Sphegina (Asiosphegina) asciiformis Brunetti, 1915

Steenis, Jeroen Van, Hippa, Heikki & Mutin, Valeri A., 2018, Revision of the Oriental species of the genus Sphegina Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 489, pp. 1-198 : 38

Sphegina (Asiosphegina) asciiformis Brunetti, 1915

Sphegina asciiformis Brunetti, 1915: 223 . Type locality: Darjiling, India (holotype, ♀, NZSI).

Differential diagnosis

See under the Remarks below.

Material examined

Holotype

INDIA • ♀; “Ind. Mus. / Darjiling / alt. 7000 ft. / 29–V–[19]10 / Brunetti ”; “ TYPE ”; “ Sphegina / asciiformis / Brun Type ♀ / det Brun. 1923”; “9758 / 112”; “ Sphegina asciiformis Brun ” [handwritten]; “ Zoological Survey of India / [barcode] / ZSI0000004488 ”; photos of the specimen in lateral and dorsal view studied; the specimen is in bad condition: antennae, left wing, protarsi, meso- and metalegs missing; ZSI.

Description (see also Brunetti 1915, 1923)

Female

LENGTH. Body 4 mm, wing 4 mm.

HEAD. Face in lateral view concave, weakly projected antero-ventrally; frontal prominence weakly developed. Face black, light grey pollinose. Hypostomal bridge black. Gena black, mouth edge redbrown with large triangular non-pollinose shiny area. Frons and vertex black, predominantly grey pollinose, a rather wide semi-circular area posterior of lunula non-pollinose and shiny. Occiput black, light grey pollinose. Antenna brown to black; arista long.

THORAX. Colour dark brown to black, weakly greyish pollinose, with denser grey pollinose vitta submedially; pleuron with greyish pollinosity and white pile. Scutellum semi-circular, black, shiny.

WING. Entirely hyaline, stigma yellowish. Crossvein dm-cu meeting vein M obliquely and vein M

1

meeting vein R

4+5

perpendicularly.

LEGS. Pro- and mesoleg yellow. Metafemur black and yellow biannulate, incrassate; metatibia black and yellow biannulate; metatarsus entirely black, basitarsomere thick.

ABDOMEN. Terga black; pile very short and white; tergum II strongly constricted anteriorly and relatively short, about twice as long as tergum I and about 1.5 times as long as each of terga III and IV.

Male

Unknown.

Remarks

Only the holotype female of Sphegina (Asiosphegina) asciiformis from Darjeeling, India, is known. By the hyaline wing, oblique vein dm-cu and the short tergum II this species recalls Sphegina (Asiosphegina) apicalis , S. (A.) farinosa sp. nov. and S. (A.) nubicola sp. nov., but differs by the entirely yellow pro- and mesolegs (in all others at least tarsomeres 4 and 5 of pro- and mesotarsus black) and by the entirely black abdomen.