Pygophora hirtimana Malloch, 1935

Vikhrev, N. E., 2019, Notes on taxonomy of Pygophora Schiner, 1868 (Diptera: Muscidae), Russian Entomological Journal 28 (4), pp. 464-469 : 465

Pygophora hirtimana Malloch, 1935

Figs 1–2 .

Pygophora hirtimana Malloch, 1935 .

Pygophora tarsaseta Snyder, 1965 , syn.n.

MATERIAL: Nouvelles Hebrides ( VANUATU), I. Tanna (19.5°S 169.3°E), A. De la Rue , 1934, 1♂ (Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France) .

DISTRIBUTION. PNG, Bismarck Archipelago (type locality) ; Solomon Islands; Japan: Bonin Isl. (27.1°N 142.2°E) ; Vanuatu (new record). It is mysterious for me how P. hirtimana could settle such a remote islands as Bonin and Tanna.

DISCUSSION. Apparently, Snyder [1965] didn’t read Crosskey’s [1962] revision of Pygophora , the first species he described P. boninensis Snyder, 1965 is most probably P. macularis Wiedemann, 1830 . I suspect that the majority of Snyder’s species of Pygophora are synonyms, but examination of the type material in Bishop Museum is required to be sure. However, P. tarsaseta Snyder, 1965 with the intricately modified hind tarsus is no doubt a synonym of P. hirtimana Malloch, 1935 as follows from drawings on Figs 1–2 (the bunch of setulae on tar1–3 may look longer or shorter depending on angle of view) and as well from descriptions.

Figures

Figs 1–3. Pygophora spp.: 1 — ♂ hind tarsus, P. hirtimana, by Crosskey [1962: 531, fig. 24]; 2 — ♂ hind tarsus, P. tarsaseta, by Snyder [1965: 230, fig. 13f]; 3 — ♀ P. papuana. Рис 1–3. Pygophora spp.: 1 — ♂ ЗаднЯЯ лапка, P. hirtimana по Crosskey [1962: 531, fig. 24]; 2 — ♂ ЗаднЯЯ лапка, P. tarsaseta [по Snyder [1965: 230, fig. 13f]; 3 — ♀ P. papuana.