Meroplius fasciculatus ( Brunetti, 1910 )

Ozerov, A. L., 2018, Contribution to the fauna of the genus Meroplius Rondani, 1874 (Diptera, Sepsidae) of the Australasian / Oceanian region, Zootaxa 4438 (1), pp. 195-200 : 195-197

Meroplius fasciculatus ( Brunetti, 1910) ( Figs 1 , 3 , 5, 6 .)

fasciculata Brunetti, 1910: 365 (Sepsis) . Type-locality: " Ceylon " [= Sri Lanka]. plumata de Meijere, 1913: 363 ( Sepsis ). Type-locality: "Rivierkamp" ( Indonesia: Papua).

Remarks. The species was recorded from Papua New Guinea by de Meijere (1913) and Zuska (1972).

Material Examined. China: Suifu, Szechuen, 12–24.IX.1922, D.C. Graham (1 ♂, ZMUM) ; Indonesia: Bali Isl., Bedugul (8.272°S 115.158°E), 23–27.XII.2016, N. Vikhrev (3 ♂♂, ZMUM) ; Malaysia: Borneo , Sabah Kundasng (6.01°N 116.59°E), 1500 m, 18–25.XII.2011, N. Vikhrev (7 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, ZMUM) ; Myanmar: Shan state, Nyaungshwe (~ 20.66°N 96.96°E), 26–30.XI.2009, N.Vikhrev (2 ♂♂, ZMUM) ; Sri Lanka: Kan. Dist., Kandy, Peak View Motel , 1800 ft., 7–14.I.1970, Davis & Rowe (1 ♀, ZMUM) .

Description. Male. Head. Frontal vitta and fronto-orbital plate black, shining. Face brownish, greyish dusted. Parafacial reddish. Gena blackish, densely greyish dusted. Postcranium black, grey dusted, with several black hairs. Setae: 1 orbital, 1 ocellar, 1 inner vertical, 1 outer vertical, 1 postocellar; 1 pair of vibrissae present. Antenna brownish to blackish. Postpedicel rounded apically, about 2 times as long as wide. Arista black, bare. Palpus very small, blackish.

Thorax black. Scutum (including postpronotal lobe) delicately greyish dusted. Proepisternum greyish dusted in upper part and shining in lower part. Katepimeron, meron, metepisternum, metepimeron, katatergite, anatergite and mediotergite greyish dusted. Anepisternum, anepimeron shining completely. Katepisternum shining, but densely greyish dusted along upper posterior corner. Scutum with the following paired setae: 1 postpronotal, 2 notopleural, 1 supra-alar, 1 postalar, 1 postsutural dorsocentral. Scutellum greyish dusted, with a pair of strong apical setae and a pair of small basal setae.

Legs black, but all coxae, all trochanters, fore femur and tibia yellow, also mid and hind femora yellow in basal quarter or third. Fore femur with two black spines ventrally, distal spine curved ( Fig. 1 ). Mid femur, hind femur and hind tibia without striking setae. Mid tibia with 1 ventral seta in apical half. Hind tibia with an osmeterium anterodorsally.

Wing clear. Veins brown. Calypters, margins of calypters, and halteres whitish.

Abdomen black, shining. Tergites 4–5 with several marginal setae. Sternite 4 as in Fig. 3 . Epandrium and surstyli as in Figs 5, 6 ; surstylus simple, without median projections ( Fig. 5 ).

Female. Resembles male. Femur and tibia of foreleg simple. Mid tibia without ventral seta. Hind tibia without an osmeterium anterodorsally.

Measurements. Length of body 3.4–3.7 mm. Length of wing 2.6–3.2 mm.

Distribution. Australasian/Oceanian.— Indonesia (Papua), Papua New Guinea. Oriental.— Bangladesh, China (Guangdong, Guizhou, Taiwan), India (Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal), Indonesia (Java I., Sulawesi I., Borneo I.), Malaysia (East Malaysia), Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines (Luzon I., Jolo I.), Sri Lanka, Thailand.

Palaearctic.— Asia: China (Sichuan), Japan (Honshu I., Kyushu I., Shikoku I.).

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (1) and M. timikana sp. nov. (2), male fore femur and tibia, anteriorly.

FIGURES 3–4. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (3) and M. timikana sp. nov. (4), male sternite 4.

FIGURES 5–8. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (5, 6) and M. timikana sp. nov. (7, 8): 5, 7—epandrium, cerci and surstyli, dorsal view; 6, 8—same, lateral view.