Tachydromia semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923)

Gonçalves, Ana Rita, Grootaert, Patrick, Andrade, Rui, Paulo, Octávio S. & Mengual, Ximo, 2021, Revision of the morphology, phylogenetic relationships, behaviour and diversity of the Iberian and Italian ant-like Tachydromia Meigen, 1803 (Diptera: Hybotidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 732, pp. 1-56 : 35-37

Tachydromia semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923)

Figs 1 , 13 , 16 C–D, 18 E–F, 19 E–F, 21 D–E

Ariasella semiaptera Gil Collado, 1923: 150 (male and female).

Tachydromia semiaptera – Shamshev & Grootaert 2018: 425 (comb. nov.).

Diagnosis

Overall dark species with distinct yellow parts. Wing dimorphic: male stenopterous; oblong apex; stalklike portion light brown with distinct black spot on lobed apex; female micropterous, with wing round, brownish. Palpi, proboscis and antennae black; postpedicel roundish, approximately as long as pedicel. Legs with colour pattern of yellowish and dark brown to black. Male legs with following features: fore tibia black, stout and inflated; mid tibia bearing two projections and row of five spinose setae on posteroventral basal surface. Abdomen black, overall covered with microtrichia and sparse setae; two apical sternites with long setae.

Type material (not examined, lost) SPAIN • ca 20 specimens; Ávila, Valle de Iruelas ; May 1919; C. Bolívar leg.

Additional material (not examined, lost)

SPAIN • Ciudad Real, Navas de Estena ; C. Bolívar leg. • Madrid, El Escorial; C. Bolívar leg.

Material examined

Topotype SPAIN • 3 ♂♂, 16 ♀♀; Ávila , El Barraco; 40º23′08.4″ N, 4º34′05.7″ W; 13 Apr. 2016; A.R. Gonçalves and R. Andrade leg.; RBINS .

Additional material

PORTUGAL • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Miranda do Douro ; 41°33′25.9″ N, 6°15′43.3″ W; 3 May 2015; A.R. Gonçalves leg. • 3 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀ (all male terminalia studied, RBINS); Bragança, Castrelos ; 41º50′22.1″ N, 6º53′24.2″ W; 10 May 2015; A.R. Gonçalves and R. Andrade leg. • 8 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Carrazeda de Ansiães, Fontelonga ; 41º14′16.2″ N, 7º14′57.6″ W; 1 May 2016; R. Andrade leg. • 5 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; same collection data as for preceding; ZFMK .

SPAIN • 10 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀ (all male terminalia studied, RBINS); Zamora, Alcañices ; 41º41′26.9″ N, 6º21′45.1″ W; 11 May 2015; A.R. Gonçalves and R.Andrade leg. • 4 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀; Toledo, Los Navalucillos ; 39º36′02.0″ N, 4º42′07.0″ W; 15 Apr. 2016; A.R. Gonçalves and R. Andrade leg. • 7 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Toledo, Los Navalucillos ; 39º34′25.0″ N, 4º44′57.0″ W; 15 Apr. 2016; A.R. Gonçalves and R. Andrade leg. • 5 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀; Guadalajara, El Cardoso de la Sierra ; 41°05′46.2″ N, 3°28′56.1″ W; 23 Apr. 2017; A.R. Gonçalves and P. Álvarez leg. • 4 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; Guadalajara, El Cardoso de la Sierra (Río Berbellido); 41°06′22.6″ N, 3°24′59.7″ W; 23 Apr. 2017; A.R. Gonçalves and P. Álvarez leg. • 5 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Salamanca, La Alberca ; 40º29′04.0″ N, 6º05′10.2″ W; 25 Apr. 2017; A.R. Gonçalves leg. • 9 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀; Madrid, Bustarviejo ; 40°50′29.8″ N, 3°45′59.1″ W; 21 May 2017; P. Álvarez leg. • 17 ♂♂, 23 ♀♀; Cáceres, Alía ; 39°30′40.3″ N, 5°20′47.7″ W; 23 Apr. 2018; P. Álvarez leg. • 3 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; Cáceres, Berzocana ; 39°24′55.6″ N, 5°25′10.3″ W; 23 Apr. 2018; A.R. Gonçalves and P. Álvarez leg.

Redescription

Similar to Tachydromia cantabrica sp. nov. except for the following:

Male

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 2.4–2.8 mm (n = 5). Wing length: 1.2–1.3 mm (n = 5).

HEAD. Lateroclinate ocellars 2.5 times as long as postpedicel. Proclinate verticals 2 times as long as postpedicel.

ANTENNA. Light brown. Postpedicel roundish, as long as wide; stylus more than 4 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined.

THORAX. With very long black setae. Well-distinguished sclerites, with clear separation between anepisternum and anepimeron; postpronotal lobe very large; scutellum and metanotum well developed, postscutellum poorly developed. Prosternum and episternum densely covered by grey microtrichia. Postpronotal lobe with 5 setae laterally, mesonotum with 6 scattered setae of equal length; 5 setae near alar region; notopleuron with 1 strong, prominent, very long seta; 2 setae near posterior margin of postpronotal lobe; scutellum with 2 strong, long setae medially.

WING ( Fig. 21D ). Lobed apex oblong, without digitation. Stalk-like process very flexible, light brown with distinct black spot on lobed apex. Venation very reduced (costal, longitudinal and cross veins distinguishable), forming 4 cells.

LEGS. Fore tibia stout and inflated distally. Overall dark brown to black, following portions yellow: trochanters, anterior apical half and apex of fore and mid tibiae, dorsal strip and apical half of fore and mid tibiae, fore and mid tarsomeres 1, 2, 3, basal ⅔ 4, hind tarsomeres 1 and 2. Fore tibia with rows of long, erect setae; mid tibia bearing row of 5 strong, spine-like posteroventral basal setae. Mid tibia with 2 anteroventral apical projections ( Fig. 19 E–F): 1 slightly shorter than diameter of tibia at apex; clothed in microtrichia, several distinct setae and 2 short, stout, curved spinose setae on margin of distal half; second projection as long as diameter of tibia at apex with a few long setae.

TERMINALIA ( Fig. 13 ). Right epandrial lamella with long, erect setae on apical half. Right surstylus short, narrowing distally, with sparse microtrichia, bearing long, irregularly curved setae, with several (ca 6) distinct denticle-like setae, aggregated on distal margin. Right cercus with setae on apical half and distinct apical seta; left cercus with apical setae of unequal lengths. Right cercus longer than left, both enclosed in epandrial lamellae. Left epandrial lamella shorter than left cercus, deeply bilobed. Left surstylus 1.5 times as long as wide, approximately as long as right cercus, with very long setae, lateroclinate, facing inwards.

Female

Similar to male, except for following features: micropterous, with wing round, brownish, bearing 1 long seta and 1 short seta on apical margin, covered by grey microtrichia ( Fig. 21E ); legs covered with regular rows of setae, with distinct apical setae on fore femur and anteroapical setae on coxae; without other distinctive setae; spurs on mid tibia absent; cercus pale brown with grey microtrichia and setae.

Distribution

Spain and Portugal. It is known from several localities along the Iberian Central System, and from the Montes de Toledo mountain range, the northeast of Portugal and from one locality in the Spanish province of Zamora near the border with Portugal.

Figures

Fig. 1. Currently known distribution of the Iberian ant-like Tachydromia Meigen, 1803. Each dot represents a presence point, with each colour corresponding to a different species. When two species co-occur in the same area, their presence is represented by a smaller dot on top of a dot of regular dimension, each of those with the colour corresponding to the co-occurring species. The dots surrounded by a black circle with a vertical line represent localities previously known.

Fig. 13. Terminalia of Tachydromia semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923) (RBINS). A. Right surstylus and right epandrial lamella. B. Epandrium with cerci. C. Left epandrial lamella and left surstylus. D. Right surstylus. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 16. Habitus of live specimens of the Iberian ant-like Tachydromia Meigen, 1803 and the Italian flightless Tachydromia. Males are pictured in the left column, females in the right.A–B. T. iberica (Arias, 1919). C–D. T. semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923). E–F. T. pieltaini (Gil Collado, 1936). G–H. T. pandellei (Séguy, 1941). I–J. T. apterygon Plant & Deeming, 2006 (Italy).

Fig. 18. Mounted specimens of the Iberian ant-like Tachydromia Meigen, 1803. Males are pictured in the left column, females in the right. A–B. T. cantabrica Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. C–D. T. iberica (Arias, 1919). E–F. T. semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923). G–H. T. pieltaini (Gil Collado, 1936). I–J. T. pandellei (Séguy, 1941). Scale bars: 1 mm.

Fig. 19. Images obtained by scanning electron microscopy of the spur-like structures present on the apical portion of the male mid tibia. A. T. lusitanica (Grootaert, Shamshev & Andrade, 2009). B. T. pandellei (Séguy, 1941). C. T. pieltaini (Gil Collado, 1936). D. T. ebejeri Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. E–F. T. semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923). G. T. stenoptera Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. H. T. cantabrica Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. I. T. nigrohirta Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. J. T. apterygon Plant & Deeming, 2006. Scale bars: 10 µm.

Fig. 21. Drawings of the tip of stenopterous wings and images obtained by scanning electron microscope (SEM) of the micropterous wings. Males are pictured in the left column, females in the right. A, C. T. pandellei (Séguy, 1941). B–C. T. pieltaini (Gil Collado, 1936). D–E. T. semiaptera (Gil Collado, 1923). F–G. T. stenoptera Gonçalves, Grootaert & Andrade sp. nov. Scale bars: A–D, F = 50 µm; E, G = 10 µm.