Suragina disciclara ( Speiser, 1914 )

Muller, Burgert S., Swart, Vaughn R. & Snyman, Louwrens P., 2024, Revision of Afrotropical Suragina Walker, 1859 (Diptera, Athericidae), African Invertebrates 65 (2), pp. 247-327 : 247-327

Suragina disciclara ( Speiser, 1914)

Atherix disciclara Speiser, 1914: 3.

Suragina disciclara : Stuckenberg 1980: 313.

Type material.

Not examined (see remarks), no additional material available.

Remarks.

The type of S. disciclara ( Speiser, 1914) was held in the collection of Paul Speiser and was subsequently destroyed in 1945 during the World War II bombing of Dresden, Germany by Allied forces ( Evenhuis 2024). The only associated data with it is that it was female and collected on 25 February 1913 from Tiko near Viktoria [now Limbe] in Cameroon.

The characters mentioned in the original description, especially that of the frons having a “ sammetschwarz ” velvety-black upper half and the lower half “ glänzend ” interpreted as shiny or silvery, in combination with the general Suragina - like combination of characteristics leaves no doubt that the species belongs in the genus. However, the original description in German is not sufficient to distinguish the species from other Afrotropical species based on the text alone and subsequently the species is excluded from the identification key in this paper. Additional material will need to be collected from the type locality Tiko.