Syndyas zamba Grootaert et Shamshev

Grootaert, Patrick & Shamshev, Igor, 2013, The flies of the family Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) collected during the Boyekoli Ebale Congo 2010 Expedition in Democratic Republic of Congo, Zootaxa 3603 (1), pp. 1-61 : 5-7

Syndyas zamba Grootaert et Shamshev sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–3 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE, 3 labelled: D.R. CONGO, Kona , 13 May 2010, primary swamp forest (reg. 30038, leg. P. Grootaert; MS name Syndyas 1); Holotype / Syndyas / zamba / Grootaert, Shamshev, sp. nov. ( RBINS).

Diagnosis. Recognised by the thorax entirely densely dusted; cell dm distinctly longer than apical section of vein CuA1, stigma indistinct, vein M1+2 almost straight.

Description. Male. Length: body 4.0 mm, wing 3.3 mm. Head black; occiput densely brown pollinose, with long black postocular setae on upper part. Eyes holoptic, upper ommatidia enlarged. Face very narrow. Ocellar tubercle with 2 very long strong bristles. Antenna brown; postpedicel elongate-ovate, bare; stylus subapical, very long, whip-like, bare. Proboscis brownish. Palpus brownish, very narrow, lanceolate, with scattered black setulae.

Thorax steeply arched, brown, entirely densely pollinose. Proepisternum bare. Antepronotum with several moderately long black bristles on each side. Postpronotal lobe with several setulae, lacking prominent bristles. Mesonotum with 2 strong long black notopleurals, 1 short postalar and 3 pairs of scutellars (apical pair thin and moderately long, lateral pairs minute); acrostichals biserial anteriorly, arranged in 4 irregular rows and somewhat longer posteriorly, lacking on prescutellar depression; dorsocentrals uniserial, prescutellar pair long; notopleural depression with several black spinules anteriorly.

Legs. Fore and mid legs brownish, hind leg dark brown. Coxae and trochanters with ordinary setation; hind coxa with row of long strong bristles posteriorly. Fore femur almost bare, with row of 4 short erect anteroventral setae closer to base and row of short posterodorsal setae on about apical two-thirds. Fore tibia swollen, bearing row of long erect posteroventral setae; with numerous, rather long, subapical setulae ventrally; subapical circlet with 2 moderately long, strong bristles. Fore tarsus unmodified; fore tarsomere 1 with moderately long, strong, anterodorsal bristle. Mid femur with several strong short bristles on basal half anteriorly. Mid tibia with 2 moderately long anterodorsal bristles and 3 long ventral bristles subapically. Mid basitarsus with 2 long strong anterodorsal and 2 long posteroventral bristles; mid tarsomere 2 with 1 long anterodorsal bristle. Hind femur strongly thickened; with 5 longer spines issuing from tubercles on apical half and 4 spine-like setae on basal half of similar length; row of anterodorsal bristles of different lengths (1 subapical bristle and 1 bristle closer to middle stronger); numerous spines ventrally and posteriorly near base. Hind tibia evenly thickened toward apex, lacking prominent bristles. Hind tarsomeres thicker than fore and mid tarsomeres; hind basitarsus with 2 moderately long thin dorsal subapical setae and 3 posteroventral spines.

Wing faintly brownish infuscate, with yellowish brown veins; costal cell entirely, cells br, bm and cup basally lacking microtrichia. Costal bristle not differentiated. Stigma indistinct. Veins R2+3 and M1+2 convergent near wing apex; vein M1+2 almost straight. Cell dm distinctly longer than apical section of vein CuA1; cell cup somewhat longer than cell bm. Halter brown.

Abdomen brown, subshining; with pale hair-like setae on tergites 1–3, otherwise almost bare, with scattered minute setulae. Terminalia ( Figs 1–3 ) rather small, slightly broader than abdominal segment 8, brown. Cerci small, digitiform, with several moderately long unmodified setae. Epandrium completely divided. Right epandrial lamella with numerous very long unmodified setae; right surstylus barely differentiated from epandrial lamella, viewed dorsally fork-like, with several short unmodified setae. Left epandrial lamella with several very long and some short setae; left surstylus barely differentiated from epandrial lamella ( Fig. 3 ), with several short unmodified setae. Hypandrium with several short subapical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific name “ zamba ” means forest in Lingala. Distribution. D.R. Congo.

Remarks. Within Smith’s (1969) key to Afrotropical species of Syndyas the new species would run to S. selinda Smith, 1969 described after one female from Zimbabwe. However, Smith (l.c.: 100–101) notes that in S. selinda “thorax heavily dusted brownish on a broad median band to level of wing-bases, across whole anterior margins, posteriorly entirely dusted from level of wing-bases and broadly dusted along sides, thus leaving a large sub-elliptical shining patch on each side from hind margin of humeri to level of wing-bases.” Thus, S. zamba sp. nov. could be included in Smith's key in the following way.

8 Thorax entirely densely dusted............................................................. S. zamba sp. nov. – Thorax at least with shining patch on each side from hind margin of humeri to level of wing-bases.................... 8a 8a Thorax densely dusted behind humeri, on a broad median stripe and over entire posterior half of thorax.... S. selinda Smith – Thorax shining on at least anterior third................................................................... 9

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Syndyas zamba Grootaert et Shamshev sp. nov. 1. Right epandrial lamella; 2. Terminalia dorsal view; 3. Left epandrial lamella.