Physiphora virens, Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016

Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016, Revision of the Genus Physiphora Fallén 1810 (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Ulidiinae), Zootaxa 4087 (1), pp. 1-88 : 84

Physiphora virens sp. n.

Figures 395–404 .

Material. Type. Holotype ♂: Ethiopia: “ Abyssinia / Kovács” “Urso / 1911.III” (NHMW). Paratype: 1♂, “ Abyssinia / Kovács” “Vall. Dierrer / 1911.VI” dissected (NHMW).

Diagnosis. This species can be easily recognized from the combination of entirely brown or black fore basitarsomere, frons smooth, shining yellowish brown, with semicircular microtrichose parafrontal spots, face with entire transverse microtrichose crossband, and phallus glans with 6–7 spinose lobes of different size, but no large recursive basalmost lobe. Other species with black fore metatarsus, round parafrontal microtrichose spots and entire microtrichose crossband on face differ from it either by having matt frons ( P. kirki sp. n.) or by the finely rugulose, cyan subshining mesonotum and long setae on fore femur ( P. chalybea ), as well as different shape of the phallus preglans and glans.

Description: Head ( Figs. 396–397 ) yellow to brown, with black occiput. Frons 1.2–1.3 times as long as wide, yellowish brown, shining, with moderately large semicircular parafrontal microtichose spots and two pairs of calluses posterior to its middle and slightly concave, sparsely and finely setulose in anterior half. Vertical plates black, bearing 2 pairs of black orbital setae. Ocellar triangle black, with lateroclinate setae as long as orbital setae.

Face black, facial carina partly brown, smooth, with entire transverse microtrichose crossband fused with microtrichose antennal grooves. Lunule shining yellow to brown. Facial ridge, parafacial and gena shining orange or brown, gena 1/3 times as high as eye; parafacial and facial ridge with white microtrichose stripe each.

Occiput black, with brownish yellow area posterior of ocellar triangle and partly brown postgena; orbit between posterodorsal eye margin and row of postocular setae without microtrichose stripe. Medial vertical seta half as long as frons width, 1.3 times as long as lateral vertical and 3–3.5 times as long as ocellar and orbital, and 2.5 times longer than postocellar setae. Antenna yellowish brown, greyish microtrichose; flagellomere 1 rounded apically, 1.9 times as long as wide; arista bare, yellow in basal 1/4, remainder black. Clypeus black. Palp brown to black, gray microtrichose, with moderately long black setulae. Mouthparts black.

Thorax ( Figs. 395–396 ). Scutum and scutellum black, Mesonotum roughly shagreened, shining with strong golden to green and reddish sheen; antepronotum, postpronotal lobe, posterior surface of notopleural triangle, transverse suture, supra-alar and postalar parts of scutum, anterior half of anepisternum, most of katepisternum, and whole anepimeron shining with strong green or golden sheen reflection; posterodorsal parts of anepisternum and very narrowly on katepisternum slightly shagreened and conspicuously setulose; postscutellum black, gray microtrichose; postero-ventral margin of scutellum without microtrichose area; katatergite grey microtrichose. Mesonotal scutum with acrostichal, dorsocentral and intra-alar rows of whitish setulae; acrostichal seta lacking; dorsocentral setae hair-like; other setae moderately long, black: one postprononal, 2 postsutural supra-alar, one intra-alar and one postalar.

Scutellum finely shagreened, shining green to golden and cyan; with short and sparse whitish setulae on disk; 2 pairs of black scutellar setae.

Wing. Entirely hyaline, with yellow veins; cell r4+5 narrowly opened; apical section of M slightly arcuate ( Fig. 398 ). Postero-apical extension of cell cup as long as vein A1+CuA2, and 4 times as long as transverse section of vein CuA2. Calypters with white fringe. Length: 3.9–4.0 mm.

Legs. Black, including whole fore tarsus; mid- and hind tarsi yellow, with 2 apical tarsomeres brownish; all setae black; fore femur postero-ventrally with 4–6 moderately thickened, short setae in apical half.

Abdomen. Both tergites and sternites black, glossy, with blue, greenish, golden or reddish reflections; all setulae black; abdominal tergite 1 basally very sparsely brownish microtrichose.

Male postabdomen brown to black, epandrium as on Fig. 403 , cerci with short and wide nipple-like structures; hypandrium with symmetrical vanes of phallapodeme ( Fig. 404 ); phallus with stipe as long as preglans and glans combined ( Fig. 401 ); preglans lobate, without spines; glans ( Fig. 402 ) with 6–7 wide spine-like lobes (but without large recursive lobe) of the glans. Female unknown.

Distribution. Ethiopia.

Biology unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet means “green” in Latin and reflects the strong green sheen of its body.

Figures

FIGURES 395 – 400. Physiphora virens: 395, habitus, left and dorsal; 396, head and thorax, left; 397, head, anterior; 398, wing; 399, male abdomen; 400, label.

FIGURES 401 – 404. Physiphora virens: 401, ♂ phallus; 402, glans, enlarged; 403, epandrium, posterior; 404, hypandrium, ventral.