Curtonotum striatifrons Malloch, 1930

Kirk-Spriggs, Ashley H. & Wiegmann, Brian M., 2013, A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Schizophora; Curtonotidae). Part IV — the continental Afrotropical species of Curtonotum Macquart, with descriptions of thirteen new species and a combined phylogenetic analysis of the Curtonotidae , Zootaxa 3684 (1), pp. 1-166 : 63-66

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3684.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E922034E-1247-400B-97F6-1778CF766B91
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E45152-FFA1-FFA7-A6AB-FBB857964477
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Curtonotum striatifrons Malloch, 1930
status

Treatment

Curtonotum striatifrons Malloch, 1930 View in CoL ,

Figs 108 View FIGURES 106–111 , 132 View FIGURES 130–141 , 158, 159 View FIGURES 154–159 , 162 View FIGURES 160–165 , 168, 193, 196, 199, 202, 205, 206, 209, 212, 323.

Cyrtonotum striatifrons: Malloch, 1930: 325 View in CoL ; figs 6 a–c, p. 158. Type locality: [ Chad]: “Bahr el Ghazal”.

Curtonotum striatifrons: Curran (1933: 3) View in CoL .

Curtonotum striatifrons: Tsacas (1977: 166 View in CoL ; figs 11 a–e, p. 167).

Curtonotum striatifrons: Wirth and Tsacas (1980: 672) View in CoL .

Curtonotum striatifrons: Kirk-Spriggs (2008c: 251) View in CoL .

Curtonotum striatifrons: Klymko and Marshall (2011: 8) View in CoL .

Redescription: Male (primarily based on field-pinned N-T).

As redescribed for C. maculiventris (above), differing in the following respects:

Measurements: Overall length unknown; 9 mm ( Tsacas 1977: 168); length of head and thorax combined 3.9 mm; length of thorax and scutellum combined 3.6 mm; wing length 5.8 mm (n = 1, N-T).

Head ( Figs 108 View FIGURES 106–111 , 132 View FIGURES 130–141 , 158, 159 View FIGURES 154–159 ). Eye height/length ratio: 16:10 (n = 1, N-T); frons ( Fig. 132 View FIGURES 130–141 ) length/width ratio: 10:13 (n = 1, N-T); arista with 11–13 dorsal branches and 2–5 ventral branches in addition to terminal fork; clypeus pale brown; 1 pair very weak vibrissae and 9 much finer setae bordering genal groove; gena very wide, eye height/genal height ratio: 16:3 (n = 1, N-T).

Legs. Fore femur with ctenidium of 16–17 black spinules.

Wing ( Fig. 162 View FIGURES 160–165 ). Dm–cu crossvein very gently curved.

Abdomen. Sternite 6 ( Fig. 193 View FIGURES 191–202 ) quadrate, with macula apparently absent (only macerated specimen available), clothed in short black irregular brown setulae, those at apical margin longer and more prominent, with pair of preapical divergent medial setae.

Terminalia ( Figs 196, 199, 202 View FIGURES 191–202 ). Hypandrium ( Fig. 196 View FIGURES 191–202 , hy); postgonite ( Fig. 196 View FIGURES 191–202 ); epandrium (ep); cercus (ce); surstylus (ss); phallus (as in Figs 199 View FIGURES 191–202 , ph, bp, dp, lw; 202, lw, dp); phallapodeme ( Fig. 199 View FIGURES 191–202 , ph); ejaculatory apodeme (ea); basiphallus (bp) apical section ( Fig. 202 View FIGURES 191–202 , dp, lw) with small acutely angled internal projection and conspicuous lateral wing without projections or serrations and black spine; distiphallus ( Figs 199, 202 View FIGURES 191–202 , dp) with complex arrangement of projections as illustrated, extreme apex with semicircular projection.

♀ Similar to ♂, except in the following respects: wing length 5.7 mm (n = 1, LT). Postabdomen as illustrated in Figs 205, 206 View FIGURES 203–217 , auxiliary sclerites in region of sternite 7 as illustrated in Fig. 209 View FIGURES 203–217 and stermathecae as illustrated in Fig. 212 View FIGURES 203–217 .

Variation. As the species is only known from 3 specimens, insufficient material is available to assess variability.

Differential diagnosis. Curtonotum striatifrons is mainly separable from its congeners, C. herrero and C. maculiventris , on head shape (compare Figs 154–159 View FIGURES 154–159 ), form of the terminalia, especially the shape of the distiphallus, the lateral wing of the basiphallus ( Figs 197–202 View FIGURES 191–202 ) and of sternite 6 ( Figs 191–193 View FIGURES 191–202 ) (see above key for details). Females of the three species can be separated on the shape of the auxiliary sclerites in the region of sternite 7 ( Figs 207–209 View FIGURES 203–217 ) and the shape and structure of fine protuberances on the spermatheca ( Figs 210–212 View FIGURES 203–217 ).

Type material examined. CHAD: lectotype ♀ (here designated), “Type [paper disc; red border] // W.T.R.L. [printed vertically on card] / L. Bahr-el-Ghazal / C. Capt. Bourdillion / D. 12.6.22 / No. 14164 / [printed & handwritten horizontally] // WTRL [printed vertically on card] / Ent. Coll. / 14164 [printed & handwritten] // Pres. By / Imp. Inst. Ent. / Brit. Mus. / 1931-454 // Cyrtonotum / striatifrons / Type / Det. / J.R. Malloch // LECTOTYPE ♀ / Cyrtonotum / striatifrons Malloch, 1930 / designated by / A. H. Kirk-Spriggs 2008” ( BMNH). In good condition, right antenna missing; left mid tarsus missing, right hind tarsus damaged; re-staged on nu-poly mount; dissected, abdomen and terminalia in micro-vial pinned beneath specimen .

Remarks. Malloch (1930: 326) described the female of this species, citing the type material as: “ Type, and one paratype, Bahr el Ghazal, 14.vi.1922, No. 14165, W. T. R. L. (Capt. Boutdillon). Returned to the Imperial Bureau of Entomology.”

A single female specimen, bearing these labels, plus the label “ Cyrtonotum / striatifrons / Type / Det. / J.R. Malloch ” is housed in the BMNH, to which the collection of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology was transferred in 1931. The whereabouts of the female paratype bearing the same labels is unknown. As it is not clear whether Malloch labelled the cited paratype as “Type” or “ Paratype ”, this specimen is here regarded as a syntype, not the holotype, as referred to by Tsacas in his 1977 paper. In the same paper Tsacas erroneously regarded a second male specimen from Gadau in northern Nigeria as the “ Allotype ” and described and illustrated the unknown male on the basis of this specimen. Although representing the then unknown male of C. striatifrons , this specimen was not cited as a “Type” by Malloch, it does not bear a Malloch determination label, its date of capture (6.1933) post-dates the publication of the description of the species by three years, and it has no type status or bearing in nomenclature. The yellow rimmed “ Paratype ” label on this specimen was added later and also has no bearing .

Malloch (1930: 326) cited the collector of the type material as “ Capt. Boutdillion ”, whereas Tsacas (1977: 168) cites this as “Capt. Bontdillon”, the former being correct. Tsacas further cites the date of capture of the type as “ 14.VI.1922 ” although the label bears the date “12.6.22”.

The female syntype from Bahr el Ghazal is here designated as lectotype.

Additional material examined (all labelled: “ Curtonotum striatifrons Malloch, 1930 ♂ [or ♀] det. A.H. Kirk- Spriggs 2006”]): NIGERIA: 1♂, (erroneously cited as the “ Allotype ” of Curtonotum striatifrons by Tsacas 1977: 166), N. Nigeria: Gadau, vi.1933, Buxton & Lewis, Pres.by Imp. Inst. Ent., B.M.1934–137, Cyrtonotum striatifrons Mall. det. G.A.K. Marshall, Curtonotum striatifrons Allotype ♂ Malloch L. Tsacas det. 1976 (BMNH). SUDAN: 1♀, Muséum Paris, Soudan-Egyptien, Roseires, Haut nil Blue, Ch. Alluaud, Décembre 1909 (MNHN).

Distribution. Chad, Nigeria and Sudan ( Fig. 323 View FIGURE 323 ). The three known records for the species indicate that it is restricted to the Dry Savanna climatic zone, not to the true Sahel (or Wooded Steppe) climatic zone, and occurs in the 1600–2000 mm Potential Evapotranspiration zone.

Bionomics. Occurring in three major habitat types and in the Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas and Shrublands vegetation type (Appendix III) .