Choerades Walker, 1851

Londt, Jason G. H., 2015, Taxonomic observations regarding four genera ofAfrotropical robber flies, Choerades Walker, 1851, Laphria Meigen, 1803, Nannolaphria Londt, 1977 and Notiolaphria Londt, 1977, and the description of Ericomyia gen. n. (Diptera, Asilidae, Laphriinae), African Invertebrates 56 (1), pp. 191-191 : 195-196

Genus Choerades Walker, 1851

Choerades Walker, 1851 b: 109 .

Type species: Choerades aurigena Walker, 1851 [= Laphria vulcanus Wiedemann, 1828 ], by monotypy.

Diagnosis: Head: Antennal postpedicel at most twice as long as scape and pedicel combined, antennal stylus absent. Maxillary palpus 2-segmented. Proboscis long, narrow and laterally compressed (knife-like). Thorax: Prosternum fused to proepisternum. Anepisternum with at least 1 strong, long macroseta at supero-posterior angle, in front of wing insertion.Apical scutellar macrosetae present. Postmetacoxal area membranous. Anatergal setae absent. Metathoracic femur not obviously inflated mediodistally and ventrodistal macrosetae not mounted on tubercles. Prothoracic tibia without an apical spur. Pulvilli present. Wing with alula present. Cell r 1 closed, joined to C by an obvious, fairly straight stalk. Cell r 5 open or closed. Apical portion of vein M3 not perfectly aligned with proximal portion of M2 (forming a cross). Abdomen: T2 no more than four times as long as wide and S1 confined beneath T1. Male gonopods highly distinctive in possessing fused or semifused setae on their ventral surfaces. Female terminalia simple, without acanthophorite spines. Ovipositor short and not markedly tubular.

Although some 16 species of Afrotropical Choerades ( aureopilosa , aurifera , bella , bipenicillata , consistens , contristans, flavipes , iola, ivorina , kwadjoi , lateralis , maynei , multipunctata, nigrescens, nigribimba, superbiens ) have already been formally recognised, there remain a number of species, presently catalogued under Laphria , that require transfer to Choerades , and review (an opinion shared by Lehr (1991)). As only a single, true, Afrotropical Choerades specimen has been reported beyond the African mainland (see below), other African species still remaining in Laphria are here formally transferred to Choerades giving rise to the following new combinations:

Choerades auricorpus ( Hobby, 1948) , comb. n.

Choerades ctenoventris (Oldroyd, 1970) , comb. n.

Choerades fortipes (Walker, 1857) , comb. n.

Choerades hera (Bromley, 1935) , comb. n.

Choerades luctuosa (Macquart, 1847) , comb. n.

Choerades metalli (Walker, 1851) , comb. n.

Choerades ricardoi (Bromley, 1935) , comb. n.

Choerades rueppelii (Wiedemann, 1828) , comb. n.

Choerades schoutedeni (Bromley, 1935) , comb. n.

With acceptance of this transfer of nine Laphria species, the number of Choerades species is effectively increased to 25. While it remains possible that, pending review, one or more of these species may prove to belong to Notiolaphria , or some other genus, this appears highly unlikely as only one widespread species of Notiolaphria has been reported from the eastern parts of the African mainland where Choerades is the dominant genus.

First record of an Afrotropical Choerades from an Indian Ocean island:

The following specimen represents the only record, known to me, of an Afrotropical Choerades not found on the African mainland.Although it is possible that the specimen is mislabelled, it may represent an interesting zoogeographical phenomenon requiring future verification and explanation.

SEYCHELLES: 1♀ ‘Mahé [c. 04°40'58"S 55°28'50"E, c. 620 m] 08-9 / Seychelles Exp.’, ‘Seychelles Is. / Pres. By / Percy Sladen / Trust Cttee. / B/M. 1922-157’, ‘ Laphria / sp.?’, ~ ‘F. Hermann’ [orange] ( BMNH). Observation: Oldroyd (1975) records the type species of Choerades as having been collected from ‘Celebes, Formosa, Java, Malaya, Philippines, Sumatra; Moluccas (Ceram)’.As the species is found on a number of islands I believe that future revisionary work on Oriental Choerades should include the comparison of species with Indian Ocean species currently assigned to Notiolaphria .