Xylota danieli Mutin & Ichige

Mutin, Valerii & Ichige, Katsuyoshi, 2014, A new species of Xylota Meigen (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Far East, Zootaxa 3878 (2), pp. 196-200 : 197-199

Xylota danieli Mutin & Ichige spec. nov.

(figs 3, 5)

Xylota cuprina Coquillett, 1898: 327 , ♂ paratype, “ Japan Mitsukuri” [National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC] examined. Note: The holotype and paratype of X. cuprina Coquillett belong to different species. Xylota coquilletti auct. nec Hervé-Bazin, 1914: Hippa, 1978: 71, fig. 32A; Stackelberg, 1952: 320 ( Zelima ), part; Violovitsh, 1983: 143, fig. 221.

Xylota amamiensis auct. nec Shiraki, 1968: Mutin & Gilbert, 1999: 47, new name for X. coquilletti sensu Hippa, 1978 ; Mutin & Barkalov, 1999: 492.

Diagnosis. A new species similar to X. coquilletti and X. fo Hull, 1944 (which also inhabit East Asia) in having the metatibia with a basoventral range of setulae, but differing from the former by having an entirely pollinose frons, a rather uniformly pilose mesonotum and a thin, acute spike on the metatrochanter, as well as in features of the male genitalia. Xylota fo has a very long curved spike on the metatrochanter, a sharply concave apical fourth of tergum IV (lateral view), the metafemur with an anterior row of 12–14 strong setae and a posterior row of 9–10 strong setae and also differs in features of the male genitalia ( Hippa 1978). The male genitalia of X. fo figured by Huo et al. (2007) belong to “ X. coquilletti ” in their sense.

Description. Male. Body length 8.2–10.5 mm, wing length 6–7 mm. Head. Face and frons entirely densely silverywhite pollinose. Vertex and occiput shining black dorsally, with bluish glow and scattered, erect white pile. Antenna brown, with darker basal 2 segments, basoflagellomere sometimes reddish ventrally. Eyes holoptic. Thorax. Postpronotum shining black laterally and dense white pollinose from within. Mesonotum shining back, with short, erect, pale pile. Scutellum shining black, pale pilose, sulcate, with long pale pile dorsoapically. Thorax more or less pollinose laterally, with denser pale pilosity on posterior anepisternum and katepisternum. Legs. Pro- and mesofemur mainly black except at the extreme apex, which is yellow, pale pilose. Pro- and mesotibia mainly yellow except for a more or less visible dark annulus at the middle. Pro- and mesotarsus mainly yellow except for the apical 2 tarsomeres, which are black. Metatrochanter with a short, thin, curved spike, its length shorter than the ventral setae on the metafemur. Metafemur black, mainly pale pilose except apical 1/6 with black pile, with an anterior row of 10–12 strong setae and a posterior row of 7–9 similar setae. Metatibia yellow on basal 2/5, with black setulae ventrally, and black on apical 3/5. Metatarsus entirely dark. Wing. Membrane hyaline, with brownish stigma; mainly microtrichose except for a small bare patch on the basal medial (bm) and posterior cubital (cup) cells, antero-basally. Abdomen. Visibly constricted in the middle, near connection between terga II and III. Tergum I usually black, tergum II black or dark brown, sometimes with a pair of diffuse reddish maculae; tergum III, as a rule, brown or reddish, usually paler basally; tergum IV brown or reddish, paler apically. Abdominal pile mainly pale except for areas of adpressed, very short, black pile on tergum II medially, tergum III postero-medially and tergum IV antero-medially. Sterna 7 and 8 pilose. Genitalia as in fig. 3. Female. Not reliably distinguishable from the related species X. fo.

Examined material. Holotype ♂, RUSSIA: Primorsky Krai, Bolshaya Ussurka river, Krutoy Yar village, 19.VI.1995, leg. V. Mutin, [Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Vladivostok, Russia ( IBSS)]. Paratypes: RUSSIA: 11 ♂, same locality, 19–21.VI.1995, leg. V. Mutin, [6 ♂ IBSS; 5 ♂ Amurskii Humanitarian-Pedagogical State University (AmHPSU)]; 4 ♂, Primorsky Krai, 30 km N from Terney, Sichote-Alin reserve, 4.VIII.1982, leg. V. Mutin, [3 ♂ IBSS; ♂ AmHPSU]; ♂, Amurskaya Oblast, Malyi Khingan, Kundur, 19.VII.1988, leg. V. Makarkin, [ IBSS]; ♂, Khabarovsky Krai, lower reaches of Gorin river, Tikhaya anabranch, 18.VI.1988, leg. V. Mutin, [AmHPSU], 4 ♂; Khabarovsky Krai, Pivan village, 19.–20.VI.1993, leg. V. Mutin, [AmHPSU]; ♂, same data except 20.VI.1992, [AmHPSU]; ♂, Bolshekhekhzyrsky reserve, environs of Bychikha village, 22.VI.1982, leg. V. Mutin, [AmHPSU]; ♂, Komsomolsk-na- Amure, Silinsky park, 31.VII.1996, leg. V. Mutin, [AmHPSU]; ♂, 25 km SW from Komsomolsk-na-Amure, environs of Molodezhny, 17.VII.1993, leg. V. Mutin, [AmHPSU]; JAPAN: 7♂, Hokkaido, Tomakomai C., Misawa, 21.VII.2006, leg. K. Ichige, [Katsuyoshi Ichige personal collection, ( KIPC)]; ♂, Akita Pref., Ohmagari, 7.VI.1953, leg. N. Fukuhara, [National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan ( NIAES)]; ♂, Tochigi Pref., Nikko, 9.VIII.1953, leg. I. Hattori, [ NIAES]; 2♂, Ibaraki Pref., Mt. Yamizo, 29.V.2007, leg. K. Ichige; 4♂, Ibaraki Pref., Gozen-yama, 2.V.2009, leg. K. Ichige, [ KIPC]; ♂, Tokyo, Mt. Takao, 17.X.1965, leg. J. Minamikawa, [ NIAES]; ♂, Gifu Pref., Takayama C., Hirayu, 3.VIII.2013, leg. K. Ichige, [ KIPC]; ♂, Tokushima Pref., Mt. Nakatsumine, 20.VIII.1954, leg. M. Hirai, [ NIAES]; ♂, Tsushima Is., Oboshiyama, 4.VIII.1974, leg. Y. Ikezaki, [ NIAES]; 2 ♂, Ryukyu Is., Amami- Shinokawa, 11.V.1953, leg. T. Shiraki, [ NIAES]; 2 ♂, Ryukyu Is., Amami-Oshima, Mt. Yuwan, 3.V.1953, leg. T. Shiraki, [ NIAES].

Etymology. The specific name is dedicated to Daniel William Coquillett (1856–1911), the famous American dipterist.

Distribution. Russia: south of Khabarovsky Krai, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, south of Amurskaya Oblast, Primorsky Krai, Sakhalin Oblast, Japan: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands.

Natural history. The larva is unknown. Feeding adults were observed on the inflorescences of Senecio cannabifolius ; frequently adults collect pollen from the leaves of flowering plants. Males are associated with freshly sawn tree trunks. It is a common species of Xylota in the urban territories of the Russian Far East.