Phthiria notiosa Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat, 2021

Moghbeli, Sajjad, Gharali, Babak & Fekrat, Lida, 2021, Phthiria notiosa sp. nov., a new bombyliid species of the tribe Phthiriini (Diptera Bombyliidae, Phthiriinae) from Kerman province in the south of Iran, Zootaxa 4990 (2), pp. 378-386 : 379-385

Phthiria notiosa Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–4 )

Type material. Holotype (male), 1 female & 1 male paratypes (dried by HMDS) and 20 female & 10 male paratypes (in alcohol), Kerman, Hanza, Bondare-Hanza N 57°12’ 39”, E 19°19’ 29”, 2767 m a.s.l., white pan traps, leg. Sajjad Mogbeli, 10.vi.2009 ( IRIPP); 10 female and 10 male paratypes, same data as holotype ( ZMHB), 74 female and 22 male paratypes, same data as holotype ( BG).

Diagnosis. Phthiria notiosa sp. nov. is morphologically similar to Ph. vagans Loew, 1846 , but in the female, it is easily distinguished by the black scutellum (yellow with a small black mark in Ph. vagans ) and in the male, Phthiria notiosa sp. nov. is easily distinguished from the other species of Phthiria belonging to the group with short prong of first flagellomere (see Gharali & Evenhuis, 2017 for grouping) by having two longitudinal dusted stripes from the anterior to the posterior margin of mesonotum.

Description. Holotype male. Body length: 4 mm, wing length: 5 mm.

Head ( Fig. 1b, c ) completely black; frons black, gray dusted, with long white hairs; parafacials completely black, with long white hairs; mentum gray dusted, with sparse long white hairs; ocellar tubercle prominent black, with a few white hairs; eyes in contact for about 2.0 times length of frons, contact sector of eyes medially depressed, facets of upper half of eyes enlarged; antennae ( Fig. 1c ) completely black, scape quadrate, wider than long, pedicel round, first flagellomere long, about 5 times greatest width, dorsal prong about 1.5 times length of transparent style; palpi black, proboscis black, long, 2.5 times head length. Thorax ( Fig. 1d, e ). Mesonotum black with two dusted longitudinal stripes from anterior margin to posterior margin of mesonotum, with sparse long white hairs marginally, length of hairs about equal to combined length of two basal antennal segments; scutellum black, gray dusted with long dense white hairs marginally; pleura completely black, gray dusted, anepisternum and katepisternum with long white hairs, laterotergite with few white hairs, halter stem and knob white. Wing. Hyaline, uniformly microtrichose; veins blackish brown; costa reaches vein CuA1+A1; R 4+5 originates before level of m-m crossvein; crossvein r-m beyond middle of discal cell; anal cell closed before wing margin, stalked; anal lobe broad. Leg ( Fig. 1a ). Black; coxae and femur basally with long white hairs; tibia with a few black bristles; tarsal segments ventrolaterally with dense black bristles; empodium white, as long as claw. Abdomen ( Fig. 1a ). Tergites and sternites black with sclerotized black spots, sternites with long white hairs, tergites laterally dusted triangularly.

Terminalia. Hypopygium black; epandrium triangular in dorsal view, with small invagination apically ( Fig. 2c ); gonocoxites ovoid, fused medially narrowly, apicomesal process as long as gonostylus, with small bristles; gonostylus oval, apically curved, pointed ( Figs. 2b, c ); basal aedeagal process narrow in dorsal view with two lateral rami basally, lateral aedeagal apodemes narrow ( Fig. 2a ); aedeagus apically curved ( Fig. 2d ).

Female. Head. ( Figs. 3a, b, f ) Occiput black with eye margins yellow; frons black medially, almost yellow laterally, ocellar triangle black; ocelli an equilateral triangle; oral margin black narrowly, with short scattered white hairs; antennae completely black, scape slightly longer than wide; pedicel quadrate; first antennal flagellomere long, with short dorsal prong; style transparent, shorter than antennal prong; insertion of antennae yellow above; mentum black medially; palpi black, with a few short white hairs; proboscis long, 2.5 times head length, black.

Thorax ( Fig. 3c, b ). Mesonotum glossy black, bare, with two grey dusted stripes extended from anterior margin to posterior margin of mesonotum, laterally yellow, postpronotum white, scutellum black, bare; pleura black except following: anteroventral corner of anepisternum, upper margin of katepisternum and meron; lower margin of anepimeron and laterotergite; halter stem and knob white. Leg. Coxae black with scattered white hairs, femora black, tibiae black with small black bristles, tarsi black, empodium yellow, as long as claw. Wing ( Fig. 4a ). Hyaline, uniformly microtrichose; veins blackish brown; costa reaches vein CuA1+A1; R 4+5 originates before level of m-m crossvein; crossvein r-m beyond middle of discal cell; anal cell closed, stalked; anal lobe wide. Abdomen ( Fig. 3e ). Tergites glossy black with posterior margins yellow; sternites black, bare. Terminalia ( Figs. 4b–c ). Furca consisting of two parallel bars; common spermathecal duct short, membranous; basal ducts membranous; sperm pump narrower than apical ducts, striated, with apical valve absent, apical ducts sclerotized, curved; basal sac membranous, round, spermathecal reservoir well sclerotized, cone-shaped, slightly curved, about 3 times capsule length.

Distribution. This species is currently known only from Bondar-Hanza village belonging to Hanza city. This city is in a small part of Kerman province in the south of Iran. Specimens were collected by using white pan traps scattered in a mountainous area ( Fig. 5 ) dominated mostly by plant in Asteraceae ( Artemisia sieberi Besser , Hertia intermedia Kuntz , and Astragalus fasciculifolius Boiss ) and Apiaceae ( Ferulago angulate (Schlecht) , and Ferula oopoda (Boiss. et Buhse) .

Etymology. The name of new species, Phthiria notiosa Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov. is derived from the Greek “νότιος” meaning “southern” referring to the distribution of the new species being confined to the southern parts of Iran.

Taxonomic remarks. Engel (1933) was the first who presented a key to almost all known species of the genus Phthiria in the Palaearctic Region. Using Engel’s key, the male specimens of the new species run to Ph. vagans ssp. pallescens , but Phthiria notiosa Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov. is distinguished by two longitudinal dust stripes (absent in Ph. vagans ssp. pallescens ) and the color of halter knob, which is completely yellow (with a brown spot dorsally in Ph. vagans ssp. pallescens ). The female specimens of Phthiria notiosa Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov. run to couplet 23 where Ph. incisa and Ph. vagans are separated from each other based on the color of scutellum. This new species is also separated from both those species by the color of scutellum, being completely black in the new species, as opposed to the brown with a central yellow spot ( Ph. incisa ) and almost completely yellow ( Ph. vagans ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Phthiria notiosa sp. nov,, male; a) holotype habit; b) head, lateral view; c) antenna, lateral view; d) pleura; e) mesonotum, dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. Male terminalia of Phthiria notiosa sp. nov,, a) gonocoxites, dorsal view; b) gonocoxites, ventral view; c) epandrium, dorsal view; d) phallic complex, dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. Phthiria notiosa sp. nov,, female. a) head, lateral view; b) head, dorsal view; c) pleura; d) mesonotum, dorsal view; e) abdomen, dorsolateral view; f) antenna, lateral view.

FIGURE 4. Wing and female terminalia. a) wing; b) female terminalia; c) female terminalia in closer view.

FIGURE 5. Habitat of Phthiria notiosa sp. nov, Hanza village (Kerman province, the south of Iran).