Blepharella yaeyamana, Shima & Tachi, 2019

Shima, Hiroshi & Tachi, Takuji, 2019, The genus Blepharella Macquart (Diptera: Tachinidae) in Japan, with notes on the Oriental species B. lateralis Macquart, Zootaxa 4615 (1), pp. 131-144 : 136-138

Blepharella yaeyamana sp. nov.

( Figs 11–14 , 31–32 )

Diagnosis. A small black fly; 4th and 5th abdominal tergites with thin whitish pruinosity on anterior 1/2–3/4; palpus brown to dark reddish brown; scutellum black, sometimes with narrowly reddish-brown apex; vertex 0.21–0.23 of head width in male; prosternum haired; male abdominal venter without distinct sexual hair patches; male cerci straight in lateral view; male surstylus weakly pointed at apex.

Description. Male. Body length: 7.3–7.7 mm.

Head with dense grayish-white pruinosity on face and lower parafacial, somewhat pale yellowish and darkened above on fronto-orbital plate, grayish-white on occiput and genal dilation; antenna black; palpus brown or dark reddish-brown. Vertex 0.21–0.23 of head width; frontal vitta almost as wide as fronto-orbital plate at middle; parafacial narrowed below, 0.25–0.33 as wide as 1st flagellomere at mid height in profile (about 0.5 times as wide as 1st flagellomere when measured in horizontal position); gena 0.16–0.18 of eye height in profile (0.27–0.28 when measured in horizontal position); lower margin of face slightly extending beyond base of vibrissa. Inner vertical seta about 1/2 of eye height; 2 reclinate orbital setae, anterior seta slightly longer than posterior seta and about 3/4 as long as inner vertical seta; 6–8 frontal setae, lowest seta nearly level with base of arista; facial ridge with rather strong setae at most on lower 1/3; upper occiput with a row of black setulae behind postocular setae, black setulae increasing in number of rows below.Antenna falling short of lower margin of face by about 1/3 length of pedicel; 1st flagellomere about 3.5–3.8 times as long as pedicel. Palpus about 5/7 as long as 1st flagellomere.

Thorax shiny black in ground color, posterior margin of scutellum sometimes narrowly and weakly reddishbrown; postpronotal lobe, notopleural region, intra-alar region and presutural dorsocentral area with dark brownish pruinosity. Prosternum haired; lateral scutellar setae double; distance between bases of subapical scutellar setae about 2/3 that between basal and subapical setae of corresponding side; apical scutellar setae fine, hair-like, crossed and suberect. Wing hyaline, tinged with pale brown basally; lower calypter translucent pale brownish; 2nd costal sector about 2/3 as long as 4th; length of vein M from dm-cu crossvein to bend 1.6–1.7 times distance between bend and wing margin; bend of vein M nearly right-angled. Legs black; pulvilli pale yellowish; mid tibia with 2 anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with row of rather sparsely-set anterodorsal setae and with a strong submedian seta; claws and pulvilli long, longer than 5th tarsomere.

Abdomen shiny black in ground color, side of 3rd tergite narrowly and weakly reddish brown; dorsum with thin whitish pruinosity on anterior 2/3–3/4 of 4th tergite and anterior 1/2 of 5th tergite, 3rd tergite sometimes with very narrow strip of whitish pruinosity on anterolateral margin; venter with very thin grayish pruinosity on 3rd and 4th tergites and rather dense pruinosity on 5th tergite. Hairs on dorsum rather sparse, fine and suberect on 3rd and 4th tergites, sparser and erect on 5th tergite; syntergite 1+2 with a pair of short, fine median marginal setae less than 1/2 length of 3rd tergite; 3rd tergite with a pair of median marginal setae about 1/2 as long as 4th tergite; 4th tergite with 2–4 marginal setae, if 4 setae, then outer setae fine; 5th tergite with rows of strong erect discal and shorter marginal setae; venter of 4th tergite with a batch of appressed short fine hairs, not forming a distinct sexual hair patch and occupying posterior 2/3 of tergite. Terminalia: cerci in dorsal view evenly narrowed from base to apex, apical 3/7 rather narrowly separated; in lateral view nearly straight, apical 1/2 nearly parallel-sided; surstylus in lateral view evenly curved along dorsal margin from apical 1/2 to weakly pointed apex, with dense short hairs; epiphallus narrow and obliquely erect.

Female. Unknown.

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂: RYUKYU / Mt. Omoto , Ishigaki Is. / 5–6.vii.1974 / S. Shinonaga ( BLKU).

PARATYPES: 2 ♂♂, Okinawa, Ishigaki Island, Mt. Banna , 5.ix.1971, S. Shinonaga leg. ( KUM) ; 1 ♂, Okinawa, Iriomote Is., Mt. Usiku , 3–7.ix.1963, G.A. Samuelson leg. ( ELKU) .

Etymology. The specific epithet is taken from the type locality of this species, the Yaeyama Islands in the Ryukyu Islands archipelago.

Distribution. Oriental Japan (Ryukyu Islands, Yaeyama Islands).

Remarks. This is a small black species. Four or more similar, but apparently different, species are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Taiwan. They differ mainly in body size and in the structure of the male terminalia.

Figures

FIGURES 7–14. Male terminalia of Blepharella spp. 7–10. Blepharella grisescens sp. nov. (paratype, Fukushima, Japan, KUM). 11–14. Blepharella yaeyamana sp. nov. (paratype, Iriomote Is., Ryukyus, Japan, KUM). 7. Male 5th sternite in ventral view (hairs omitted on left side). 8. Epandrium, surstylus and cerci in lateral view (hairs omitted on epandrium). 9. Same in dorsal view (hairs omitted). 10. Hypandrium, pre- and postgonite and phallus in lateral view. 11. Male 5th sternite in ventral view (hairs omitted on left side). 12. Epandrium, surstylus and cerci in dorsal view (hairs omitted on epandrium and right side of cerci). 13. Same in lateral view (hairs omitted on epandrium and cerci). 14. Hypandrium, pre- and postgonite and phallus in lateral view. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 27–42. Blepharella spp. 27–36. Adult habitus. 37–42. Eggs in dorsal (37, 39, 41) and lateral (38, 40, 42) view; scale bars: 0.1 mm. 27–28. Blepharella bomolocha sp. nov. male (paratype, Fukuoka, Japan, KUM), lateral (27) and dorsal (28) view. 29–30. Blepharella grisescens sp. nov., male (paratype, Fukushima, Japan, KUM), lateral (29) and dorsal (30) view. 31–32. Blepharella yaeyamana sp. nov., male (paratype, Ishigaki Is., Japan, KUM), lateral (31) and (32) dorsal view. 33–34. Blepharella nigra Mesnil, male (Saitama, Japan, KUM), lateral (33) and dorsal (34) view. 35–36. Blepharella lateralis Macquart, male (Yunnan, China, KUM), lateral (35) and dorsal (36) view. 37–38. Blepharella bomolocha sp. nov. (paratype, Fukuoka, Japan, KUM). 39–40. Blepharella nigra Mesnil (Saitama, Japan, KUM). 41–42. Blepharella lateralis Macquart (Orissa [Odisha], India, KUM).