Efferia angusta, Scarbrough & Perez-Gelabert, 2009

Aubrey G. Scarbrough & Daniel E. Perez-Gelabert, 2009, Review of the West Indian species of Efferia Coquillett (Diptera: Asilidae) with 13 new species and checklist: Part II. Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Lesser Antilles including Tobago and Trinidad, Zootaxa 1994, pp. 1-66 : 11-13

Efferia angusta sp. nov.

Figs. 5–8 , Table 1

Male. Measurements, body 10.9 mm; wing 9.6 mm. Head: Face gray tomentose, vestiture mostly black with white setae mixed medially and along oral margin; face at antennae 4/5 as wide as one eye. Palpi, antennae, frons and ocellar tubercle entirely black setose. Frons and vertex brownish-yellow tomentose. Occiput yellowish-gray tomentose dorsally, gray ventrally, setae mostly white, sparse black setae and 4–5 slender postocular bristles dorsally, thinner seta-like bristles laterally.

Thorax: Pronotum yellowish tomentose, setae pale yellowish, bristles thin, seta-like mixed black and pale. Scutum with dark brown stripe medially and 2 lateral spots, stripe divided medially with thin yellowish tomentum, tomentum otherwise brownish-yellow or yellow at different angles; vestiture mostly black, anterior narrowly white setose, anterior setae as long as scape; 2 stout black dorsocentrals posteriorly. Scutellum yellowish tomentose, middle setae black, those laterally white, as long as 3 antennal segments combined, about same length as marginal bristles; marginal bristles thin, 2 thickest bristles black, 2–3 thinner either black or white. Pleura brownish-yellow, dark anteriorly; setae and bristles black dorsally, mixed ventrally. Halter yellow, knob dull brownish-yellow.

Wing: Hyaline, costal cell brownish; costal margin dilated. Crossvein r-m at apical 1/4 of cell d. Cell r4 well beyond cell d, base narrow, R4 recurrent vein short, about 1/2 basal width of cell.

Legs: Coxae pale brownish-yellow tomentose, vestiture mostly pale, sparse black setae mixed anteriorly or laterally. Femora black, bristles black, setae mostly black, pale basally, abundant on basal 1/2 of prothoracic and mesothoracic femora, mostly black below metathoracic femora. Metathoracic femora with bristles long, equal to greatest vertical diameter of femur, basal 4 bristles closely spaced, apical 3 spaced wider. Tibiae yellow, blackish apically; bristles and long thin setae black, dense setae dull brownish-yellow or yellow ventrally. Tarsi black, bristles black; dense setae dull brownish-yellow or yellow ventrally.

Abdomen: Tergites 2–5 mostly dark brown tomentose dorsally, black at some light angles, setae black, sparse medially on tergite 2, wide spread on 3–5; sides of tergites gray tomentose, including wide apical corners of tergites 2–3, setae usually long and whitish laterally; tergites 4–5 with sparse, short, bristly setae laterally, white ventrally black above. Segments 1, 6–7, apical margin of tergite 5, and sternites 2–5 white tomentose with long white setae ventrally. Segment 8 black, sparsely tomentose, black setae dorsally, long white setae along apical margin of sternite 8.

Terminalia ( Figs. 5–8 ): Black with black setae, sparse pale setae dorsally. Epandrium 3.5 times longer than wide, unusually narrow dorsally, with oval apical process, anterior margin weakly undulate. Gonostylus membranous, slender, only slightly wider apically. Aedeagus with tubes strongly oblique, phallic flange simple ventrally. Gonocoxa of nearly uniform width posteriorly, slightly pointed apically; setae long, slightly denser on basal 1/2, sparser and shorter apically.

Female: Unknown.

Type. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RD-156 La Furnia, Barreras, / Azua Prov., 18o19.289’N 70o / 54.755’W, 18.vii.2003, D. / Perez, R. Bastardo, B. Hierro (n) (holotype ♂, NMNH).

Distribution. Known only from type locality.

Etymology. Latin angusta ‘to narrow down’ referring to the shape of the epandrium.

Remarks. Efferia angusta is most similar to E. haitensis and E. serrula but is distinguished from these and other congeners by the characters in the key and combined characters of the terminalia ( Figs. 5–8 ). The male is further distinguished by the mostly black vestiture of the head, exceptionally long setae of the scutellum, mostly black vestiture of the pleura, and bristly setae along the lateral margins of tergites 4–5

Figures

FIGURES 5–8. Efferia angusta sp. nov. Male terminalia, lateral view: 5. Intact, left side; 6. Gonostylus; 7. Phallus; and 8. Aedeagus with tubes and phallic flange.