Afroestricus eminentis, Scarbrough Table Of Contents, 2005

Scarbrough Table Of Contents, Aubrey G., 2005, Afroestricus, a new Afrotropical Ommatine (Diptera: Asilidae) genus with twenty species and two species groups, Zootaxa 1041 (1), pp. 1-76 : 20-22

Afroestricus eminentis , sp. n.

Figs. 25–34 , 193

Male. Dark brown to black. Body 8.0 mm; wing 5.7 mm. Head: Face gray tomentose, mostly white to yellowish vestiture with six to eight black bristles; FHWR 1.0:5.2. Antenna brown; flagellum as long as scape; FWLR 1.0:2.1. Frons gray to yellowish­gray tomentose, setae as long as scape. Vertex brownish tomentose. Occiput grayish tomentose with mostly whitish vestiture; five to seven brown, proclinate, postocular bristles present, longest dorsal bristle 1/2 distance toward ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Pronotum gray tomentose dorsally, slightly brownish­gray dorsally, setae white, bristles black. Mesonotum mostly yellowish­brown tomentose dorsally with two slightly darker brown narrow stripes and lateral spots, narrow sides and posterior yellowish­gray to yellow; vestiture dark brown to blackish, anterior setae about as long as scape; three long, stout dorsocentral bristles present, at or just behind transverse suture, thinner and shorter setae present anteriorly, about 1/2 as long as bristles. Scutellum and pleuron yellowish­gray tomentose, setae whitish; anepimeral and two katatergal bristles black. Halter yellow.

Wing: As Fig. 3b . Base of vein m 1 slightly curved anteriorly WR 1.0:2.2:1.9– 1.0:2.3:2.1.

Leg: Coxae and trochanters black, former grayish tomentose with whitish vestiture.

Legs yellow with mostly black vestiture, narrow apices of femora and tibiae brownish. Middle femur with stout preapical bristle. Hind femur basally often with one to two yellowbristles; HFWLR 1.0:4.5. Fore and middle tibiae with one to three yellow bristles. Tarsi with basal tarsomeres mostly yellow, narrow apices brown; remaining tarsomeres mostly brown, bases yellow; bristles black except for one to two yellow bristles on fore and middle tarsi.

Abdomen: Mostly reddish­brown, black basally; most terga brown to brownish­red tomentose with balck setae, wide sides and narrow apices gray, tergum 1 and all sterna gray with white setae.

Terminalia ( Figs. 25–30 ): Brownish­red, darker brown to blackish basally. Epandrium narrowly notched dorsoapically; black setose apically, sparse, thick setae dorsoapically, abundant, thinner setae ventroapically. Gonostylus distinctive. Distiphallus slightly sigmoid apically, flange ventrally; ejaculatory apodeme unusually thick. Epiphallus raised apically, notched. Gonocoxite short, well posterior of apical margin of epandrium, apically sinuate in lateral view, triangular process dorsally, spurlike process ventrally. Hypandrium truncate apically.

Female. Differs as follows. Body 10.0 mm; wing 7.0 mm; FHWR 1.0:4.0; FWLR 1.0:2.6; cell m 1 WR 1.0:2.1.0:2.1; HFWLR 1.0:5.1. Head: Face yellowish­gray to yellow tomentose, mostly black dorsally. Thorax: Mesonotum laterally and posteriorly, Scutellum, and pleuron anteriorly yellow tomentose. Leg: Middle femur without preapical anteroventral bristle. Hind femur and tibiae with only black bristles. Abdomen: Unusually stout bristles absent. Tergum 8 with thin black bristles. Terminalia ( Figs. 31–34 ): Tergum 9 sclerotized, unusually narrow medially, straplike. Sternum 8 mostly blackish, yellowish apically. Spermatheca annulate, wider apically, narrow basally. Genital fork distinctive.

Type material. Holotype M, MALAWI: SE1435 AC, 35 km N. of Mangochi, 10 km N. Club Makokola, 10–11.iii.1987, sandy grassveld, J and A Londt [mounted with paratype female] ( NMSA) . Paratypes: MALAWI: 1 F, same data as holotype [mounted with holotype] ( NMSA) . MOZAMBIQUE: 1 M, 1 F, Bela Vista [=Belavista, 26º20’S 32º40’E], 30.iii.1980, H. R . Feijen, ( NMSA); 1 M, Lourenço Marques [= Maputo, 26º50’S 32º30’E], H. A. Junod, 5.ii.14 ( BMNH) .

Etymology. Latin eminentis for produced or prominent, referring to the spinelike gonocoxal process.

Distrbution. Known from three locations in Malawi and Mozambique; collected in February and March ( Tables 1, 2).

Remarks. Afroestricus eminentis is distinguished from congeners by the characters in the key and the terminalia ( Figs. 25–34 ). It differs further by the sparse, short, thin setae on the mesonotum, three long dorsocentral bristles behind the transverse suture, and the long black setae below the fore and middle femora. Afroestricus eminentis , A. minutus , A. persuasus , A. hamulus , and A. morani share annulated spermathecae. The spermatheca of A. minutus is short and carrot­shaped whereas it is much longer and recuved in A. eminentis . The male of A. eminentis also differs from A. persuasus in its thinner femora, dark fore coxa, and the narrow apex of cell r 4. It differs from A. hamulus and A. morani in the distinctive genital fork and gonostylus, and presence of a spinelike gonocoxal process.

Figures

FIGURES 25–34. Afroestricus eminentis, sp. n. Male terminalia: 25–27. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. 28. Gonostylus. 29–30. Aedeagus, dorsal and lateral views. Female terminalia: 31–32. Dorsal and ventral views. 33. Spermathecae. 34. Genital fork.

FIGURES 3–4. Character states of the wing and postocular bristles of the subgenus Afroestricus Scarbrough. 3a–b. Wing venation of the macroscelis and the minutus species groups. 4a–b. Short, erect and long, thin, postocular bristles bristles. Abbrevations: First radial cell=r1; fourth radial cell=r4; discal cell=d; radial­medial crossvein=r­m; first medial cell=m1; third medial cell=m3.