Suffomyia dancei, Munari, Lorenzo, 2008

Munari, Lorenzo, 2008, Beach and Surge Flies (Diptera: Canacidae) from the Arabian Peninsula, with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 1848, pp. 37-46 : 42-44

Suffomyia dancei sp. nov.

(figs. 11–12, 14)

Type material. Holotype ɗ: [handwritten white labels] “ Oman: / Muscat, / Haramel / 25.iii.1995 / S.P. Dance” // Cardiff // [printed red label] “ HOLOTYPUS / Suffomyia / dancei sp. nov. ɗ / L. Munari des.”. The specimen is in fairly good condition, although missing left postpedicel and right wing. The holotype is deposited in NMWC, and is double mounted (glued on the tip of a triangular card label); abdomen dissected, stored in glycerol in a small plastic tube, and pinned below the specimen. Paratypes 7 ɗɗ 4 ΨΨ, same data as holotype (4, 14, 21, 23–25, 28.iii.1995). The paratypes are deposited in NMWC, TAU, and in the author’s collection (property of MCNV).

Description. Size. Body length 1.33–1.61 mm, wing length 1.12 mm. Habitus. Tiny fly with body and legs brown. Setal vestiture black. Wings slightly infuscated. Head. Blackish to brown; both frons and short, depressed face reddish brown, parafacialia yellowish, gena blackish, covered with silvery microtomentum, rest of head dark brown; postocellar setae (=pseudopostocellars, sensu Freidberg, 1995) long, divergent, proclinate; medial vertical seta inclinate, strong, about as long as or slightly longer than lateral vertical seta; postoculars in a single row formed by spaced, tiny setae reaching ventral margin of eye; postgena broad, with 2– 3 long and strong setae; ocellar triangle bearing pair of long setae, subequal to postocellars; 3 very long orbital setae, posterior one exclinate, mid and anterior ones slightly reclinate; interfrontal setae absent; antenna with scape and pedicel yellowish brown, postpedicel brown, latter one strongly hairy, bearing dark, short-haired arista; eye oblique, kidney-shaped, with dense interfacetal microtrichia, its longest diameter about 4.5 times as long as narrowest genal height; gena silvery microtomentose; 5 long peristomal setae; face very short, strongly depressed, distinctly shorter than length of antenna; clypeus dark brown, clearly exposed, but invisible in lateral view; mouth parts with small, stumpy, blackish proboscis and paddle-shaped, yellowish palpi being distinctly protruded forwardly. Thorax. Mesonotum dark brown, except for scutellum and narrow, transverse, prescutellar stripe being distinctly lighter, reddish brown; pleura pale brown to grey or even reddish brown; mesonotum with setae and setulae characteristically erect; 1+3 dorsocentral setae intercalated with a few tiny setulae, 2 posterior pairs of dorsocentrals distinctly longer, 2–4 tiny setulae arranged in a row anteriad to presutural dorsocentral seta; acrostichal setulae extremely scarce and sparse or even absent; prescutellar acrostichals absent; 1 row of intra-alar setulae; 1 long and strong postpronotal; 1 presutural, 2 notopleurals, posterior seta arising from sharp tubercle; 1 supra-alar; 2 postalars with minute setula between them; scutellum elongated, distinctly trapezoidal, sharply truncated at apex, bearing 4 pairs of setae: basal setae slightly shifted on discal surface; mid pair, formed by 2 short, divergent to subparallel setae, arising from disc, near to median axis; latero-apical setae long, anaclinate and inclinate, mid apical setae very short, with same inclination as latero-apicals (see Freidberg, 1995, fig. 15); both proepisternal and proepimeral setae absent; anepisternum with 3 posteromarginal setae, mid seta long and strong, and 1 erect, posterodorsal seta; 1 katepisternal seta on upper margin; anepimeron, katatergite, and meron without setae and setulae. Legs. Brown, with tibiae strongly, although sparsely, setose, bearing several, long, fine, brownish to black, antero- and posterodorsal setae and setulae; forebasitarsus with brush of antero- and posteroventral, microscopic setulae having apex slightly bent and characteristically bifurcate (a character state which is visible at high magnification by using a compound microscope; also see Freidberg, 1995, figs. 16–17). Wing. Broad and rounded, with proximal one quarter noticeably narrowed with small alula; veins dark brown, membrane slightly, though distinctly, infuscated; alula small, narrow, with fringe formed by moderately strong, black setulae; costal vein reaching end of M1, bearing long, distinctive, dorsal setula between humeral and subcostal breaks; R2+3 slightly bisinuate at apical half, R4+5 and M1 subparallel; crossvein r-m ending approximately at basal one third of cell dm; crossvein dm-cu as long as or slightly longer than half of last section of CuA1; halter with knob (capitulum) brownish to brownish yellow. Abdomen. Dark brown to blackish, poorly setose, only with sparse, tiny setulae, except for lateral sides bearing longer setae. Male terminalia (figs. 11–12). Epandrium roughly globoid with few, sparse, strong setae; surstylus subrectangular in lateral view, sometimes very weakly bent backwards, with apex distinctly truncated (fig. 11), triangular and shortened in caudal view (fig. 12); cercus rather sclerotized, short, bowl-shaped, with inner margin distinctly concave; phallapodeme and ejaculatory apodeme long, in particular the former one. Female terminalia (fig. 14). Postabdomen telescopically retractile, with apical segments narrow and slender; tergite 6 slightly divided proximally; tergite 7 widely divided medially, with pair of separated sclerites, each bearing distinctive, very long, strongly sclerotized, proximal process being oriented towards tergite 6, and two setae on characteristically indented, inner edge; epiproct subtriangular, pointed apically (indeed, with membranous, close bifurcation); cerci elongated, slightly divergent, with parallel sides and roundish apex bearing one long, apical seta and 3–4 thinner and shorter setae. Sternites widely divided medially. 2 spermathecae roughly subcylindrical, cuplike, very slightly constricted medially, with upper surface distinctly concave.

Distribution. Oman.

Remarks. This new species differs from the closely related S. scutellaris Freidberg mainly by the following characters of the external terminalia: male – surstylus distinctly subrectangular in lateral view (fig. 11), with apex abruptly truncated (in Freidberg’s species the surstylus is markedly subtriangular in lateral view, with apex rather tapered), roughly triangular and shortened in caudal view (fig. 12) (noticeably rectangular and elongated in S. scutellaris (fig. 13)); cercus sclerotized, short, bowl-shaped, with inner margin distinctly concave (in Freidberg’s species the cercus is slightly diaphanous, simple, elongated, narrow, with inner margin membranous, curved but never concave); female – tergite 6 slightly divided proximally; tergite 7 with pair of separated sclerites, each bearing distinctive, very long, strongly sclerotized, proximal process oriented towards tergite 6.

The specimens forming the type series were collected in the same locality from which a single male of S. scutellaris was also captured by S.P. Dance. This isolated specimen was further examined by A. Freidberg who confirmed its specific status. Thus, these two species of west Palaearctic Suffomyia occur sympatrically and syntopically at least in the eastern territories of the Arabian Peninsula.

Etymology. The species epithet, dancei , is a genitive patronym to honour the renowned British malacologist Stanley Peter Dance (Cardiff, UK) who collected the type series.