Protypusia strymonas, Gibbs, 2023

Gibbs, David, 2023, A world review of the bee fly tribe Usiini (Diptera, Bombyliidae) - Part 3: Parageron Paramonov s. lat., European Journal of Taxonomy 863 (1), pp. 1-162 : 109-112

Protypusia strymonas gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5D2D1180-1764-4057-9044-52869C88F438

Fig. 56

Etymology

Noun in apposition, named after the River Strymonas that flows through Lake Kerkini, Northern Greece.

Type material

Holotype

GREECE • ♂; “ Kerkini , Ecotourism site 65 m, N41°8′15.6″ E23°13′1″, 19 June 2008, leg. G. Ramel pan trap”; NHMUK.

Paratypes

GREECE • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; “ Kerkini , Ecotourism site 65 m, N41°8′15.6″ E23°13′1″, 19 June 2008, leg. G. Ramel pan trap”; NHMUK • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “same data”; PCDG • 1 ♀; “ 1–7August 2006, leg. G. Ramel Malaise ”; PCDG • 1 ♂; “ 15-21 August 2006, leg. G. Ramel Malaise ”; PCDG • 1 ♀; “ Lithotopossite , N41° 13740 E23° 21714, 20-26 June 2005, leg. G. Ramel Malaise ”; NHMUK • 1 ♀; “ Krousia Site 190 m, N41°11′32.4″ E23°3′59.5″, 8–14 August 2007, leg. G. Ramel Malaise ”; PCDG • 1 ♀; “ 11–17 July 2007, leg. G. Ramel Malaise ”; PCDG .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 1.8–2.4 mm. Wing length: 1.8–2.2 mm.

Male

HEAD. Gena plus mouth margin very narrow, no wider than anterior ocellus, the shining yellowish mouth margin significantly broader than the linear, often hardly visible dusted gena. Gena broadening fairly abruptly just below antennae, running into long narrow frons, at antennal insertions no wider than scape, covered with grey to brown dust. Eyes narrowly separated by about half the diameter of the anterior ocellus or even less. Vertex between the eyes densely grey-brown dusted, similar to frons. Ocellar tubercle dark in ground colour, dark brown dusted, all ocelli contiguous with the eye margins or narrowly separated, especially anterior ocellus. Yellow hairs on ocellar tubercle about as long as width of vertex at its broadest, often sparse or even absent. Eye facets small and equal throughout. Occiput dark in ground colour, densely coated with grey-brown dust. Occiput covered with pale yellow to white hairs, upper ones just behind eyes relatively long, almost equalling hairs on ocellar tubercle, those on ventral side of head similar only a little longer. Antennae black with a brown or grey cast on scape and pedicel, postpedicel a little longer than scape and pedicel together, conspicuously contracted below in apical third, tip truncate (postpedicel rather variable in size and shape). Palps small but readily seen, pale greyish-white with a few inconspicuous pale hairs apically. Proboscis black, not exceptionally long, about equal to thorax including scutellum, hairless dorsally, the basoventral membrane pale-whitish.

THORAX. Dark ground colour obscured by dense grey to brown dust, often with a golden or olive tinge, patterned with sharply defined dark brown paramedian vittae back to just rear of wing bases and antehumeral vittae, the latter broadly separated at thoracic suture. The median area in front of scutellum and posterior to the paramedian vittae with darker brown, poorly defined area; often a well-defined dark brown spot on supra-alar area just behind transverse suture (obscure in some). Hairs of mesonotum white to pale yellow, rather sparse, relatively short, arranged biserially along acrostichal and uniserially along dorsocentral lines, more general on lateral parts of mesonotum. Scutellum dark grey-brown, dusting similar to adjacent parts of mesonotum, more or less darker longitudinal mid-line, yellowish to white hairs very scant on disc longer around margin. Pleura greyer dusted than mesonotum, pronotum and posterior two-thirds of the anepisternum, with short yellow to white hairs. Anterior spiracle conspicuously white.

WING. Membrane hyaline with the faintest brownish tinge, the veins brown, yellower basally. Crossvein r-m between one third and mid-point of discal cell, distinctly beyond m-cu. Anal lobe fairly well developed with evenly convex margin, about as broad as anal cell.

HALTERE. Whitish, stem slightly infuscated especially at base, knob with a clear dark brown dorsal spot.

LEGS. Dark brown, coxae variable with dull yellow apices, trochanters murky yellow to brown, hind ones often with blackish rim, femora narrowly yellow basally and apically, often obscure, tibia and base of basitarsi dull yellow tending to be infuscated dorsally, remainder of tarsi blackish. Coxae grey dusted like pleura, femora more thinly grey dusted. Coxae, femora and tibia clothed with short white hairs, longer on the coxae, fore and mid-femora posteriorly, hind femora antero-ventrally often also a little longer haired.

ABDOMEN. Dark brown dusted with greyer dust laterally all tergites with narrow but clear yellow apical margins, broadest on middle tergites and laterally, extending right to edge of tergites. All tergites with variable white to pale yellow hairs shorter than the length of respective tergite especially on basal tergites, hairs a little longer laterally. Sternites similar to tergites but more evenly grey dusted, apical margins whiter, hairing short and sparse.

GENITALIA. Large for Protypusia gen. nov., but a little smaller than in Pro. punctipennis , concolourous with abdomen, but more obviously grey dusted, tip of epandrium dull yellow-brown, less dusted so shinier, gonocoxite also with shiny yellow apices, much longer-haired than tergites, epandrium shorterhaired but still slightly longer-haired than tergites.

Female

Differs from the male in its broadly separated eyes, about one fifth head width, hind ocelli separated from eye margin by a one and a half times their diameter. Frons dusted as occiput, a little greyer, a darker brown line down middle from front ocellus to antennae, this dark area continued behind ocellar tubercle onto occiput. Frons with short sparse hairs antero-laterally. Postpedicel averages a little shorter. Hairing of thorax and legs shorter. Abdomen also short haired but not much different to male. Legs very similar to male, in some more extensively yellow.

Remarks

See Pro. punctipennis and Pro. kerkini gen. et sp. nov. Only eight specimens known from two samples at almost the same location in the village of Lithotopos to the south of Lake Kerkini, Northern Greece. Presumably more widely distributed but Usiini have a tendency towards endemism so could be very restricted.

Distribution

Greece (Lake Kerkini).

Figures

Fig. 56. Protypusia strymonas gen. et sp. nov. a. Epiphallic complex ventral. b. Epiphallic complex lateral. c. Gonocoxite ventral. d. Gonocoxite lateral.e. Epandrium dorsal. f. Epandrium lateral. g. Female genitalia ventral. h. Female genitalia lateral.