Cyrtosia bispermatheca Gharali & Evenhuis

Gharali, Babak & Evenhuis, Neal, 2017, Review of the genus Cyrtosia Perris (Diptera: Mythicomyiidae: Platypyginae) in Iran, with description of three new species, Zootaxa 4269 (2), pp. 230-244 : 235-238

Cyrtosia bispermatheca Gharali & Evenhuis , sp. nov.

( Figs. 4–5 )

Type material. Holotype male, 2 males, 1 female paratype (dried by HMDS), Juladak rangeland, N 36°21', E 50°32', 2400 m asl., Juladak village (Alamot), 1 July 2009, Qazvin province, Leg. B. Gharali ( ZMHB) ; 1 male, 1 female paratypes, same data as holotype (in alcohol) ( BPBM), 1 male paratype (genitalia dissected, in alcohol) , same data as holotype (BG).

Diagnosis. Frons black except lateral and lower margins yellow; mesonotum matte brown, with three pollinose longitudinal stripes; scutellum dark brown except small spot at posterior margin yellow; halter stem yellow, knob white with large brown spot dorsally; epandrium in dorsal view subquadrate with a short process apicoventrally; gonocoxites apicolaterally with very long black sclerotized process, apicomedially with sickle-shaped processes; Vaginal furca U-shaped, two spermathecal reservoirs, cylindrical, with a cylindrical invagination apically.

Description. Holotype male ( Fig. 4 a). Lengths. Body: 2.1 mm; wing: 2.2 mm. Head ( Figs. 4 a, c). Subglobular, slightly longer than high; eyes dichoptic, separated at vertex by 1.5 times distance between lateral ocelli; occiput, mentum, and vertex much below median ocellus black; frons black except lateral and lower margins yellow giving it a U-shaped yellow pattern; face yellow, with two brown small spots next to tip of oral cavity; oral margin narrowly yellow; antennae brown, scape minute, pedicel cylindrical, slightly wider than long, first flagellomere ellipsoid, length about 1.5 times greatest width, second flagellomere about one-half length of first, with minute apical style; proboscis sclerotized, stiff, pointed apically, equal to head height; labrum sclerotized, stiff, pointed apically, two-thirds proboscis length. Thorax. Pronotum brown; mesonotum matte brown, with three pollinose longitudinal stripes; postpronotal lobe yellow; lateral margin from postpronotal lobe to postalar callus yellow, interrupted widely with brown stripe at wing base; scutellum dark brown except small spot at posterior margin yellow; halter stem yellow, knob white with large brown spot dorsally; pleura black except yellow on following: propleuron completely, large spot posteromedially on anepisternum, upper margin of katepisternum, katepimeron and upper margin of anepimeron. Legs. Coxae brown and femora brown except extreme apices yellow; tibiae yellow; two basalmost tarsal segments yellow, remainder brownish; claws black. Wing ( Fig. 4 f). Hyaline; Sc, Rs basally, vein separating basal cells and anal vein white to translucent; costal, radial, and medial veins brown; costa ends slightly beyond end of R4+5; vein Sc incomplete, ending at level about equal to origin of vein R2+3; vein R2+3 ends in wing margin equidistant between end of vein R1 and R4+5; cell dm open, without crossvein closing it apically; vein M1+2 one half length of fork point to margin of wing; length of cell br 1.5 times that of cell bm, anal cell open at wing margin narrowly; fringe of hair on posterior margin of wing minute. Abdomen. Tergites brown, posterior margin of all tergites narrowly yellow; sternites almost all brown, posterior margins of sternites yellow. Male genitalia. Epandrium ( Fig. 5 b) dark brown with outer margin of epandrium and basomedial processes of gonocoxites narrowly yellow; epandrium in dorsal view subquadrate with a short process apicoventrally [pseudosurstylus]; cercus narrow, sclerotized; gonocoxites ( Fig. 5 a) fused medially, with yellow broad process basomedially, process possessing long whitish hairs apically; gonocoxites apicolaterally with very long black sclerotized process, apicomedially with sickle-shaped processes [gonostyli]; basal aedeagal apodeme ( Fig. 5 c) linear in dorsal view, as long as gonocoxal apodeme; aedeagal bulb swollen, narrowing to very long and apically curved aedeagus; lateral aedeagal apodeme triangular.

Female. similar to males but larger in size. Female genitalia. Vaginal furca U-shaped ( Fig. 5 d), with two quadrate plates subapically at lateral arms, tubes same width throughout, common spermathecal duct thin ( Fig. 5 f), transparent, short, one-half length of spermathecal reservoir, sperm pump thin, transparent, with flared apical valve, about three times common duct length, apical duct thin, transparent, about two-thirds sperm pump length, slightly swollen next to reservoir, two spermathecal reservoirs ( Fig. 5 e), cylindrical, length 1.5 times width, with a cylindrical invagination apically.

Etymology. The species name is composed of two words: bi [= two] and spermatheca, referring to the female genitalia of C. bispermatheca that have unusually two spermathecal reservoirs. The normal state of this character in species of Cyrtosia that have been dissected is having three spermathecal reservoirs.

Distribution. This species is only known from Alamot region of Qazvin province in Iran. This area is located on Alborz mountain ranges and famous for its medicinal plants. Specimens were collected by sweeping where they had aggregated on the flowers of Cichorium intybus L. ( Fig. 3 b).

Remarks. This new species is easily distinguished from the congeners in Iran by the presence of a large brown spot on the halter knob. Compared to species keyed in Engel (1933), only Cyrtosia canariensis Engel , originally described as a variety of Cyrtosia tetragramma Bezzi, 1926 , has dark spot on halter knob (the original description states: “Der Schwingerkopf ist auf seiner Mitte deutlich geschwärzt”). Cyrtosia bispermatheca is also distinguished from this Canary Islands species by the yellow color at the posterior margin of scutellum (scutellum completely dark brown in C. canariensis ) and the yellow frons with a black stripe medially (frons almost all black in C. canariensis ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. The different localities of Qazvin province from where type material were collected a. Nodahak rangeland (C. zieglerii sp. nov.), b. Joladak mountainous rangeland (C. bispermatheca sp. nov.), c. Loshan, rocky hills (C. baccadomus sp. nov.).

FIGURE 4. C. bispermatheca sp. nov., male holotype: a. habitus in lateral view; b. mesonotum dorsal view; c. head dorsal view; d. abdomen in laterodorsal view (arrow points to black brown spot on halter knob); e. male abdomen dorsal view; f. wing.

FIGURE 5. Cyrtosia bispermatheca sp. nov., male and female genitalia: a. gonocoxites dorsal view (the arrow shows less sclerotized plate); b. epandrium dorsal view; c. phallic complex dorsal view; d. vaginal furca; e. spermathecal reservoir; f. spermathecal ducts.