke). Nemestrina lateralis: Type female, “Aegypten”, Egypt (ZMHB) (pers. comm. Mr. Sven Marotzke).

Specimens examined.

Ezbet El-Nakhl 30°08'22.6"N, 31°19'27.8"E, 20.iv.1921 (1 m # & 3 f#); Helwan 29°50'37.6"N, 31°19'05.0"E, 8.iv.1932 (2 f#); W. Morrah 22°22'39.1"N, 33°46'00.3"E, 26.iii.1927 (1 m #) (AZUC) ; Abu Rawash 30°04'30.7"N, 31°11'59.7"E, 13.iii.1955 (3 m # & 4 f#), 17.iii.1955 (1 m #) ; Kerdasa 30°01'32.1"N, 31°06'27.5"E, 11.iv.1926 (1 m #) ; Giza 30°00'40.0"N, 31°11'31.4"E, 7.v.1955 (1 m #) , 2.iii.1927 (1 m #); Helwan 29°50'37.6"N, 31°19'05.0"E, 8.iv.1932 (2 f#), 3.iv.1934 (1 m # & 3 f#), 8.iv.1934 (6 f#), 17.iii.1934 (1 f#), 17.iv.1934 (1 f#), 23.iv.1935 (3 f#) ; W. Garawi 29°47'43.9"N, 31°25'54.9"E, 31.iii.1930 (1 f#) (CUC) ; Abu Rawash 30°04'30.7"N, 31°11'59.7"E, 11.iv.1925 (1 m #) , 17.iv.1925 (2 m # & 1 f#), 3.iv.1926 (1 m # & 1 f#), 12.iii.1936 (1 f#), 4.iv.1961 (3 f#); (Noaman Bey) Alexandria 31°10'03.5"N, 29°51'56.2"E, (1 f#, without date) ; Assyut 27°23'00.0"N, 31°44'38.0"E, 2.iv.1917 (1 f#) ; Bent Suef 29°04'N, 31°05'E, iii.1965 (1 m #) ; Dakhla Mout 25°32'41.4"N, 28°55'44.0"E, 17.iii.1934 (1 m #) ; El-Mallah 30°00'37.7"N, 31°09'34.0"E, 14.v.1927 (1 m #) ; Gabal El-Halal 30°39'10.8"N, 34°01'43.9"E, 25.iv.1924 (1 m # & 1 f#) ; Gabal El-Sanadiq, 5.iv.1934 (1 f#) ; 12.iv.1924 (1 m #); Kafr Hakim 30°04'39.7"N, 31°06'46.3"E, 7.iv.1924 (1 m #) , 14.iv.1925 (1 m #), 20.iv.1925 (1 m # & 1 f#); Mansouriah 29°58'05.3"N, 31°08'51.9"E, 28.iv.1926 (1 f#), 4.iii.1934 (1 m #) ; Marg, 1.iv.1923 (1 f#) ; Marsa Matrouh 31°11'04.1"N, 27°15'42.4"E, 19.i.1933 (1 m #) , 17.iii.1933 (1 m #), 1.iv.1961 (1 f#); W. Garawi 29°47'43.9"N, 31°25'54.9"E, 3.iii.1925 (1 f#) ; W. Um Elek 29°52'59.9"N, 31°31'00.1"E, 28.iii.1918 (1 f#) ; W. Zohleiga 26°07'59.9"N, 33°45'00.0"E, 25-29.iii.1925 (1 f#) (MAC) ; W. Digla 29°59'00.1"N, 31°19'41.2"E, 5.iv.1952 (1 m #) (ASUC) . Aegypten (1 m # & 1f#), without date (ZMHB) sent by Mr. Sven Marotzke and Bernhard Schurian ; Dakahlia, Mansuriya 31.1656° N, 31.4913°E 31.iii.1964 (1 m # & 1 f#) specimen numbers: male: USNMENT01371563, female: USNMENT01371564, Cairo, Marg 30.1543°N, 31.3484°E (1 f#), without date, specimen number USNMENT01371561 (USNM) (identified by Dr. Torsten Dikow) .

Diagnosis.

Frons covered with dense orange yellow pollinosity except with shiny blackish brown transverse oval callus below dark orange ocellar triangle; wing with yellowish brown band in the middle, but clear in apical part and along posterior margin; wing with small cells extending forward from R2 to M1 or M2. Abdomen orange to reddish orange with longitudinal black median vitta; first tergite entirely black, tergite II on anterior margin with transverse white band. Gonocoxite with inner process slightly tapered; gonostyli longer than gonocoxal process, curved subapically with small projection; aedeagus fused proximally with parameres and separated distally, parameres and aedeagus with small indentations distally in lateral view.

Redescription.

Length: male body13.5-18.5 mm, wing 11.5-16 mm. Female body 14-21 mm, wing 12-17.5 mm. Head short, wider than thorax; frons covered with dense orange-yellow pollinosity except with shiny blackish brown transverse oval callus (Figs 86-88, 96-98); face shiny brownish orange with short yellow hairs; antenna orange (Figs 89, 99); proboscis black, as long as thorax, upper surface of base with short yellow hairs; palpi orange. Thorax shiny black with yellow hairs, longer and denser on the sides and in front; mesonotum with indistinct spots at inner ends of transverse suture. Leg orange, coxae and base of femora somewhat brown, pulvilli light yellow and nearly 1/2 length of claw. Wing with yellowish brown band in the middle, but clear apically and along posterior margin; wing with small cells extending forward from R2 to M1 or M2 (Figs 90, 100). Halter brown with light yellow pedicel. Abdomen orange to reddish orange with longitudinal black median vitta; tergite I entirely black, tergite II with transverse white band; abdomen with short and golden yellow hairs but longer laterally; abdominal venter orange and with black lateral margins (Figs 91, 101). Gonocoxite with inner process slightly tapered; gonostyli longer than gonocoxal process, curved subapically with small projection (Fig. 93); aedeagus fused proximally with parameres and separated distally, parameres and aedeagus with small indentations distally in lateral view (Figs 94, 95). Female genitalia: rectangular subgenital plate with large curve (Fig. 102); genital furca with large aperture surrounded by narrow and slightly curved posterolaterally projections (Fig. 103); uterus with small terminal accessory; spermathecae nearly as long as the uterus (Fig. 104).

Local distribution.

Coastal strip, Lower Nile, Upper Nile, Sinai.

Geographical distribution.

Algeria, Egypt, and Syria (Sack 1933; Bernardi 1973; Richter 1988).

Remarks.

Bernardi (1973) and Richter (1988) considered N. rufipes and N. ruficornis to be valid species but, in contrast, Lichtwardt (1909) and Bequaert (1938) synonymized the two. We agree with this decision based on a comparison of the original description of N. ruficornis (no material was examined) with the male type specimen of N. rufipes (Fig. 2) and the female type specimen of N. lateralis (Fig. 3), both in ZMHB, in addition to both sexes of many old Egyptian specimens of N. rufipes . Thus, we confirm that N. rufipes and N. ruficornis are conspecific and the first is the valid name, and Nemestrinus ruficornis is here synonymized with N. rufipes .

List of doubtful species.

In the present study, three species are treated as doubtful and are excluded from the list of Egyptian Nemestrinidae: Nemestrinus caucasicus, Nemestrinus pallipes, and Nemestrinus persicus .