Amblypsilopus fasciatus (Curran, 1924)

Grichanov, Igor Ya., 2022, Six new species of Amblypsilopus Bigot (Diptera: Dolichopodidae: Sciapodinae) and a key to species of the Afrotropical mainland, European Journal of Taxonomy 789 (1), pp. 49-80 : 61-62

Amblypsilopus fasciatus species group

Diagnosis

Bickel (1994) considered the Amblypsilopus fasciatus species group to be equivalent to the South African genus Sciopolina Curran, 1924 , treated in Irwin (1974). The group is defined primarily by a male wing modification (MSSC), i.e., wing veins R 2+3 and R 4+5 are fused apically, and the wing apex has a more or less distinct apical sclerotized spot. The other morphological characters, including the hypopygium, are well within the range of variation found in the genus ( Bickel 1994). Nevertheless, the here newly described males of A. bevisi and A. milleri have unmodified wings, but belong to the A. fasciatus species group on the basis of the morphology of the hypopygium and other characters listed below. Therefore, the group as a whole must be considered a part of the A. pallidicornis lineage as defined by Bickel (1994). The complex of characters uniting species of that group are as follows (after Irwin 1974): body ground colour brilliant metallic yellowish-green, blue-green or purple-red, and brown; face broad, more or less bulging under antennae, with more or less protruding clypeus; antenna usually short (but very long in A. milleri ); legs elongate, mainly yellow, poorly ornamented; wing anal lobe well developed and anal angle acute in both sexes (wing anal lobe often reduced in males of other species groups of Amblypsilopus ); male cercus swollen at base, elongate and narrow, bearing rows of long setae (male cercus often furcate in other species of the genus). The male cercus in A. bevisi is almost identical to that in A. bonniae and A. macularivena , and the male cercus in A. milleri is quite similar to that in A. fasciatus , A. retrovena and A. stuckenbergorum (figured by Irwin 1974).

Notes

The Amblypsilopus fasciatus species group is confined to South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Western Cape and bordering area of Eastern Cape). The following species belong to the A. fasciatus species group: A. bevisi , A. bonniae , A. fasciatus , A. macularivena , A. milleri , A. retrovena and A. stuckenbergorum . Amblypsilopus milleri with the long male antenna may relate with the Madagascan A. pallidicornis species group (see Grichanov 2021a). Amblypsilopus stuckenbergorum is the commonest species of the group, inhabiting montane forest and grassland zones of the eastern portion of southern Africa ( Irwin 1974).