Mallophora kalos, Yepes & Forero, 2021

Yepes, Sol & Forero, Dimitri, 2021, Two new species of the bee-mimicking genus Mallophora (Diptera, Asilidae) from Colombia, Zootaxa 4926 (3), pp. 431-440 : 435

Mallophora kalos sp. nov.

( Fig. 2 A–D)

Type material. Holotype male: COLOMBIA. Arauca, Arauca, Vereda El Clarmetero [probably a misspelling of “Clarinetero”], 125m, 13-08-2000, Agudelo A. [ UNAB] [07.07845°N, 70.65499°W] / [red label] Holotype Mallophora kalos sp.nov. Det. S.Yepes & D.Forero 2020.

Diagnosis. Vein R 1 with brown setae at the base. Fore and mid legs light brown, tarsus dark brown with black macrosetae. Hind femur longer that tibia with thin, long, white setae ventrally; hind tibia with dense, thin, long, brown setae dorsally, ventrally on basal half with dense, thin, long, brown setae, and white on apical half; tarsus with black macrosetae. Abdominal tergites I and II with white setae, remaining tergites with short, sparse, dark setae.

Description. Male (holotype). Total body length 22 mm; wing length 30 mm.

Head: light-brown. Scape light brown basally; remaining antennal segments missing. Ocellar triangle of same color of head. Gena with light-yellow setae; facial gibbosity developed on ventral half, face only with yellow macrosetae ( Fig. 2C ). Visible maxillary palpus yellow. Proboscis black. Thorax: brown. Postpronotum in dorsal view with long, light-yellow setae, some black macrosetae at margins; mesonotum laterally with four brown areas, and one large medial elongate reddish-brown area, with short black setae dorsally, and apically with long white setae; scutellum with long, light-yellow setae ( Fig. 2A ). Pleurites paler than mesonotum, and with long, light-yellow setae ( Fig. 2B ). Fore and mid legs light-brown, coxae with long, light-yellow setae; femora with light-yellow setae basally and black macrosetae distributed over entire surface; tibia with short reddish setae and black setae over entire surface; tarsi with macrosetae and thick black setae that give an overall black coloration. Hind leg light brown; coxa with long light-yellow setae; femur longer than tibia, with white setae ventrally, glabrous dorsally; tibia ventrally with brown setae on basal half, apical half with white setae; dorsally with brown setae, increasing in size from base to apex. First tarsomere (other segments missing) with short black setae dorsally, ventrally with short yellow setae, black macrosetae on the entire surface ( Fig. 2D ). Wings coloration opaque yellow, with strong brown setae at base of C vein, present up to humeral crossvein; vein R1 with brown setae at base. Abdomen: brown. T1–2 light-yellow setae dorsally, T3–8 short black setae dorsally ( Fig. 2A ); ventrally light-yellow setae homogeneously distributed ( Fig. 2B ). Epandria short and brown, with white setae.

Female: Unknown

Etymology. This new species takes the name from the Greek καλός, beautiful, given the attractive color pattern of this new species.

Distribution. This new species is known from a single locality in the Oriental plains, Los Llanos, which are tropical savannas in the Department of Arauca ( Fig 3 ).

Remarks. Mallophora kalos sp. nov. differs from other species of Mallophora by the brown body color, the distribution of setae on the hind tibia, in which the basal half ventrally has brown setae and the apical half are white; the predominance of white setae all over the body; and the long hind tibia. Mallophora kalos sp. nov. will key out to M. thompsoni using the key of Artigas & Angulo (1980) because of the distribution of the setae on the hind tibia, in which they increase in length toward the basal third, and by the presence of white setae on the hind femur. Nevertheless, M. thompsoni has a black body, the abdomen has yellow setae on all tergites, has hyaline wings, and the male genitalia have white setae, whereas Mallophora kalos sp. nov. has a brown body, the setae are predominantly white, the wings are opaque, and the male genitalia does not have white setae. Some of these color differences between Mallophora kalos sp. nov. and M. thompsoni might be because the holotype of Mallophora kalos sp. nov. seems to have been collected in ethanol and then pinned dry. If so, some change in coloration might have occurred. Nonetheless, even if some fading occurred, the color pattern of the hind tibia is very different to that of M. thompsoni , clearly pointing that the two are different species.

Mallophora kalos sp. nov. is very similar to M. gauteovan sp. nov., but M. gauteovan sp. nov. is more robust and darker, it has yellow setae on abdominal tergites 2–8, the face shows a clear brown spot between the antennae and the proboscis, the face has yellow and black macrosetae, and it lacks setae on the vein R1. Additionally, Mallophora kalos sp. nov., can be differentiated by the predominantly yellow color of the setae, and the tarsomeres only with black setae, suggesting that they are different species.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Mallophora kalos sp. nov. A) Habitus, dorsal view; B) habitus, lateral view; C) face, anterior view; D) male hind leg, anterior view. Total body length 22 mm.

FIGURE 3. Map of northern South America with distribution of Mallophora gauteovan sp. nov. and Mallophora kalos sp. nov. in Colombia.