Tethina incisuralis (Macquart, 1851)

Munari, Lorenzo, 2016, The Canacidae of the Arabian Peninsula (Diptera: Brachycera: Carnoidea), Zootaxa 4092 (4), pp. 489-517 : 498

Tethina incisuralis (Macquart, 1851)

Chlorops incisuralis Macquart, 1851: 278 [ Egypt; ST ♂, MNHN].

Distribution. Afrotropical: United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Palaearctic: Algeria, Canary Islands, Egypt, England, Greece (Crete), Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, Qatar, Spain (including Balearic Islands), Saudi Arabia (new), Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan.

Additional material examined. Saudi Arabia: Abha, Madenate Ameer Sultan, 25.ii.–25.v.2002, H.A. Dawah, 1 ♂ 3 ♀♀, [NMWC]; Aseer, Abha, Hay Alnusub, vegetable farm, Malaise trap, 1‒25.v.2002, H.A. Dawah, 22 spns (?sex), [NMWC]. Qatar: Al Shamal, Al Araish, 26°03.552’N – 51°06.882’E, rocky desert, Acacia tree near highway, pitfall traps, 14‒17.iii.2012, KPP-QA2012-PF16, K.P. Puliafico & A.M. Jensen, 19 ♂♂ 3 ♀♀, [LMC, ZMUC]; Al Shamal, Al Jiffarah, 26°03.624’N – 51°08.089’E, Acacia tree near highway, pitfall traps, 17‒19.iii.2012, K.P. Puliafico & A.M. Jensen, 1 ♂, [ZMUC]; Al Shamal, Al Zubarah, exclusion zone, 25°58.422’N – 51°02.574’E, Acacia tree near old well across highway from the Fort, apple baited pitfall traps, 19‒23.iii.2012, KPP-QA2012-PF13-AB, K.P. Puliafico & A.M. Jensen, 1 ♀, [ZMUC]; same, pitfall traps, 11‒15.iii.2012, KPP-QA2012-PF13, K.P. Puliafico & A.M. Jensen, 3 ♂♂ 1 ♀, [LMC, ZMUC]. United Arab Emirates: Al Rafah, 25°43.7’N – 55°52.5’E, mangrove, 9.iii.2010, 13.iii.2010, W.N. Mathis, 5 ♂♂ [LMC, USNM]; Umm Al-Quwain, 25°33.3’N – 55°33.3’E, pool, 15.iii.2010, W.N. Mathis, 2 ♂♂, [USNM]; Wadi Bin, 25°48’N – 56°4.4’E, dam, 9.iii.2010, W.N. Mathis, 1 ♂, [USNM].

Remarks. Tethina incisuralis belongs to an informal species-group including specimens with bicoloured hindtibia. In this species the hindtibia has an obvious dark apical ring. The male terminalia have a characteristic elongated surstylus, which, in lateral view, can be gradually and slightly enlarged towards the apex, or with margins perceptibly straighter. This southern, thermophilous, non thalassobiontic species is rather commonly found in eremic habitats, such as warm steppes and desert oases of North Africa and the Middle East (Munari, 2005b). The northernmost (and strictly isolated) records of T. incisuralis are from England (Cornwall), where it was collected on at least two occasions, nearly ninety years apart (Collin, 1960; Perry, 2002; Munari, 2015b). The latter author guessed that the discovery of this thermophilous species from such high latitude was probably due to the mild microclimates that characterize the coast of that peninsula. Indeed, Cornwall and neighbouring Devon are, on average, the warmest parts of the United Kingdom, as they get more of the effect of the Atlantic Gulf Stream than other parts of the UK.