Megaselia farshbafi, Khameneh & Khaghaninia & Disney & Maleki-Ravasan, 2019

Khameneh, Roya Namaki, Khaghaninia, Samad, Disney, R. Henry L. & Maleki-Ravasan, Naseh, 2019, Twenty one new species of Megaselia Rondani (Diptera: Phoridae) from Iran, Zootaxa 4711 (1), pp. 1-50 : 19

Megaselia farshbafi n. sp.

( Figs 110–121 )

Material examined. Holotype male, West Azerbaijan province, Khoy city, Pere region, 38°41.719’N, 44°54.041’E, 1405 m, montane grassland, 22.V.2012, S. Khaghaninia (65, CUMZ—13-90).

Description. Male. Whole fly as Fig. 110 . Frons as Fig. 111 , with without microtrichia ( Fig. 112 ). Cheek with 4 bristles and jowl with 2 that are longer and more robust. Postpedicels, palps and proboscis as Fig. 113 , the labella lacking small spinules below. Thorax brown, with 3 notopleural bristles and no cleft in front of these. Mesopleuron bare. Scutellum with an anterior pair of small hairs and a posterior pair of bristles. Abdominal tergites brown with small hairs that are longer at rear of T6 ( Figs 114–117 ). Legs with brown to yellowish brown femora and tibiae and yellowish tarsi. Fore tarsus ( Fig. 118 ) with posterodorsal hair palisade on segments 1–4 and 5 about as long as 4. Dorsal hair palisade of mid tibia extends about 0.69 times its length. Hairs below basal half of hind femur clearly longer than those of anteroventral row of outer half ( Fig. 119 ). Hind tibia with almost 2 dozen moderately differentiated posterodorsal hairs, without anterodorsals, and spinules of apical combs simple. Wings ( Figs 120 & 121 ) 1.50 mm long. Costal index 0.35. Costal ratios 4.65: 1.19: 1. Costal cilia (of section 3) 0.08 mm long. Vein 3 hair 0.03 mm long. Two unequal axillary bristles, the outermost being 0.11 mm long. Sc not reaching R1. Haltere knob bristles, the outermost being 0.11 mm long. Sc not reaching R1. Haltere knob yellow.

Recognition. In the key to the Megaselia males of the British Isles ( Disney 1989) it runs to couplet 252 lead 1 M. tarsalis (Wood), from which it is immediately distinguished by its slender front tarsus lacking rows of spinules on the basitarsus. In Borgmeier’s (1966) key to Nearctic Group VIII it runs to couplet 10 lead 1 M. bovista (Gimmerthal), a Palaearctic species with which he incorrectly synonymised the Nearctic M. agarici (Lintner) , which it closely resembles ( Robinson 1977). The latter’s hypopygium most obviously differs from M. bovista by its distinctive left postero-ventral process of the epandrium ( Fig. 122 ). Our species more closely resembles M. agarici than other members of this complex. However it has a shorter more tapered left postero-ventral epandrial lobe ( Fig. 115 ). In M. agarici ‘s the palps and anal tube are somewhat dusky rather than clear yellow. Two subsequently described species run to the same point in Borgmeier’s key. M. sandhui Disney (1981) , which is known from Iran, is immediately recognized by the more robust hairs bordering a curious ‘pocket’ on segments 4 and 5 of the abdominal venter. M. wongae Hartop, Brown & Disney (2016) has hypandrial lobes each side instead of only on the left side.

Etymology. Named after Professor Reza Farshbaf Pourabad. (Professor of Department of Plant Protection, Tabriz, Iran).

Figures

FIGURE 122. Megaselia agarici (Lintner) male. left face of hypopygium. Scale bars 20 μm.

FIGURES 110–117. Megaselia farshbafi n. sp. male. 110, whole fly; 111, frons; 112, detail of frons; 113, postpedicels to proboscis; 114, tergite 5 to tip of abdomen; 115, left face of epandrium; 116, left face of hypandrium and penis complex; 117, right face of hypopygium. Scale bars 20 μm.

FIGURES 118–121. Megaselia farshbafi n. sp. male. 118, front tarsus; 119, hind femur; 120, wing; 121, detail of wing base. Scale bars 20 μm.