Elaphromyia juncta David, Hancock & Sachin, 2021

David, K. J., Hancock, D. L., Sachin, K., Ramya, R. S. & Ramani, S., 2021, Taxonomic notes on the genus Elaphromyia Bigot (Diptera: Tephritidae: Tephritinae: Pliomelaenini) in India, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 5023 (2), pp. 251-262 : 253-256

Elaphromyia juncta David, Hancock & Sachin , sp.n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B1C3991D-81E1-429C-AB2C-BFE4C1B12566

Description: Length of male (3.79 mm); female (4.27 mm).

Head ( Fig. 2 ): higher than long; frons fulvous with three pairs of frontal setae and two pairs of orbital setae; ocellar triangle dark fuscous with well-developed ocellar setae; medial vertical seta black; lateral vertical seta, paravertical seta and postocellar seta lanceolate and white; postocular setae black interspersed with white lanceolate setae. Face fulvous without any markings. Scape and pedicel fulvous, first flagellomere concolorous with frons, arista bare. Gena narrow with prominent genal seta, subvibrissal setae present.

Thorax ( Figs 3, 5 ): Scutum uniformly dark brown with three faint longitudinal lines. Chaetotaxy well developed: 1 postpronotal, 1 presutural supra-alar, 1 anterior notopleural, 1 posterior notopleural, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 1 dorsocentral placed in line with postsutural supra-alar, 1 postalar, 1 intra-alar, 1 prescutellar acrostichal seta. Scutellum brown with two pairs of scutellar setae. Anepisternum fulvous with two setae near phragma; anepimeron fulvous with two setae, katepisternum with a single seta; anatergite dark brown; katatergite and meron fulvous. Legs entirely fulvous without any black/dark markings; forefemur with a single row of 4–5 ventral setae and two rows of 6–7 stout dorsal setae.

Wing ( Fig. 6 ) elongate, parallel-sided (length, 3.79 mm in male; 4.02 mm in female), predominantly dark brown with a series of circular or elongate spots connected to each other or nearly connected and hyaline marginal spots. Cell sc with two marginal spots; cell r 1 with 4–5 hyaline spots along costal margin; cell r 2+3 with single hyaline spot near apex of vein R 2+3, cell m with three marginal hyaline spots; posterior subhyaline band extends from anal cell to vein Cu 1.

Abdomen ( Fig. 4 ): Fully fulvous without any dark markings on tergites in male but with a pair of faint black spots on tergite VI in female.

Male genitalia: Epandrium broad with no demarcation between surstylus and epandrium ( Fig. 7 ); apex of lateral surstylus not blunt (in lateral view), with well-developed dorsal lobe; proctiger short, much smaller than epandrium; medial surstylus shorter than lateral surstylus and with well-developed prensisetae ( Fig. 8 ). Phallus elongate (1.57 mm); glans of phallus sclerotised with acrophallus patterned and broadly bifid apically ( Fig. 9 ).

Female genitalia: Oviscape orange-yellow, conical (1.18 mm) ( Fig. 10 ); eversible membrane (0.87 mm) with elongate taeniae (three-quarters length of eversible membrane); spicules on distal end elongate-oval with blunt apex ( Figs 11, 12 ); aculeus (0.78 mm) curved, flattened in sagittal plane in apical half, pointed with reduced preapical setae ( Fig. 13 ); spermathecae ( Fig. 14 ) dark brown to black, elongate-oval and covered with numerous projections.

Type material: Holotype, 1♀, INDIA: Karnataka, Chikkamagaluru, Tarikere, Kemmangundi, K. R. hill station, 04.ii.2021, Ramya , R.S .; Paratype: 1♂, Karnataka, Chikkamagaluru, Tarikere , Kemmangundi, K. R . hill station, 04.ii.2021, Sachin, K. ( NBAIR) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin word junctus (=connected), denoting the connected hyaline spots in the wing.

Distribution: Known only from western Karnataka in southern India.

Remarks: This species was collected by sweep-netting over flowers of Wedelia sp. (Asteraceae) but that is unlikely to be its host plant. It is similar to E. pterocallaeformis by having the subhyaline spots arranged in distinct, subparallel transverse rows but can be differentiated by the presence of a fully fulvous abdomen without black spots in males and with only a single pair of spots (on tergite VI) in females, lateral surstylus without acutely pointed apex and an eversible membrane with elongate-oval spicules with blunt apices, whereas E. pterocallaeformis has two pairs of abdominal spots in both sexes, an acutely pointed lateral surstylus and an eversible membrane with apically pointed spicules. Elaphromyia juncta is similar to E. siva in having a fully yellow abdomen in males and only one pair of spots in females, but E. siva can be easily separated by the rounder, well separated subhyaline spots on the wing and semicircular-shaped spicules on the eversible membrane.

Figures

FIGURES 2–6. Elaphromyia juncta David, Hancock & Sachin, sp.n. 2, head (lateral view); 3, thorax (dorsal view); 4, abdomen; 5, thorax (lateral view) and legs; 6, wing.

FIGURES 7–14. Elaphromyia juncta David, Hancock & Sachin, sp.n. 7, epandrium (lateral view); 8, epandrium (posterior view); 9, glans of phallus; 10, ovipositor; 11, eversible membrane; 12, close-up view of spicules of eversible membrane; 13, aculeus tip; 14, spermatheca.