Gonioscelis macquartii ( Jaennicke, 1867 )

Londt, Jason G. H., 2004, A review of the afrotropical genus Gonioscelis Schiner, 1866 (Diptera: Asilidae), with descriptions of new species, African Invertebrates 45, pp. 21-124 : 62-65

Gonioscelis macquartii ( Jaennicke, 1867)

Figs 14 , 77–79 , 144

Stenopogon macquartii Jaennicke, 1867: 358 .

Gonioscelis xanthopogon Speiser, 1910: 91 syn. n.

Gonioscelis ventralis var macquartii: Engel 1925: 167 .

Redescription: Based primarily on ơ syntypes of xanthopogon (NHRS) .

Head: Antenna dark red-brown to black, setae black. Facial swelling poorly developed,

second smaller swelling in area between main gibbosity and antennal sockets, mystax uniform shiny orange, arranged on major and minor gibbosities. Frons and vertex gold pruinose. Ocellar tubercle shiny apruinose with black oc. Occiput gold-silver pruinose except for two apruinose areas behind vertex, setae orange. Proboscis and palpus dark red-brown, orange setose.

Thorax: Dark red-brown to black, gold pruinose. Postpronotal lobes orange, contrasting with adjacent mesonotum, orange setose. Mesonotal setae: ac not evident; approx. 11 pairs dc, mostly black (a few yellow posteriorly), clearly extending anterior of transverse suture; 3 orange npl; 3 sa (2 pale orange, 1 black); 4 pale orange pa. Scutellum dark red-brown to black, gold pruinose, with 6 pale orange mrg sct. Wing length 9.3 mm, membrane mostly brown-yellow. Legs: Orange except for red-brown areas (part of anterior face of prothoracic femur, most of anterior face of metathoracic femur), macrosetae mostly black but some are orange, fine setae orange. Prothoracic coxa black, gold pruinose, orange setose; femoral spur ( Fig. 14 ) bluntly pointed (angle approx. 70°).

Abdomen: Tergites dark red-brown, thinly silver-gold pruinose, setae orange to yellow. Sternites similar to tergites.

Terminalia ( Figs 77–79 ): The illustrated specimen agrees well with the xanthopogon holotype whose hypandrium is broken and has lost all major epandrial macrosetae. Long ep (epandrial lobes project beyond level attained by proctiger), lobes tapering distally to slightly downturned broadly-rounded apices bearing long strong macrosetae; gcx with two distal projections and a pair of macrosetae; hyp, in ventral view, slightly broader than long, tapering rapidly to mid-length before widening to form widely separated bilobed apex, lobes equipped with a number of macrosetae.

Variation: A fairly uniform species with a little variation in size.

Type material: ETHIOPIA: ơ holotype ( macquartii not seen) ‘Abyssinia’ ‘(Rüppel)’ (cited from Jaennicke, 1867) (SMFD). TANZANIA: 2ơ syntypes ( xanthopogon seen), ‘Meru [03°14'S 36°45'E] / Nieder.’, ‘Ngare na / nyuki’, ‘Sjöstedt.’, ‘jan.’, ‘ Gonioscelis / xanthopogon / P. Speiser det. / Type!’ (NHRS).

Type locality: Ethiopia: Hãrer .

Other material: ETHIOPIA: 1ơ, ‘Ethiopia / Rock Valley / nr. Harar [Hãrer – 09°19'N 42°07'E] / vi-19-1965 / A.B. Gurney’ (NMNH); 1ơ 3^, ‘Sammlung / F. Hermann’ [not on ơ], ‘Abyssinia / Gonioscelis / ventralis / var. / vulpinus’ [on 1^ only], ‘ Gonioscelis / ventralis var. / vulpinus ^ / det. E.O. Engel’ (ZSMC); 1^, ‘Pres. by / Imp. Bur. Ent. / Brit. Mus. / 1924-298’, ‘Abyssinia / Nov. 1911 / R.J. Stordy’ (BMNH). KENYA: 2ơ 1^, ‘van Someren / Mt-Moroto / Karamoja [farm 01°01'N 34°52'E] 4 50’, ‘Com. Inst. Ent. / Coll. No. 11740’ (BMNH); 1ơ, ‘Kenya / 20km N Akeriamet / 01°42'N, 35°38'E / 3-4 June 1980 / B. Lamoral’; 1ơ, ‘Afrique or. Anglaise / Mt Kénya [00°10'S 37°20'E] verst ouest / zone inférieure / Alluaud & Jeannel’, ‘Prairies a Bosquets / Entre Riv. Narémuru / et Riv. Burgurett / Fév. 1912 – 2100m – St. 49’, ‘= Stenopogon / macquardii / Jaenn.’, ‘ Gonioscelis / ventralis var. / vulpinus / det. E.O. Engel ơ’ (ZSMC)’’ 1ơ, ‘Kenya: Machakos #83 / 40 km SE of Nairobi / 01°28'S 37°03'E 1700m / Date: 29.xi.1992 / A Whittington & J Londt / Lukenya cliffs/bushveld’; 1ơ, ‘Brit. B. Africa, / Kabete [01°16'S 36°43'E], / 17.iv.1913 / T.J. Anderson’ (NMNH); 1^, ‘Van Someren / Ngong Scarp [01°24'S 36°38'E] / May 1943 ’ (NMNH); 1ơ, ‘Malindi [01°26'S 40°02'E], / 13.5.32 [poorly written]’, ‘Kenya Colony’ (ID G. flavipennis sp. n. by Bromley 1947 – unpublished) (NMNH); 2^, ‘E. Africa: / Nairobi, [01°17'S 36°49'E] / Zone H, H25 3181, / L.C. Edwards. / B.M. 1952-403’, ‘343 / 19.12.51 [1^ indistinct]’, ‘368 / 7.1.52 [1^ indistinct]’ (BMNH); 1ơ 1^, ‘Kenya #59 / Nguruma, Kajiado dist / 01°50'S 36°56'E 700m / iv.1990, Rift valley / Coll: I.M.I. Abu-Zinid / Alluvial plains’; 1ơ, ‘Kenya #58 / Nguruma, Kajiado dist / 01°50'S 36°56'E 700m / iii.1990, Rift valley / Coll: I.M.I. Abu-Zinid / Alluvial plains’; 1^, ‘Kenya #58 / Nguruma, Kajiado dist / 01°50'S 36°56'E 700m / i.1990, Rift valley / Coll: I.M.I. Abu-Zinid / Alluvial plains’; 9ơ 6^, ‘Kenya: Machakos #88 / 17 km SE Sultan Hamud / 02°04'S 37°28'E 1140m / Date: 30.xi.1992 / J Londt & A Whittington / Grassland & road verges’; 1ơ, ‘Brit. E. Africa, / Masai Reserve [approx. 02°30'S 37°00'E], / 17.4.1913 / T.J.Anderson’, ‘Kenya Colony’ (NMNH); 1ơ, ‘Afr. Or. Angl. (Wa-Taïta) / Bura [03°30'S 38°18'E] / Alluaud & Jeannel / Mars 1912 – 1050 m – St. 61’, ‘ G. / ventralis / Schin. / det. Engel’, ‘ Gonioscelis ơ / ventralis Schin’ (ZSMC). SUDAN: 1^, ‘Brit. Mus. / 1922-194.’, ‘Sudan: Nuba Mountains, / Kadugli [= Käduqli 11°01'N 29°43'E] / Aug.-Sept. 1921. / Capt. F. Moysey.’ (BMNH). TANZANIA:3ơ, ‘Tanzania Mkomazi / Game Reserve. Near / Viteweni Ridge. / 03°55.09'S 37°49.63'E’, ‘ 22-23 April 1996 / S. van Noort. Yellow pan / trap. Open Combretum / / Dichrostachys bushveld. / (burnt Nov 1995)’, ‘SAM –DIP- / A012156’ (SAMC); 1ơ, ‘Tanzania Mkomazi / Game Reserve, between / Dindera Dam & Viteweni / Ridge. / 03°55.09'S 37°49.63'E’, ’ 16.iv.1996. S. van Noort / Sweep. Open disturbed / Combretum bushland. / burnt Nov 1995 '’ ‘SAM –DIP- / A012155’ (SAMC); 1^, ‘Tanzania: Mkomazi / Game Reserve. Ibaya / Camp. 3°58'S 37°48'E’ / 880m A Russell- Smith / Malaise trap 29.i.1996 ’; 2^, ‘Meru / Nieder.’, ‘Ngare na / nyuki’, ‘Sjöstedt.’, ‘jan.’, ‘ Gonioscelis / phacopterus / P. Speiser det.’ (NHRS) [recorded by Speiser (1910) as phacopterus but clearly belonging to xanthopogon . Sexual dimorphism partly accounts for Speiser’s error]; 1ơ, ‘Tanzania: 1mi. NW. / of Chunya [08°32'S 33°25'E] 5000’ / 29.i.1970 / M.E. Irwin & / E.S. Ross’ (CASC); 1ơ 1?, ‘Tanzania / 19 / Ex. Coll. W.H. Potts. / B.M. 1967-472.’ (BMNH). UGANDA: 1ơ, ‘van Someren / Entebbe [00°04'N 32°28'E] Forests / Kitinda. Uganda, / July 1951 ’, ‘Com. Inst. Ent. / Coll. No. 12301’ (BMNH); 1ơ, ‘Uganda / Nabilatuk [02°03'N 34°34'E] / 7.viii.1958 / J. Bowden’ (BMNH); 1^, ‘Asilid + / prey [pinned with Ichneumonidae ]’, ‘Uganda / Madi [03°15'N 31°45'E] / - v-1927. / G.D.H. Carpenter’, ‘Pres. by / Imp. Inst. Ent. / Brit. Mus. / 1931- 331.’ (BMNH); 6^, ‘19-25, Sep. 1911. / S.A. Neave’, ‘Uganda Prot. / W. shores of / Vic. Nyanza. / Buddu [00°25'S 31°40'E] 3,700 ft. ’, ‘1912-193.’ (BMNH). ZIMBABWE: 1ơ, ‘Pres. by / Imp. Bur. Ent. / Brit. Mus. / 1924-298.’, ‘Matopos [Hills 20°35'S 28°40'E] / S. Rhodesia / 11.3.1923 / Rhodesia / Museum.’ (BMNH). UNKNOWN: 2ơ 1^, ‘Olgasalic / May. 1944 / Meneghetti.’, ‘Pres. by / Coryndon Mus. / B.M. 1961-696.’ (BMNH); 1ơ, ‘Afrique / Dalla Adou [? Ethiopia Dalladu 09°23'N 40°50'E] / 28 Juillet’ (MNHN).

Notes: Jaennicke’s holotype is in very poor condition. Mr F. Geller-Grimm (Wiesbaden, Germany) sent me the following note regarding the condition of the specimen: ‘Sex can not be checked. Condition: The specimen is destroyed by feeding beetles. The following parts are preserved: thorax part, front right leg, front left leg, mid left leg, wings, and the first 4 tergites.’ As the specimen is fragile and the genitalia missing, it was decided not to consign it via the postal services. The original description is good, and I have seen other material from Hãrer (the gazeteer spelling of Harar or Harrar) that strongly suggests that the synonymy of xanthopogon is justified. Engel (1925) listed the Ethiopian material in ZSMC as follows ‘3^^, 1ơ aus Abyssinien, Harrar, in Coll. Hermann.’ Only one of the specimens actually carries the word ‘Abyssinia’ on a label and none has the word ‘Harrar’. As it is possible that Engel had been told that the material had come from Hãrer, and as I have seen a more recently collected specimen labeled ‘Harar’, I accept that this was indeed the place from which Engel’s material originated. Engel (1925) considered macquartii to be a variety of ventralis . There is no evidence to justify that ranking.

Distribution, phenology and biology (Tables 1–2, Fig. 144 ): Known from the northeast African countries of Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. The species distribution straddles the equator and specimens have been collected in January, March, April, May, June and November. The habitat is open woodland (savanna). There is one Natal Museum prey record as follows: 1ơ (17 km SE Sultan Hamud) – Diptera ( Asilidae , Euscelidia sp. ).

Similar species:A member of the large and widely distributed group of species possessing a poorly defined facial gibbosity. The species is distinctive and yet similar to pruinosus which has been found sympatrically. Males can be separated using genital morphology, but females are difficult to identify without associated males.

Figures

Figs 10–17. Gonioscelis species, left prothoracic femur, showing variation in spur development and method of measuring spur angle (16–17). 10. G. melas sp. n. (25 km N Kamieskroon). 11. G. chloris sp.n. (4 km SW Clanwilliam). 12. G. longulus Ricardo, 1925 (Paul Roux). 13. G. cuthbertsoni sp. n 7 km SE Angwa Bridge). 14. G. macquartii Jaennicke, 1867 (Nguruma). 15. G. nigripennis Ricardo, 1925 (Erikson’s Drift). 16. G. xanthochaites sp. n. (Aus). 17. G. hadrocantha sp. n. (Roçadas). Scale lines = 1 mm.

Figs 77–88. Gonioscelis male genitalia. 77–79. G. macquartii (Jaennicke, 1867) (Nguruma). 77. Lateral. 78. Dorsal. 79. Ventral. 80–82. G. maculiventris Bigot, 1879 (holotype). 80. Lateral. 81. Dorsal. 82. Ventral. 83–85. G. mantis (Loew, 1852) (De La Rey). 83. Lateral. 84. Dorsal. 85. Ventral. 86–88. G. melas sp. n. (25 km N Kamieskroon holotype). 86. Lateral. 87. Dorsal. 88. Ventral. Scale lines = 1 mm.

Fig. 144. Distribution of Gonioscelis species found north of southern Africa. closed circle = amnoni, open circle = batyleon, closed square = congoensis, open square = feijeni, closed triangle = francoisi, open triangle = macquartii.