Usia engeli Paramonov, 1950

Gibbs, David, 2011, 2960, Zootaxa 2960, pp. 1-77 : 41-43

Usia engeli Paramonov, 1950

(Plate IX)

Usia engeli Paramonov, 1950: 365 .

Type material examined. Photographs seen. LECTOTYPE male here designated: Spain [nr. Cadiz, Andalusia], Chiclana / pusilla, Meig. / Usia engeli , n. sp. Typi [sic] ♀, Paramonov det./ Typus nr., Zoologische, Staatssammlung, München. [♂ in copula, still attached to female by terminalia, specimen away from pin, left wing missing, mesonotum damaged, ZSMC]. PARALECTOTYPE: data as for lectotype [♀ in copula, micro-pinned through mesonotum, head and both wings missing, ZSMC] .

Other material examined. Spain, Salamanca, Las Coronas, Viller de Ciervo , 23–25 May 1999 yellow pan trap (SA) (leg. P. Tschorsnig; det. D.J. Greathead) [1♂ 2♀ in BMNH, 2♂ 2♀ in PCDG, 2♂ 9♀ in spirit PCMC-T]; 12–23 May [19]96, Andalusia, Cadiz, leg. Schoolmeesters [♀ in PCJD]; Andalusia, 5km W Rhonda, 31 March 2000, D.J. Greathead [♀ in BMNH], Torrequemada, Cáceres, May 1935 Gil Collado/ Usia pusilla ♀ Meig / M.N.C.N., Madrid [♀ in MNCN] .

Etymology. Named after Dr. Erich Otto Engel.

Diagnosis. A small shining black Iberian endemic, relatively lightly built and most likely to be mistaken for U. forcipata . Hind femora with long ventral hairs (these fragile so easily lost), marginal hairs of scutellum longer than scutellum is long medially, wing clear basally, mesonotum shining. Male with long, parallel, apical elongations to epandrium, these often folded round cerci but usually visible. Female really only reliably identifiable on dissection when the flat apical sternite with translucent “window” diagnostic (Plate IX).

Redescription. Measurements. Body length. 2.0–3.0mm Wing length. 2.3–2.8mm.

Male. Head. Frons relatively narrow, about a sixth head width, at narrowest point, narrower than length of third antennal segment, eye margins convex in hind three fifths, widening slightly in front and concave. Rather matt medially, finely longitudinally striated, shinier on ocelli with very narrow, linear grey dust spots anterolaterally. Mouth margin very narrow, shining, linear almost absent. Ocelli equilateral, lateral ocelli separated from the eye by half their diameter. Longest hairs on ocellar tubercle about as long as depth of hind femora or longer, significantly longer than width across vertex at lateral ocelli. Occiput covered with grey dust obscuring ground colour, this dusting considerably thinner on triangular area behind vertex. Black hairs on occiput short above, much longer below, those on ventral side of head at least as long as those on ocellar tubercle. Antennae black, of mid-length, third segment long-obovate, straight dorsally before sulcus, convex ventrally, constricted apically with a blunt tip, PLATE IX. Usia engeli Paramonov, 1950 ; a epiphallic complex ventral, b epiphallic complex lateral, c gonocoxite ventral, d gonocoxite lateral, e epandrium dorsal, f epandrium lateral, g female genitalia ventral, h female sternite 8 ventral.

a little less than twice as long as scape and pedicel combined. A few longish dark setae on dorsum of third antennal segment immediately before apical sulcus, sensilla brown. Proboscis black, naked, about as long as mesonotum. Palps very small, black to brown, subclavate with a tuft of apical setae as long as the palp. Thorax. Entirely black, mesonotum shining and mostly smooth to inconspicuously wrinkled with hair insertions traceable, a rougher, more matt patch in front of scutellum. Lightly grey dusted on pronotum, postpronotal lobe, notopleuron close to suture and above wing base, especially along thoracic suture. Less densely haired than some species, mesonotum with long, perpendicular black hairs as long as those on ocellar tubercle, acrostichals irregularly biserial, paramedian lines bare slightly more transversely wrinkled than remainder of cuticle, extending back to above wing bases, laterally hairs generally distributed, lateral hairs the longest. Scutellum subshining, surface somewhat matt, obscurely transversely wrinkled, disc almost bare, hind margin with an irregular row of long, black hairs longer than scutellum is long, almost at right angles to disc. Pleura black, lightly grey dusted except lower two thirds of katepisternum and posterior margin of meron which are shining. Posterodorsal corner of anepisternum with dark hairs a little shorter than those on notopleuron. Wing. Clear to distinctly tinged brownish, the veins brownish yellow. Anal lobe narrow, almost parallel sided, hind margin barely convex, little more than half the width of anal cell. Haltere. Whitish knob, stem slightly infuscated basally. Legs. Black, shining but with rough texture to cuticle, short semi-erect hairs dorsally, fore and mid femora with a few inconspicuous posteroventral hairs on basal half, at least a few on mid-femora longer than femora is deep, hind-femora with a scattering of mid-length, erect black anteroventral hairs, the longest clearly longer than half the depth of the femora. The long hairs on the hind-femora seem to be fragile and in some specimens can be few or missing. Abdomen. Black, rather more elongate than most species, tergites relatively longer, surface sculpture of transverse wrinkles relatively weak, hair insertions traceable. Tergites 3–7 grey dusted basally (might be hidden under overlapping tergite). Disc of tergites covered with short, semierect black hairs, much longer hairs laterally and apically. Sternites grey-dusted with long black hairs along apical margins. Genitalia. Large, subglobular, almost as large as the remainder of the abdomen, length of epandrium approximately equal to length of sternites. Epandrium apically with conspicuous parallel-sided elongations that project caudally but are often folded over around the cerci, their tips overlapping, densely haired on disc, shining and almost bare laterally. Gonocoxite basally bilobed with long erect black hairs, gonostyli usually obscured by enclosing epandrium but relatively simple, broad and flat with apical thorn-like process. Tip of epiphallus very distinctive with curved triangular “wings” apicolaterally.

Female. Very similar to the male. The frons of the female is significantly broader than in males, about a quarter head width, more evenly divergent anteriorly, hind ocellus separated from eye margin by about the diameter of that ocellus and ocellar triangle more obtuse. Hairs generally shorter, most conspicuously so on the disc of the tergites. Anal lobe much wider, hind margin convex, almost as wide as anal cell. Apical sternite rather oblong, relatively flat and shiny, long black hairs laterally. When macerated a large triangular translucent area is apparent basally, in dry specimens this area slightly raised and covered with grey dust, apical notch wide and shallow.

Discussion. A distinctive species, whose affiliations are very uncertain but probably most closely related to U. forcipata .

Distribution. Spain. So far only known from a few widely scattered localities in western Spain from Salamanca in the north south to Cadiz. Should almost certainly occur in Portugal but records from Sicily ( Contini et al. 1995) are unlikely and unproven, so should be deleted as part of its range until specimens are examined.