Atomosia yurabia, Scarbrough & Perez-Gelabert, 2006

Scarbrough, Aubrey G. & Perez-Gelabert, Daniel E., 2006, A review of the asilid (Diptera) fauna from Hispaniola with six genera new to the island, fifteen new species, and checklist, Zootaxa 1381, pp. 1-91 : 33-35

Atomosia yurabia sp. nov.

( Table 1, Figs. 23–27)

Male. Black, yellowish setose dorsally, anepisternum partly atomentose. Measurements, 5.0–6.0 mm; wing 3.8–4.4 mm. Head: Face and frons white tomentose including ocellar tubercle laterally, white setose, sometimes slightly yellowish. Palpus and proboscis black, white setose. Antenna black setose, basal 1/2 of scape ventrally white setose; pedicel 2/3 as long as scape; flagellum ( Fig. 23) 1.5 times as long as scape and pedicel combined, excised notch at apical 1/3, sensory pad white, small, 1/3 or 1/4 as long as flagellum. Ocellar tubercle with 2 whitish or yellowish setae. Occiput thin, yellowish tomentose with yellowish or whitish setae dorsally, dense white tomentose along eye margin and ventrally with mostly white setae; postocular bristles whitish or yellowish.

Thorax: Black, mostly white tomentose, including narrow anterior and lateral margins of scutum, pleural setae and pronotal bristles and setae usually white. Scutum and scutellum dorsally atomentose, with minute puntuations and short, decumbent, yellow, sometimes whitish, setae, latter about as long as pedicel and evenly distributed, none especially dense; dorsocentral setae and lateral scutal, 2 scutellar, anatergal, and anepisternal bristles, yellow or yellowish, latter about as long as anepisternum; dorsocentral setae about as long as scape; scutellar margin with 2 setae, 1/2 or 2/3 as long as pristles. Anepisternum partly shining black medially. Halter creamy yellow, base dull blackish.

Wing: Hyaline, iridescent, brownish microtrichose; veins yellowish basally, darker apically, brownish-yellow or brown. Cells r 5 and m 1 open, slightly narrowed apically, former diameter at wing margin equal to or slighter greater than r-m length. Vein r-m just before or at middle of cell d. Apex of m 3 just before or beyond base of m 1.

Legs: Yellowish setae and bristles. Coxae black, white tomentose with whitish setae. Trochanters brownish-yellow or yellow, apex of hind trochanter usually blackish at least in part. Femora mostly yellow, apical 1/3 or 1/2 dorsally blackish; hind femur with wide blackish band extending from just beyond middle to narrow yellow apex. Fore and middle tibiae with apices brown or blackish, yellow anteriorly, brownish-yellow posteriorly; hind tibia mostly blackish, at least with basal 1/2 anteriorly and basal 1/3 posteriorly yellow. Tarsi mostly blackish, bristles mostly blackish, at least 2 or more pale yellowish; basal tarsomere of fore and middle tarsi yellow basally, that of hind tarsus narrowly reddish; setae yellowish dorsally except 3 long black setae on all apical tarsomeres and entire hind tarsus dorsally.

Abdomen: Sides parallel, base subequal in width to thorax, 1.5 times as long as scutum and scutellum combined; densely punctate dorsally with short decumbent whitish setae, longer setae laterally; narrow apical margin of tergites 1–5 white tomentose; tergites 1–3 or 4, with whitish bristles laterally. Sternites brownish, thinly whitish tomentose, white setose.

Terminalia ( Figs. 24–27). Gonocoxa narrow, longer than wide, apex pointed in lateral view. Aedeagus with declinate trifid distiphallus, lateral apodemes sheet-like; ejaculatory apodeme long and narrow. Hypandrium wider than long, triangular.

Female. Measurements, body 5.3–6.3 mm; wings 4.9–5.3 mm. Thoracic and abdominal dorsa entirely golden yellow setose.

Specimens examined. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: RD-233 Few km E Valle- / juelo, San Juan prov. , 704 m, / 18 o 40.122'N 71 o 18.446'W, / 21.iv.2004, D.Perez, B. / Hierro, R.Bastardo (d) (holotype ♂, USNM) . Paratypes, same data as holotype (4 ♂, 7 ♀, USNM, MHND) ; Pedernales prov., 0.7 km N. / Cruce Aguas Negras - Mencia / 18 o 06.956'N 71 o 43.388'W, 326 m / 17.viii.2006, D.Perez, R.Bastardo (1 ♀, USNM) .

Distribution. Only known from the type locality, at 704 m in San Juan and Pedernales provinces.

Etymology. From the Taino language, yurabia for small place, alluding to the fact that the type series was captured at one location on the same day.

Remarks. Atomosia yurabia runs to A. rica ( Curran, 1935) but is distinguished by its smaller body (5.0– 6.3 mm), swollen, wider, pedicel, which is about 2/3 as long as the scape, yellow scutal bristles, largely yellow femora, largely yellow setae on fore and middle tarsi, and combined characters of the flagellum and male terminalia ( Figs. 23–27). Atomosia rica is a larger (6.5–8.0 mm) species with at least black notopleural bristles, and largely blackish femora with only the basal 1/4 or 1/3 of the femora yellow. The apex of the gonocoxa is wider and rounded in lateral view, and the ejaculatory apodeme is significantly wider on the apical 1/2. Contrastingly, the dorsum of the thorax and abdomen is whitish setose in the male (yellow in the female), apex of the gonocoxa is narrower, more pointed in lateral view and the ejaculatory apodeme is significantly narrower on the apical 1/2.