Mydaselpis ngurumani, Dikow, Torsten, 2010

Dikow, Torsten, 2010, New species and new records of Mydidae from the Afrotropical and Oriental regions (Insecta, Diptera, Asiloidea), ZooKeys 64, pp. 33-75 : 42-45

Mydaselpis ngurumani sp. n. Figs 10-12, 1933-344347

Etymology:

The specific epithet refers to the type locality of the Nguruman Escarpment in the Rift Valley Province, Kenya.

Diagnosis:

The species is distinguished from congeners by the parallel abdominal tergites 2-4 that do not form a vespiform waist, the reduced alula, the yellow and brown abdominal tergites in the male, the partly hyaline wings, features of the male terminalia, the presence of acanthophorite plates with spurs in the female ovipositor, and its apparent distribution in Kenya and Tanzania.

Description Male:

Head: brown, in general silver pruinose; width distinctly greater than thorax, interocular distance on vertex same as at ventral eye margin, vertex between compound eyes slightly depressed, parafacial area less than ½ the width of central facial gibbosity; facial gibbosity distinct, well-developed and discernible in lateral view; mystax white, covering only lateral facial gibbosity (asetose medially); frons medially apruinose, laterally grey pruinose, vertex apruinose, postgenae lightly silver pruinose; setation: vertex white, frons white, ocp setae white, pocl setae white; ocellar triangle apruinose; proboscis brown, long, reaching fronto-clypeal suture; labella large, much wider than prementum, as long as prementum, unsclerotised laterally; maxillary palpi cylindrical, brown, minute.

Antenna: brown, scape and pedicel white setose dorsally and ventrally; postpedicel cylindrical in proximal ½, symmetrically bulbous in distal ½, ≥ 8.0 times as long as combined length of scape and pedicel; apical ‚seta-like‘ sensory element situated apically in cavity on postpedicel.

Thorax: brown, predominantly apruinose; scutum medially dark brown, laterally brown, surface microrugose, predominantly apruinose, only lateral margins silver pruinose, scutal setation comprised of distinct rows of long dorsocentral setae and lateral scutal setae; dc setae pre- and postsuturally white, acr setae absent, lateral scutal setae white, npl, spal, and pal setae absent; postpronotal lobe light brown, silver pruinose; proepisternum, lateral postpronotum, and postpronotal lobes long white setose; scutellum silver pruinose proximally, apruinose distally, asetose, apical scutellar setae absent; mesopostnotum, anatergite, and katatergite silver pruinose, mesopostnotum asetose, anatergite asetose, katatergite long white setose; katatergite ± flat; anterior anepisternum asetose, supero-posterior anepisternum asetose; posterior anepimeron asetose, katepimeron asetose; metepimeron ± flat, yellow, silver pruinose, white setose; metepisternum silver pruinose, asetose.

Leg: light brown or yellow, setation predominantly brown; pro coxa apruinose, asetose, mes coxa apruinose, asetose, met coxa laterally silver pruinose; met trochanter setose medially; femora light brown or yellow, met femora evenly clubbed in distal ¾, in distal ½ macrosetose, 1 antero-ventral and 1 postero-ventral row of macrosetae; pro and mes tibiae laterally arched, met tibia straight, met tibia cylindrical, ventral keel absent; pro and mes tarsomere 1 about as long as individual tarsomeres 2, 3, or 4, met tarsomere 1 as long as combined length of tarsomeres 2-3; pulvilli well-developed, as long as well-developed claws, and as wide as base of claws; empodium absent.

Wing: length = 9.6-12.0 mm; slightly brown stained, darker brown around veins, veins brown, microtrichia absent; cells r1, r4, r5, m3, + cup closed; C terminates at junction with R1; R4 terminates in R1; R5 terminates in R1; stump vein ( R 3) at base of R 4 present, short not reaching R2; R4 and R5 widest apart medially; r-m distinct, R4+5 and M1 apart, connected by crossvein or indistinct, R4+5 and M1 fused; M1 straight at r-m (not curving anteriorly), M1 (or M 1+ M 2) terminates in R1; CuA1 and CuA2 split proximally to m-cu (cell m3 narrow proximally); M3+CuA1 do not terminate together in C; A1 undulating, cell a1 wide, A1 and wing margin further apart proximally than distally, alula entirely reduced (nearly straight wing margin); halter brown.

Abdomen: brown and yellow; setation comprised of scattered brown setae, surface entirely smooth; T1 brown, T2-7 brown with yellow anterior and posterior margins; T1 brown setose, T2 anterior ½ asetose and posterior ½ brown setose, T3 anterior ¼ asetose and posterior ¾ brown setose; T predominantly apruinose; S1 brown, S2-7 brown with yellow anterior and posterior margins; S1 asetose, S2-3 anterior ½ asetose and posterior ½ brown setose; S predominantly apruinose; T2-4 parallel-sided and not constricted waist-like; bullae on T2 brown, transversely elongate, surface entirely smooth, T2 surface anterior to bullae smooth.

Male terminalia: T1-7 well-developed, entirely sclerotised, T8 medially weakly sclerotised, divided into 2 lateral heavily sclerotised sclerites; T7-8 anteriorly with 2 lateral apodemes; S6 regular, without any special setation postero-medially, S8 well-developed and simple, not fused to T8 dorso-laterally, entire (undivided) ventro-medially; epandrium formed by single sclerite (fused medially ± entirely), blunt, evenly rounded; subepandrial sclerite without lateral or median protuberances; hypandrium strongly concave, cup-shaped, entirely sclerotised ventrally (forming a single sclerite), entirely fused with gonocoxite, forming a gonocoxite-hypandrial complex; gonocoxites dorso-ventrally flattened (same height throughout, expanded laterally and medially), without median or lateral protuberance, gonocoxal apodeme absent; 2 functional aedeagal prongs, short and wide, medio-distally free, parallel or diverging laterally, distally straight or only diverging slightly laterally; aedeagal epimere absent; lateral ejaculatory processes absent; ejaculatory apodeme formed by single dorso-ventrally oriented plate; ventro-median margin of dorsal aedeagal sheath heavily sclerotised (appearing entirely closed); dorsal aedeagal sheath long, sperm sac entirely covered; sperm sac appearing ± heavily sclerotised.

Description Female:

Head: in general densely white pruinose; vertex between compound eyes ± horizontally straight, medially only slightly below dorsal eye margin; postgenae apruinose; pocl setae yellow.

Antenna: scape and pedicel brown setose dorsally and ventrally; postpedicel ≥ 9.0 times as long as combined length of scape and pedicel.

Thorax: scutum uniformly brown, surface entirely smooth, scutal setation comprised of scattered short white setae; proepisternum, lateral postpronotum, and postpronotal lobes short white setose; scutellum apruinose, asetose; metepimeron same colour as T1.

Leg: all coxae apruinose, brown setose; femora light brown; all tibiae laterally arched, pro and mes tarsomere 1 as long as combined length of tarsomeres 2-3.

Wing: length = 12.5-12.7 mm; r-m distinct, R4+5 and M1 apart, connected by crossvein.

Abdomen: brown; T1 entirely brown, T2 brown with anterior and posterior margins yellow, T3-4 brown with posterior margin yellow; T1-3 sparsely brown setose; S1 brown, S2 brown with anterior and posterior margins yellow, S3-4 brown with posterior margin yellow; S1 asetose, S2-3 sparsely brown setose; T2 surface anterior to bullae smooth.

Female genitalia: densely arranged anteriorly directed setae absent, only very few on T8 and S8; T8 with broad anterior rectangular apodeme; T9 formed by wide, rectangular sclerite with median protuberance; T9+10 entirely fused, T10 divided into 2 heavily sclerotised acanthophorite plates, 10 acanthophorite spurs per plate; 2 spermathecae, all equally large, not differentiated from spermathecal ducts, weakly sclerotised; individual spermathecal ducts short; S9 (furca) formed by 1 sclerite, ring-like (joined anteriorly and posteriorly), anterior furcal apodeme present, 2 lateral projections forming divided apodeme, lateral furcal apodeme present, median furcal bridge absent.

Material examined:

Kenya: Coast Province: 1 ♂ Watamu Mida Creek , 03°22'00"S; 039°57'00"E, 24.i.1987, A. Weaving ( AAM-000142 paratype, AMGS) ; Rift Valley Province: 2 ♀ 2 ♂ Nguruma , 01°50'00"S; 036°56'00"E, -. vi.1990, I. Abu-Zinid ( AAM-000149-AAM-000152 paratypes, NMSA) ; 3 ♂ Nguruman , 01°54'00"S; 036°02'00"E, 20.vi.1996, R. Copeland ( AAM-000146 1 ♂ holotype, AAM-000143 + AAM-000145 paratypes, NMKE) ; 1 ♂ Nguruman, 2.vii.1996, R. Copeland ( AAM-000144 paratype, NMKE); Tanzania: Kilimanjaro Region: 2 ♂ Same, 18 km S , 04°13'00"S; 037°46'00"E, 15.vii.2001, O. Haji W. Pulawski ( AAM-000147-AAM-000148 paratypes, CAS) .

Type locality and distribution:

Nguruman (01°54' S 036°02' E), Kenya. Kenya, Tanzania (Fig. 47). Biodiversity hotspot/high-biodiversity wilderness area: Coastal Forest of Eastern Africa and Eastern Afromontane/-.