Mallophora gauteovan, Yepes & Forero, 2021

Yepes, Sol & Forero, Dimitri, 2021, Two new species of the bee-mimicking genus Mallophora (Diptera, Asilidae) from Colombia, Zootaxa 4926 (3), pp. 431-440 : 433

Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 A–D)

Type material. Holotype male: COLOMBIA. Magdalena. Santa Marta, P [arque].N[atural].N[acional]. Tayrona , 11°17’19.5”N, 74°09’05.1”W, 5 m, Kungler C. / IAvH-E 173125 / [red label] Holotype Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov. Det. S.Yepes & D.Forero 2020 [ IAVH] .

Diagnosis. Foreleg reddish; tibia ventrally with yellow setae, posterodorsally all the with black macrosetae and yellow setae. Hind femur with thin, long, pale setae, and some scattered thick, long, black setae. Hind tibia dorsobasally with dense, white setae, remainder of dorsal surface with dense, brown setae combined with a few yellow ones, and scattered black macrosetae; ventrally on basal third with short, brown setae, on apical two thirds with long white thick setae. Hind tarsus ventrally with long white setae and a few black macrosetae. Abdominal tergite I without setae, II to X with yellow setae.

Description. Male (holotype). Total body length 22 mm; wing length 25 mm.

Head: light-brown. Scape light-brown basally darkening apically; remaining antennal segments missing. Ocellar triangle yellow. Gena with yellow setae; facial gibbosity developed on ventral half, face with a non pubescent rounded area between the antennae and the proboscis exposing brown cuticle, face with yellow macrosetae mixed with black macrosetae ( Fig. 1C ). Visible maxillary palpus yellow. Proboscis black. Thorax: reddish-brown. Postpronotum in dorsal view with yellow and black setae, macrosetae at margins with apex darker than base; mesonotum laterally with four brown areas, and one large medial elongate brown area, with black short setae and black macrosetae, both on the lateral margin; scutellum with long orange setae and some black macrosetae ( Fig. 1A ); katatergite with long orange setae, tegula with black macrosetae ( Fig. 1B ). Foreleg reddish; coxa with long, light yellow setas; femur with black setae and some black macrosetae on entire surface; tibia with black setae dorsally mixed with black and yellow setae apically, ventrally with a row of yellow setae; tarsi with dense thick black setae. Midleg reddish, both femur and tibia with black macrosetae mixed with black macrosetae. Hind leg reddish; tibia longer than femur, coxa with long, light yellow setae; femur ventrally with yellow and black setae, dorsally with some short yellow setae sparsely distributed; tibia with short yellow setae dorsobasally, remainder of dorsal surface with dense, brown setae combined with a few white ones, and scattered black macrosetae, setae increasing in size towards apex; ventrally with brown setae on basal third, apical two thirds with white setae. First tarsal segment only with black setae anteriorly, second to fifth tarsomeres with white setae and setae. Wing coloration opaque brown; C vein with short black setae, presence of setae beyond humeral crossvein ( Fig. 1D ). Abdomen: black. T1 without dorsal setae, T2–8 yellow setose dorsally and ventrally ( Fig 1A ); ventrally with yellow setae, homogeneously distributed ( Fig. 1B ). Epandria short and black, with yellow setae.

Female: Unknown

Etymology. This new species takes the name “gauteovan” after the Tayrona goddess as a tribute to the place from which the holotype was collected. In the Tayrona culture this goddess is considered the mother of all things. The name is treated as a noun in apposition.

Distribution. This new species is only known so far from the Tayrona National Park in the Caribbean region in Colombia at sea level ( Fig 3 ).

Remarks. Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov. differs from other species of Mallophora by the brown body color and the color pattern of the ventral setae of the hind tibia, in which there are brown setae on the basal third, whereas the apical two thirds have white setae; dorsally the setae are brown, except for a small area of white setae, increasing in size towards apex. Following the key of Artigas & Angulo (1980), this species might be confused with M. thompsoni Artigas & Angulo, 1980 because of the setae on the hind tibia increase in length toward the apical third, and by the white setae on the hind femur. Nonetheless, M. thompsoni has a black body, hyaline wings and epandrium with white setae, whereas M. gauteovan sp. nov. has a reddish-brown body, the wings are opaque brown, and the epandria has yellow setae, same as the abdomen. More importantly, it seems from the description of M. thompsoni , that the color pattern of the hind tibia is different, because in this species the basal has white setae, whereas in M. gauteovan sp. nov. only the apical two thirds ventrally are white.

Although the description is based on a single specimen, we argue that it represents a new species based on the particular color pattern of the setae on the hind legs, especially on the hind tibia. Previous evidence ( Artigas & Angulo, 1980, Kohler et al., 2013) and careful examination of additional species of Mallophora (S. Yepes unpubl. obs.), enable us to confirm that males of every species have a particular color pattern and chaetotaxy on the hind legs. Therefore, having a single male allows us to hypothesize that this specimen belongs to a new species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov. A) Habitus, dorsal view; B) habitus, lateral view; C) face, anterior view; D) wing. Total body length 22 mm.

FIGURE 3. Map of northern South America with distribution of Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov. and Mallophora kalos sp. nov. in Colombia.