Aneomochtherus deserticolus (Karsch, 1888)

Londt, Jason G. H., 2002, Afrotropical Asilinae (Asilidae): A provisional key to genera, with a review of the status of Neomochtherus Osten Sacken, 1878, and descriptions of new genera and species, African Invertebrates 43, pp. 11-92 : 42-43

Aneomochtherus deserticolus (Karsch, 1888)

Mochtherus deserticolus Karsch, 1888: 376 .

Heligmoneura deserticola ; Kertész, 1909: 286, Ricardo, 1919: 76.

Neomochtherus deserticola ; Hull, 1962: 591.

Aneomochtherus deserticola ; Lehr, 1996: 78.

Type material: Karsh (1887) studied a single ơ from ‘ Bondai’. Ricardo (1919) says the species is from East Africa and Oldroyd (1980) gives the country as Kenya. I cannot find a place by this name in Kenya, but found two in Tanzania – i.e. at 5·25S 38·83E (Tanga / Pangani district ) and 4·74S 38·49E ( Lushoto district ) (co-ordinates given in decimal degrees). Both appear to be in Tanga Province (near the Usambara Mountains ), and so I suggest that the country of origin is Tanzania. The name deserticolus presumably refers to the nature of the environment in which the specimen was collected (which may be relatively arid, but probably not a desert) .

Type locality: Tanzania, Bondei .

Comments: Karsch’s (1887) description, in German, is short and the following translation is provided:

27. Mochtherus deserticolus nov. spec. – Bondei: 1 ơ.

Grey pruinose, quite bare; face narrow, whitish pruinescence and haired with few very long black bristles in 2 rows along the middle; proboscis very pointed; legs honeyyellow, femora black striped, tibia black on the distal halves, tarsi black; wing transparent, hind margins grey stained; the small crossvein lies moderately off the middle of the discoidal cell. Body length 12 mm.

Ricardo (1919: 76), without seeing the type material, appears to be expressing doubt that the species had been properly assigned to the genus (i.e. Heligmonevra ) when she states ‘the face with two rows of very black bristles down the middle, a characteristic not very probable in a species of this genus’. The darkly marked legs do, however suggest that the species may be close to both africanus and monobia (species also found in Tanzania), and so for the present, and until the type material can be found and studied more fully, deserticolus is left where Lehr (1996) placed it, in Aneomochtherus . There is a possibility that either africanus or monobia will eventually be found to be a synonym of deserticolus ; new material from the type locality is required to confirm the status of the species.