Dentifibula ceylanica Felt, 1915

Gagné, Raymond J. & Bertone, Matthew A., 2022, Redescription of Dentifibula viburni (Felt) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) and review of the genus, Zootaxa 5175 (5), pp. 583-592 : 589

Dentifibula ceylanica Felt

Fig. 10.

Dentifibula ceylanica Felt 1915: 175 , holotype in NYSM; Gagné 1973a: 500, as new synonym of Dentifibula obtusilobae Felt. Removed here from synonymy.

This species is based on a single male reared from a Hemichionaspis (Diaspididae) found on twigs of Senna alata (L.) Roxb. (as Cassia alata ) ( Fabaceae ) in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. It was found in the Gardens at the same time as D. obtusilobae Felt. The specimen was mounted in Canada balsam without benefit of clearing so few details of the terminalia are visible (Fig. 10). Harris (1968) was forced to ignore this species in his revision of cecidomyiid coccoid predators as “inadequate for accurate description.” Gagné (1973a) could not separate D. ceylanica from D. obtusilobae with the microscopy then at his disposal and synonymized the two species. It is apparent now that they are distinct, so D. ceylanica is removed from synonymy. The terminalia of D. ceylanica (Fig. 10) show an apical sensory peg on the gonocoxite, a sinuous, large-toothed gonostylus that is narrowest near midlength, and a long, strongly curved, pointed aedeagus that attains the length of the gonocoxite. The aedeagus of D. hastata Fedotova & Sidorenko also has a long, strongly curved, apically pointed and probably longer aedeagus, but its much longer gonocoxite marks it as a distinct species. These are the only two Dentifibula species with such a strongly curved aedeagus. It should be possible to find it on its host in its type locality again. It should also be possible to find in the same place also Androdiplosis coccidivora Felt (1915) . This species, known from a single female whose diaspidid host was not positively identified, might be that of D. ceylanica . Harris (1968) found that A. coccidivora resembled a Lestodiplosis (and accordingly Dentifibula ) except that its flagellomeres each had two nodes, as he illustrated in detail. The holotype and only known specimen of A. coccidivora was unfortunately lost in transit after Harris’s examination.