Aphasmaphleps Grichanov, 2010

Capellari, Renato S. & Grichanov, Igor Ya., 2012, Review of the Afrotropical genus Aphasmaphleps Grichanov (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), African Invertebrates 53 (1), pp. 35-35 : 36-37

Genus Aphasmaphleps Grichanov, 2010

Aphasmaphleps Grichanov, 2010: 406 . Type-species: Aphasmaphleps bandia Grichanov , by original designation.

Diagnosis (modified from Grichanov 2010): Small diaphorines, bluish green with copper reflections and little pruinosity.

Male.

Head. Face obliterated by contiguous eyes (MSSC).Antenna sexually dimorphic, longer in male. Antennal scape bare, arista-like stylus dorso-apical, at least twice longer than head height (MSSC).

Thorax. Acrostichals biseriate, 5 pairs of dorsocentral setae; upper part of proepisternum, in front of anterior spiracle, with 1 seta. Scutellum with single pair of setae (lateral setae absent).

Wing. C ending beyond R 4+5 but not reaching M, M evanescent, and R 4+5 and M slightly divergent at apex (in A. bickeli sp. n. and A. stuckenbergi sp. n., C ends in M, M is strong, and R 4+5 and M are parallel); crossvein dm–cu always moved basally (CuAx proportion ≤0.1).

Legs. Fore tarsomeres slightly thickened, with ventral pad of short white hairs, It 4–5 with longer dorsal setae at apex, It 5 with enlarged pulvilli and claws absent (MSSC); pulvilli and claws of mid and hind legs unmodified.

Abdomen. Covered by short vestiture of black setae; Tg6 pilose. Tg7 and St7 greatly reduced. St8 with short vestiture and 2 conspicuous setae at margin.

Hypopygium. Epandrium globose, foramen left lateral, near dorsal margin; hypandrium and phallus simple, without ornamentation; lateral epandrial lobe short, with two apical setae and one basiventral seta posteriad; surstylus divided into two lobes; postgonite present; cercus short.

Female.

Similar to male. Antenna shorter. Oviscapt: posterior margin of St8 moved ventrally; hemitergites of Tg10 each with 3 or 4 thick spines.

Comments: The availability of additional material of A. bandia and discovery of new species allowed revisiting some of the characters, which had been previously regarded by Grichanov (2010) to be of generic value and used to establish his new genus. The wing venation proved to be not always modified as in A. bandia and A. paulyi sp. n., with evanescent vein M and R 4+5 and M slightly diverging apically. Additionally, some of the MSSC seem to be synapomorphic to all species in the genus: eyes touching below antennae, antennal stylus elongate (about 0.8× of the body length) and fore tarsomeres modified, including enlarged pulvilli and reduced claws.

The presence of all three new species in one Malaise trap (at Morondava locality) is rather remarkable, and it is likely that many more species are to be described in the future. The new species cannot be subspecies or phenotypes of A. bandia , which is not found on Madagascar, due to distinct MSSC on antenna, wing and/or mid tarsus. It is quite probable that we observe an early stage of sympatric speciation in Aphasmaphleps ; the process is not uncommon on Madagascar and adjacent islands even for dolichopodid flies (e.g., Grichanov 2003). This is also suggested by the very similar hypopygial morphology shown by all species.