Aristobatina Verbeke, 1951

Marshall, Stephen A., 2014, A review of the Afrotropical genus Aristobatina Verbeke (Diptera: Micropezidae: Taeniapterinae), with descriptions of four new species from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, African Invertebrates 55 (1), pp. 143-143 : 145-146

Key to the species of Aristobatina Verbeke

1 Outer vertical seta absent ( Fig. 19 ); notum brick-red in colour ( Figs 18, 20 ) ........2

– Outer vertical seta present ( Fig. 22 ); notum predominantly dark brown to black in colour.......................................................................................................................3

2 Mid femur dark in basal ⅔, orange distally ( Fig. 20 ); male with ejaculatory apodeme extremely large, much larger than epandrium ( Fig. 13 ) ........................................... ............................................................................ rufithorax (Enderlein) ( Tanzania)

– Mid and hind femora brown, with 2 yellow rings; male with ejaculatory apodeme very small, much smaller than epandrium ................................................................ ...................................... principalis (Frey) ( Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe)

3 Wing with macula or fascia; fore femur predominantly orange; overall length 12–14mm; usually with small intrapostalar seta present (between postalar and presutural dorsocentral setae)..................................................................................4

– Wing uniformly infuscate; fore femur black ( Fig. 27 ); overall length more than 15mm; without intrapostalar setae (between single postalar and dorsocentral setae) ........................................................................................ udzungwa sp. n. ( Tanzania)

4 Wing with discal band reduced to a circular patch ( Figs 2 , 23 ); mid femur uniformly orange, except apically............................................................................................5

– Wing with extensive discal band, extending from R 1 to CuA 1 ( Fig. 26 ); mid femur either predominantly black or banded in pale brown and orange. ............................ ......................................................................................... morogoro sp. n. ( Tanzania)

5 First 2 tarsomeres of hind leg white ( Fig. 21 ). Paired spermathecae short, with a striate surface ( Fig. 16 )................................................... melasma sp. n. ( Tanzania)

– Second tarsomere and at least distal ⅓ of first tarsomere of hind leg dark ( Fig. 2 ). Paired spermathecae elongate, with a smooth surface ( Fig. 1 ). ................................ .................................................................................. metamelasma sp. n. ( Tanzania)

Figures

Figs 18–26. Aristobatina spp.: (18–20) A. rufithorax: (18) female; (19) female head; (20) male; (21–23) A. melasma sp.n., holotype male: (21, 23) ovipositing; (22) head; (24–26) A. morogoro sp. n.: (24) female; (25) female head; (26) male.

Figs 12–17. Aristobatina spp.: (12–14) A. rufithorax male: (12) sternite 5; (13) terminalia; (14) apical part of distiphallus; (15–17) spermathecae and associated ducts: (15) A. morogoro sp. n., single small spermatheca and one of the paired large spermathecae; (16) A. melasma sp. n., spermatheca, one of pair; (17) A. rufithorax, bursa copulatrix, spermathecae and spermathecal ducts. Not to scale.

Figs 27–32. Aristobatina and Tanypomyia spp.: (27) A. udzungwa sp. n., female; (28, 29) T. elegans allotype; (30–32) T. venusta: (30) female; (31) male terminalia, Verbeke mount; (32) spermathecae, Verbeke mount.

Figs 1–6. Aristobatina metamelasma sp.n.: (1) spermathecae and bursa copulatrix; (2) female, dorsal view; male: (3) lateral view; (4) sternite 5; (5) terminalia, dorsolateral view; (6) terminalia, ventral view. Not to scale.