Tephritis gharalii Mohamadzade Namin and S. Korneyev

Namin, Saeed Mohamadzade, Korneyev, Severyn V., Parchami-Araghi, Mehrdad & Gilasian, Ebrahim, 2015, Revision of the Tephritis maccus species group (Diptera: Tephritidae) with description of a new species from Iran, Zootaxa 3956 (4), pp. 589-599 : 591-595

Tephritis gharalii Mohamadzade Namin and S. Korneyev , sp. nov.

(Figs. 5–7, 18–27)

Euarestella iphionae: Dirlbek 1980 ; Gilasian, 2007 (misid.) Tephritis maccus: Gilasian & Merz 2008 (misid.)

Type material. Holotype (female): Iran: Charmahal & Bakhtiari Province, South part of Choghakhor Lake, 2600 m, 31°53N, 50°58E, 27.v.2014 (Mohamadzade) ( JAZM).

Paratypes: Iran: Kirman, 08.v.1960, 1♀ (Hammad) ( NMPC); Alburz, Tochal, 3500–3950 m, 30.vi.1973, 2♂ (Loc. No. 262, Exp. Nat. Mus. Praha) ( HMIM); Tehran, Evin, 3.vii.1973, 2♀; 06.viii,1973 2♀; 22.viii.1973, 2♀; 27.viii.1973, 2♀; 06.ix.1973, 1♂, 1♀ ( HMIM); 5 km North East Abali, 35°50.304' N, 51°58.980' E, 2360 m, 29.viii.2008, 1♀ (Mohamadzade) ( SMNC); same collection data as holotype, 08.vi.2013, 2♂, 2♀ (Mohamadzade); Kohkiloyeh & Boyerahmad Province, Pass near Sisakht, 3300 m, 30°52’29N, 51°31’26E, 26.v.2014, 1♀ (S. & V. Korneyev); Charmahal & Bakhtiari Province, Choghakhor Lake, 2290 m, 31°55’23N, 50°56’05E, 27.v.2014, 1♀ (V. & S. Korneyev) ( SIZK).

Description. Head ( Fig. 21 ): Yellow, whitish microtrichose, except ocellar triangle, distal 2/3 of arista and Vshaped mark on upper part of occiput blackish. Flagellomere 1 yellow. Frontal stripe less distinctly microtrichose. Frons above lunule with 5–10 setulae, setulae whitish yellow, brownish on anterior part of gena. Postocular setae and setulae (both longer and shorter) whitish yellow. Length: height: width ratio = 1: 1.1: 1.54. Frons subquadrate, twice as wide as eye, which is about 1.3 times as high as long. Gena 0.55 times as high as length of flagellomere 1. Flagellomere 1 1.6 times as long as wide, pointed on apicodorsal angle.

Thorax: Black (only postpronotal lobe narrowly yellow), densely white microtrichose. Setae yellowish brown; posterior notopleural seta whitish yellow. Setulae white; scutellum with 15–21 white marginal setulae on each side. Calypteres white. Halter yellow.

Legs: Yellow, fore femur with 2 rows of white posterodorsal and one row of brown posteroventral setae; mid and hind legs with brown setae and setulae ( Fig. 18 ).

FIGURES 1–9. Wing, 1. Tephritis azari , ♂. 2. T. azari , ♀. 3. T. urelliosomima , ♂. 4. T. urelliosomima , ♀. 5. T. gharalii , ♂. 6. T. gharalii , ♀. 7. T. gharalii , ♀. 8. T. maccus , ♀. 9. T. sophus (redrawn from Gentilini et al., 2006).

Wing (Figs. 5–7): Base hyaline, including all of cells c, bm and bcu; apical portion with brown radiate mark, with few hyaline spots and indentations; pterostigma entirely brown, cell r1 with only one hyaline spot beyond pterostigma at level of crossvein r-m. This spot in male large, reaching R2+3 (but never extending into cell r2+3), but in 2 females small and narrow, and in 3 females moderately large but not reaching R2+3. Cell r2+3 hyaline between radial fork and level of apex of vein Sc, distally brown, with only 2 apical hyaline spots, posterior spot extending into cell r4+5; cell br hyaline basal to level of apex of Sc, in apical third completely dark, without hyaline spots. Cell r4+5 with round hyaline spot touching vein M at or near level of dm-cu (only one female without this spot [Fig. 7]), and apical spot bordered by 2 narrow apical rays extending to apices of veins R4+5 and M (in 2 females, the ray on vein R4+5 is extremely narrow, the apical spot in cell r4+5 is short, and the apical fork is broadly connected to the main pattern [Fig. 6]). Cell dm hyaline on proximal 1/4 brown on apical part with 3 brown rays (including 1 on dmcu) with 1 large hyaline spot at level of crossvein r-m and 1 small round (or pear-shaped) subapical hyaline spot (in one female without smaller spot); both spots extend to Cu1 and sometimes are fused with spots in cell cu1. Cell m with 3 large hyaline spots, the most distal extending into cell r4+5; cell cu1 mostly hyaline, with brown bars in apical half. Vein R4+5 with 4–5 setulae ventrally.

Abdomen: Black, tergites entirely microtrichose, with white setulae and yellow marginal setae. Oviscape shining black, with whitish setae on basal part; shorter than tergites 5 and 6 combined, its dorsum 1.3 times as long as tergite 6. Aculeus brown, 3 times as long as wide, strongly tapered subapically to short, pointed apex ( Figs. 20, 24 ). Eversible membrane with two pairs of taeniae 0.3 times as long as membrane itself; on ventral side membrane with small scales ( Fig. 19 ). Spermathecae teardrop shaped ( Fig. 23 ) with narrowed neck. Epandrium oval ( Fig. 26 ); glans ( Fig. 27 ) moderately short, mostly membranous.

Measurements. Holotype: BL. 3.5, WL. 3.25; Female. BL. 4–4.5 mm, WL. 3.5–3.7 mm, AL. 0.75–0.87 mm; Male. BL. 3.5–3.9 mm, WL. 3.2–3.6 mm.

Diagnosis. The new species differs from most Palaearctic species of Tephritis by having only one marginal hyaline spot in cell r1. T. gharalii is closely related to T. azari Mohamadzade & Korneyev and T. maccus Hering in having similar body and wing size and wing pattern (hyaline basally, with brown radiate pattern on apical twothirds, and usually with one hyaline spot in cell r1, as well as flagellomere 1 pointed, oviscape short, aculeus relatively blunt, with short acute apex, and similar spermathecae shape). It differs from T. azari in having a broad brown ray in cell dm basal to the level of crossvein r-m that reaches the mid-width of cell cu1. In addition the new species has only one hyaline spot in cell r1 that does not extend into cell r2+3 (in T. azari , the short brown ray in cell dm basal to the level of r-m is absent or usually reaches only the mid-width of cell dm, at most reaching Cu1, and cell r 1 in males has two hyaline marginal spots). T. gharalii also differs from T. maccus in having thick brown rays in cell dm that usually are connect to each other along Cu1.

Tephritis gharalii is also similar to T. urelliosomima , in which the aculeus shape is similar (blunt, but pointed at very apex); also in 2 female paratypes the base of the apical fork is broadly connected to the main part of the pattern as in T. urelliosomima . It differs from T. urelliosomima in the wing pattern with a hyaline spot in cell r1 and absence of brown pattern in basal part of cell dm (in T. urelliosomima the large hyaline spot in r1 usually is lacking; only in some males one small or rarely large spot is present; cell dm is completely brown with only one round hyaline spot at the level of crossvein r-m).

The wing pattern of this new species resembles Euarestella iphionae (Efflatoun, 1924) , but the latter genus has only one pair of scutellar setae. E. iphionae was recorded from Iran by Dirlbek (1980) but recent studies by Dr. Valery A. Korneyev and the second author at NMPC and the first author at HMIM proved that this record was based on misidentification of this new species. The record of T. maccus from Iran ( Gilasian & Merz 2008) was also based on misidentification of T. gharalii . The misidentified specimens were added to the type series, and these two species are deleted from the list of Iranian fruit flies.

Etymology. The species is named in honour of Dr. Babak Gharali, an outstanding Iranian dipterist, in recognition of his invaluable contribution to the study of flies ( Diptera ), especially of the family Bombyliidae in Iran.

Figures

FIGURES 18 – 27. Tephritis gharalii sp. nov., 18. Lateral habitus, holotype, ♂. 19. Apex of oviscape and eversible membrane. 20. Aculeus. 21. Head in profile. 22. Ejaculatory apodeme. 23. Spermatheca. 24. Aculeus apex. 25. Epandrium and hypandrium, lateral left view. 26. Epandrium, posterior view. 27. Glans of phallus, lateral.