Apiocera africana, Sergei J. Paramonov, 1950

Sergei J. Paramonov, 1950, A new African Apiocera species (Apioceridae, Diptera), Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 13, pp. 103-105 : 1

Apiocera africana sp. nov.

Very similar to A. braunsi Mel. , but distinguishable at once by its less developed striping of frons, mesonotum, etc.; it also differs in some morphological characters.

Male. Head and its parts as in A. braunsi , but the middle part of frons is yellowish, not brown as in A. braunsi , and the whitish sides of the frons do not contrast so sharply with the middle stripe; third joint of antennae yellow (in A. braunsi brown); palpi with whitish bristle-like hairs (in A. braunsi the hairs are black).

Thorax as in A. braunsi , but the mesonotum is covered with yellowish dusting (not with dark brown, nearly black as in A. braunsi ), two submedian longitudinal narrow stripes are whitish and not sharply contrasting with the median stripe; the pure white lateral stripes present in A. braunsi are here barely developed; in short, the mesonotum has three yellowish and two whitish stripes, whereas in A. braunsi there are five dark brown and four white stripes. Scutellum with six black bristles as in A. braunsi.

Venation as in A. braunsi , but the axillary cell and alula are not bordered by ambient vein (in A. braunsi this vein is very distinct). Halteres brownish (in A. braunsi brown). Legs as in A. braunsi , but paler, brownish, tarsi yellow. Abdomen as in A. braunsi , but the cross-bands on the tergites are less developed and the genitalia are distinctly different. The first four tergites are covered with yellow-brownish dusting, while in A. braunsi the dusting is dark brown; the hind borders of these tergites are not so pure white as in A. braunsi .

The lower forceps are in their distal half distinctly broader than in the middle; moreover they are broadly rounded at apex (in A. braunsi they are in the apical half nearly parallel-sided and nearly as broad as in the middle). The ninth sternite (the lower genital plate) is very swollen and on hind border deeply excavated (in A. braunsi it is flatter and there is only a very slight excavation).

Female. Differs very little from the male. The vertex is a little broader, occupying a little more than one-third of the head-width. The frons is uniformly yellowish, the dark middle stripe being absent. Mesonotum and scutellum also uniformly yellowish without any traces of white striping. The last three segments of abdomen ovipositor-like, i.e. covered with black, erect hairs, which recline slightly towards the base of the abdomen (this character is present in A. braunsi also).

Size of both sexes as in A. braunsi : length of body-20 mm

2 males 2 females, Jan., 1947, Sutherland Distr. , CP. (H. Zinn leg), S. Africa. On sand dunes. The types in the South African Museum, Cape Town .