Physiphora hendeli, Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016

Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016, Revision of the Genus Physiphora Fallén 1810 (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Ulidiinae), Zootaxa 4087 (1), pp. 1-88 : 41-43

Physiphora hendeli sp. n.

Figures 167–180 .

Chrysomyza tarsata: Hendel, 1909: 618 (misidentification; non tarsata Macquart 1851 ).

Physiphora tarsata: Steyskal, 1980: 576 (part: “? S. Afr.”; misidentification; non tarsata Macquart, 1851 ).

Material. Type. Holotype ♂: South Africa: “Cape Province. / Swellendam. / 9–14.xii.1931 ”, “S. Africa. / R. E. Turner / Brit. Mus. / 1932—3” (BMNH). Paratypes: Kenya: 1♀: “Afr. or. Angl. (WA—TAITA) / Bura / Alluaud & Jeannel / Mars 1912 1050 RD St. 61” (NHMW); South Africa: 1♂, 1♀: Cape Province: “Capland / Willowmor / Dr. Brauns”; “Chrysomysa / tarsata Macq. / det. F. Hendel”, “Coll. Hendel” (NHMW); 1♂: “S. Africa / Cape Province / Graaf Reinst / x.1931 / J. Ogilvie”, “Pres, by Imp. Inst. Ent. / B.M. 1947—13”; 1♂ (dissected): “S. Africa / Cape Province / Mossel Bay / January, 1922”, “S. Africa / R. E. Turner / Brit. Mus. 1922—67 ” (SIZK), 1♀, same labels, except “114. ix.1921 ” and “1921—476” (BMNH); 1♂ (partly damaged, no legs), “Herbertsdale, C. P., R. S.Afr. 19.ix.1976, E. Helm” (SANC);

Zimbabwe: 1♀ Matopos Nat. Park, 28/ii–1.xii.1993 (F. Koch) (MNKB).

Diagnosis. P. hendeli sp. n. belongs to a group of species differing from other Physiphora by the combination of subshining brown or black frons, densely rugulose, dull metallic blue to green or almost entirely black mesonotum, glossy black postpronotal lobe, margins of transverse and scuto-scutellar sutures, and creamy white fore metatarsus. It differs from P. elbae Steyskal and P. obscura by the combination of conspicuously dotted anterior part of frons, entire transverse whitish microtrichose band on facial carina, and narrowly open cell r4+5 (frons smooth, and carina with λ-shaped microtrichose mark on facial carina, and cell r4+5 completely closed in P. elbae Steyskal and P. obscura ), it differs also by the small round orbital microtrichose spot on frons (in P. obscura , this spot is large and semicircular; in P. elbae , it is long and cuneiform, almost reaching anterior margin). From P. allomma and P. orinigra sp. n., which share entire transverse whitish microtrichose band on face, black or dark brown orbital plates and ventral part of face, and narrowly open cell r4+5, P. hendeli sp. n. differs by the frons conspicuously dotted at anterior margin (smooth with hardly visible alveolae at bases of setulae in P. allomma and P. orinigra sp. n.).

Description. Head ( Figs. 168–171 ) brown to black. Frons 1.1–1.2 times as long as wide, dark brown, subshining, with short round parafrontal microtichose spot not reaching anterior margin, densely pitted anterior part, medial impression and poorly differentiated calluses posterior to its middle ( Figs. 169–171 ), with short brownish setulae inserted in pits. Vertical plates and ocellar triangle shining black without metal sheen; 2 pairs of black orbital setae; ocellar setae lateroclinate, as long as orbital setae.

Face black (at most dark brown at lateral corners), with entire transverse microtrichose band widely not separated from microtrichose antennal grooves. Gena 1/3 times as high as eye; parafacial and gena brown; parafacial with narrow white microtrichose stripe; gena without microtrichose mark; postgena mostly black ( Fig. 168 ). Occiput entirely black or at most with brown spot posterior to ocellar triangle. Medial vertical seta 0.5 times as long as frons width, 1.1–1.2 times as long as lateral vertical and 4–5 times as long as ocellar, orbital and postocellar setae. Antenna brown; flagellomere 1 rounded apically, twice as long as wide, grey microtrichose; arista bare, brown in basal 1/6, remainder black. Clypeus black. Palp black, grey microtrichose and black setose. Mouthparts black.

Thorax ( Fig. 169 ). Scutum and scutellum black, densely rugulose, almost matt, with faint cyan tinge or matt black; antepronotum, postpronotal lobe, posterior surface of notopleural triangle, transverse suture, supra-alar and postalar parts of scutum, anterior half of anepisternum and katepisternum, and whole anepimeron shining black; posterodorsal parts of anepisternum and katepisternum shagreened; supra-alar area and tympanal fossa black, postscutellum black, gray microtrichose; postero-ventral margin of scutellum without microtrichose area; anatergite, katatergite and lateroventral parts of mediotergite sparsely grey microtrichose. Mesonotal scutum with indistinguishable acrostichal and dorsocentral rows of setulae, as well as acrostichal seta; dorsocentral setae hairlike; other setae moderately long, black: one postprononal, 2 postsutural supra-alar, one intra-alar and one postalar.

Scutellum densely rugulose, usually pitchy black or with deep blue reflection, apparently bare or with very short and sparse brownish setulae (1/10–1/15 times as long as setae) and 2 pairs of black scutellar setae.

Wing. Entirely hyaline, with yellow or partly brownish veins; cell r4+5 narrowly opened, apical section of M arcuate ( Fig. 167 ). Postero-apical extension of cell cup 1.5 times as long as vein A1+CuA2, and 3.5 times as long as transverse section of vein CuA2. Calypters with white fringe. Length: 2.6–3.6 mm.

Legs. Black except fore tarsus with basitarsomere creamy white in basal 7/8; mid- and hind tarsi yellow except last tarsomere brown; all setae black; fore femur postero-ventrally with 4–5 almost non-thickened short setae in apical half.

Abdomen. Both tergites and sternites shining black, laterally finely rugulose, usually without blue or green reflection; all setulae black; abdominal tergite 1 basally sparsely grey microtrichose; female abdominal tergite 2 with pair of dimple-like structures laterally.

Male postabdomen brown to black; epandrium as on Figs. 176–178 , cerci with moderately large triangular nipple-like structures, phallus with stipe almost as long as preglans and glans; caecum five times as long as stipe width; preglans with fine spinules in apical portion ( Fig. 174 ); glans with 6–6 short lobes ( Figs. 174–175 ). Hypandrium ( Fig. 180 ) with poorly developed vanes of phallapodeme.

Female terminalia not dissected.

Distribution. Eastern and Southern Africa.

Biology unknown.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Austrian dipterist Friedrich Georg Hendel (1874–1936), who provided the first taxonomical treatment of known species of the genus and described four nominal species now belonging to Physiphora .

Figures

FIGURES 167 – 173. Physiphora hendeli: 167, habitus, left; 168,169, head and thorax, left and dorsal; 170 – 171, head, anterior; 172 – 173, labels.

FIGURES 174 – 180. Physiphora hendeli: 174, ♂ phallus; 175, glans, enlarged; 176, epandrium, posterior; 177, surstili; 178, epandrium and hypandrium, right; 179, epandrium, ventral; 180, hypandrium, ventral.