Ancylorhynchus elbaiensis Efflatoun, 1937

Londt, Jason G. H., 2011, A review of Afrotropical Ancylorhynchus Berthold, 1827 (Diptera: Asilidae: Stenopogoninae), African Invertebrates 52 (2), pp. 471-471 : 487-488

Ancylorhynchus elbaiensis Efflatoun, 1937

Figs 35 , 73, 74

Ancylorrhynchus elbaiensis: Efflatoun 1937: 274 (figs 212, 213 head, 214, 215 male terminalia, pl. 5 fig. 48 whole specimen); Hull 1960: 217.

Ancylorhynchus elbaiensis: Oldroyd 1980: 360 (catalogue); Lehr 1988: 233 (catalogue).

Efflatoun (1937) published an excellent description, stating ‘The only two specimens known of this species are males; they both originate from Gebel Elba (South Eastern Desert) where they had been captured by Mohammed Tewfik Effendi between 15.iii and 30.iv.1928 ’. He mentions a ‘type’ and a ‘cotype’ – I have seen photographs of both specimens and believe that one lacking a left wing must be considered the holotype judging from the description of its abdomen (e.g. T5 with anterior half black). The other specimen is therefore a paratype. Efflatoun goes on to say ‘not unlike crux’ and that it ‘differs from it by the relative lengths of the third antennal segment, the colour of the wings and by the colour and markings of the abdomen’. A. crux , now a synonym of cruciger , is a widespread, fairly variable species and until direct comparisons are possible I believe that it is the male terminalia (reasonably well illustrated by Efflatoun) that provide the most convincing evidence for the distinctiveness of elbaiensis .

Despite efforts to borrow the type specimens for study, this proved impossible. Fortunately, I made contact with Dr Haitham Badrawy Mosa, a lecturer of entomology at the Ain Shams University in Cairo, who kindly sent me a series of digital photographs of both type specimens now housed in the collection of the ESEC. These specimens appear to be in reasonable condition and indicate that Efflatoun’s fine colour plate (his fig. 48, the wing of which is reproduced here as Fig. 35 ) and his other illustrations (figs 212, 213, head, anterior and lateral views; figs 214, 215, male genitalia, dorsal and ventral views) are accurate depictions. Although it might be possible to redescribe the species using Badrawy’s photographs this is considered unnecessary as Efflatoun provided a well-prepared description.

Genitalia: Efflatoun (1937) published two informative illustrations of the male terminalia, i.e. his figs 214, 215 (reproduced here as Figs 73, 74 ). These clearly show a typical, although fairly short epand, not projecting far beyond proct. The hypd is particularly well developed, tapering rapidly to a large, triangular, mediodistal, setose lobe that projects beyond all other genital structures. This lobe has a ‘narrow apex divided into two minute pointed processes’. These characteristics clearly indicate that elbaiensis represents a species that is distinctive amongst the Aftotropical Ancylorhynchus fauna.

Holotype (not examined): ♂ EGYPT / SUDAN: ‘Gebel Elba [22°11'N: 36°22'E] / South Eastern Desert / 15.3 to end April 1928 ’, ‘Coll. Efflatoun / Egypte’, ‘Type’ [red], ‘ Ancylorrhynchus / elbaiensis Effl. / Det. Efflatoun’ (ESEC).

Paratype (not examined): ♂ with similar labels as holotype.

Distribution, phenology and biology: Known only from the type locality in Egypt / Sudan ( Table 1). Gebel Elba (= Mount Elba), is a 1435 m high mountain that is found in the Hala’ib Triangle, an area under the administration of Egypt. However, the Sudanese government disputes the boundary between the two countries and the mountain is located in the disputed area. The mountain is known to be a biodiversity hotspot, and although Elba is in a region that gets only c. 50 mm of rain annually, the mountain itself receives c. 400 mm due to orographic rainfall. Specimens were collected in March–April (Table 2). The biology is unknown.

Remarks: While Egypt is considered part of the Palaearctic Region, which means that elbaiensis should fall outside the scope of this review, the Sudan falls within the Afrotropical region, and so I believe it is appropriate to include this species in this review even though I have not been able to adequately study the types. Having studied a lot of material from the afrotropics I can state with some confidence that I have not seen any material that agrees well with the types of elbaiensis . This may indicate that this is truly a Palaearctic species and that its closest relatives are not to be found in the Afrotropics.

Similar species: A fairly distinctive member of the nomadus species-group.

Figures

Figs 31–40. Wings of Ancylorhynchus species: (31) A. cruciger (Loew, 1858), holotype; (32) A. cruciger, ♂ N. Vumba; (33) A. dilobion sp. n., ♂ paratype Paleisheuvel; (34) A. doryphorus sp. n., holotype; (35) A.elbaiensis Efflatoun,1937 (from Efflatoun,1937, pl.V, fig.48); (36) A. feijeni sp. n., paratype ♂ Soutpan; (37) A. fulvicollis (Bigot, 1879), ♂ Pietermaritzburg; (38) A. funebris Bromley, 1936, ♂ Lourenço Marques [= Maputo]; (39) A. gessi sp. n., holotype; (40) A. greatheadi sp. n., paratype ♂ Salamona. Not to scale, see text for measurements.

Figs 61–74. Terminalia of Ancylorhynchus species: (61–63) A. cruciger (Loew, 1858), ♂ (holotype splendens), lateral, dorsal, ventral; (64–66) A. cruciger, ♀ (Nelspruit), lateral, ventral, dorsal; (67–69) A. dilobion sp. n., ♂ (paratype Paleisheuwel), lateral, dorsal, ventral; (70–72) A. doryphorus sp. n., ♂, holotype, lateral, dorsal, ventral; (73–74) A. elbaiensis Efflatoun, 1937 (from Efflatoun 1937, figs 214, 215) dorsal, ventral. Scale lines = 1 mm.