Toxopyrgota inclinata Hendel, 1914

Korneyev, V. A., 2016, New Taxa And Synonymy In The Family Pyrgotidae (Diptera, Tephritoidea). I. Tribes Prodalmanniini And Toxopyrgotini, Vestnik Zoologii 50 (1), pp. 39-48 : 46-47

Toxopyrgota inclinata Hendel, 1914 (fig. 30–42)

Toxopyrgota inclinata Hendel, 1914: 78 ; 1917: 35; Vanschuytbroeck, 1963: 7; Steyskal, 1972: 8; 1980: 562.

M a t e r i a l. Type. Syntype ♀: Tanzania: “Afrique or. allemande / Kilimandjaro / versant sud-est / Allaud & Jeannel,” “Zone infreieure / Neu-Moschi / 800ʹʹʹ/ Avril 1912 St. 72”, “Toxopyrgo- / ta / inclinata / H. det. Hendel ”, “ Coll. Hendel ”( MNHW) .

Non-type. Ethiopia: Bahar Dar , 06–07.1969, 3 Ò, 1 ♀ (dissected) (Schäufelle) ( SMNS) ; Kenya: S. Masai Reservat, 30.01.1935, 1 Ò (B. Benzon) ( NMKE) . Zimbabwe: Karoi , 01.1956, 3 ♀ ( R. Phelps) ( NMSA) . Malawi: Kasungu Nat. Park, Lifupa Camp, 1333 Aa , Brachystegia, 1000 m , 9– 10.11.1980, 5 Ò, 3 ♀ (Stuckenberg & Londt) ( NMSA) .

S h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n. Small (wing length 2.5–4.0 mm) cranefly-like, motley black-and-yellow insects with patterned wings and very long, haired legs (fig. 30– 31), with black or brown spots on vertex, occiput, parafacial, gena, mesonotum and pleura. Frons opaque, setae and setulae black, one orbital seta at posterior one-third; vertex shining brown to black, ocellar triangle with 1–2 pairs of ocellar and 1 pair of long postocellar setae; orbital plate with dark spot and one long, proclinate orbital seta; frons mostly bare. Antenna brownish-yellow, microtrichose, matt; scape with one row of setae; pedicel with 2–3 rows of long setae; flagellomere 1 rounded, as long as wide; arista 3-segmented, microtrichose (fig. 32). Parafacial brownish-yellow, with brown sclerite (frontal plate) bearing 2–5 frontal setae and smaller setulae; gena opaque yellowish brown, soft, wider than vertical diameter of eye and 0.8–1.0 times as high as vertical diameter of eye. Face brown to black; antennal grooves separated by low carina; its lower margin very narrow, dark brown, as well as subgena; subcranial membrane opaque; clypeus black. Palp yellow, black setose, moderately large; proboscis yellow, setulose, with vestigial labellum and obviously non-functional. Thorax yellow, shining, with brown or balck pattern (fig. 30, 35), long black setose and setulose; mesonotum with 1 postpronotal, 1 presutural supra-alar, 8–10 (4–5 presutural and 4–5 postsutural) dorsocentral and 1 presutural acrostichal seta present; scutellum shining yellow at margins, medially brown to black brownish yellow, single pair of apical setae, bare on disk; katepisternum and meron with black marks; mediotergite shining brown to black. Wings hyaline, with variable greyish pattern (fig. 30, 31, 36); in some specimens, additional dark spots present at middle of cells m and cua. Halteres pale yellowish, with largely brown or black knob. Coxae, trochanters and femora brown, tibiae yellow with brown subapical area, black setose and setulose, tarsi creamy-white, except 2 apical tarsomeres brown; male hind coxa and trochanter strongly modified, with large flap of trochanter posteromedially densely setulose (fig. 34). Abdomen shining brownish yellow, long black setulose. Male genitalia as on fig. 37–40 : epandrium short and rounded, dorsally densely setulose, with short outer surstyli; inner surstylus with 5–6 of setulae and single prensiseta ( fig. 38 ); hypandrium with widely separated vanes connected to equal aired pregonites ( fig. 37, 39 ); sensillar fields allied to basiphallus lacking; phallus basally microtrichose, simple glans ( fig. 40 ), bearing rudimentary sclerites of acrophallus and simple apicodorsal lobe; ejaculatory apodeme fan-like. Female sternites 3–6 transverse, setose; terminalia: oviscape wide, black, triangular, apically narrowed, curved ventrally ( fig. 41 ); without modified flaps or hooks; aculeus moderately short, with thin, non-setulose ventral lobes and no anal opening.

R e m a r k s. No data on biology of this species are available. The long setulose body and long legs allows to hypothesize them to be swarming insects. The vestigial labellum of proboscis and the absence of anal aperture apparently show that they are aphagous flies with very short lifespan of adults.

This paper is partly resulted from the study supported by the Belgian Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs Research Fellowship and conducted in the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium in 2005–2006 and Geddes Visiting Collection Fellowship at the Australian Museum (Sydney); most specimens were photographed there. My thanks are due to Robert Copeland (NMKE), David Notton (BMNH), Mike Mostovsky (formerly NMSA), Peter Sehnal (NHMW), David Yeates and Chris Manchester (ANIC), David McAlpine and Dan Bickel (AMS), who kindly put at my disposal important material. I thank two anonymous reviewers for their criticism and valuable comments.

Figures

Fig. 37–42. Toxopyrgota inclinata, Ò (37–40) and ♀ (41–42): 37 — epandrium, posterior view; 38–39 — epandrium and hypandrium, lateral (38) and posterior (39) view; 40 — glans of phallus, ventral view; 41 — oviscape, lateral left view; 42 — aculeus, ventral view. Fig. 41–42 redrawn from Steyskal (1972), with changes. Ab b re v i at i o n s: basph — basiphallus; distph — distiphallus; hypd — hypandrium; phapod — phallapodeme; pregt — pregonite; prens — prensisetae; sur — surstylus; va ap — vanes of apodeme.