Afroestricus sadaukii, Scarbrough Table Of Contents, 2005

Scarbrough Table Of Contents, Aubrey G., 2005, Afroestricus, a new Afrotropical Ommatine (Diptera: Asilidae) genus with twenty species and two species groups, Zootaxa 1041 (1), pp. 1-76 : 44-46

Afroestricus sadaukii , sp. n.

Figs. 111–120 , 194

Male. Brown. Body 7.4–7.7 mm; wing 5.0– 5.1 mm. Head: Face gray tomentose, slightly yellow dorsally; four to six long brown bristles and sparse brown setae present; vestiture white ventally; FHWR 1.0:4.6–1.0:4.8. Antenna brown, longest ventral setae as long as three antennomeres; flagellum about as long as scape, FWLR 1.0:1.9–1.0:2.0. Frons yellow tomentose; setae as long as scape. Occiput yellowish­gray tomentose, dorsal setae yellow, ventral setae white; seven to eight black, proclinate, postocular bristles present dorsally, longest bristle with tip at 1/3 distance from posterior margin of eye to ocellar tuberce.

Thorax: Pronotum yellow tomentose with yellow bristles. Mesonotum with two narrow brown stripes medially and two spots laterally; tomentum yellow yellowish­gray elsewhere; unusually thick, black setae anteriorly, 2/3 to 3/4 as long as scape and pedicel combined; yellow setae posteriorly between rows of dorsocentral bristles; four lateral and four to five dorsocentral bristles present, quite long and thick, the latter wide spaced with first dorsocentral bristle well before transverse suture [just behind postpronotum]. Scutellum yellowish­gray tomentose with scattered white setae, two black bristles, and preapical groove. Pleuron yellow tomentose anteriorly, gray posteriorly with scattered long, thin, white setae anteriorly; katatergal bristles white, anepimeral bristle black. Halter red.

Wing: As Fig. 3b except as follows: Crossvein r­m about as long as CuA 1 +M 3. Cell m 1 WR 1.0:2.5:3.0–1.0:5.1:5.7.

Leg: Coxae and trochanter brown, former gray tomentose with white vestiture. Femora yellow with small brown spots anteriorly and posteriorly, at most narrow apex brown; anterior bristles on all femora and posteroventral bristles on apical 1/2 of hind femur black, sometimes one to two ventral setae black. Middle femur without preapical posteroventral bristle. Hind femur sometimes with sparse black anteroventral bristles; HFWLR 1.0:5.2– 1.0:5.7. Tibiae yellow; narrow apex of hind tibia brown; hind tibia without apical spur. Tarsi with basal tarsomeres yellow, narrow apex brown and at least narrow base of remaining tarsomeres yellow; fore and middle tarsi with four and one yellow bristles, respectively.

Abdomen: Mostly gray tomentose with white setae; terga 2 to 8 dorsally mostly brown tomentose with brown setae; sterna 7 mostly and 8 entirely brown setose.

Terminalia ( Figs. 111–116 ): Brown, narrow apex yellow. Epandrium wide apically, Cshaped notch present, corners of notch narrow. Distiphallus slightly sigmoid, apex exposed laterally, with two long, thin, apical setae; ventral spinelike process present basally; epiphallus with distinctive notches laterally and apically. Gonocoxite short laterally, apex truncate ventrally. Hypandrium broadly rounded apically.

Female. Differs as follows. Body 11.4–11.6 mm; wing 7.9–8.1 mm; FHWR 1.0:6.9– 1.0:7.0; FWLR 1.0:2.0–1.0:2.1; m 1 WR 1.0:5.2:5.7–1.0:5.3:5.8; HFWLR 1.0:5.4–1.0:5.6. Head: Face with 8 brown bristles. Thorax: Mesonotum with 6 dorsocentral bristles, first at postpronotum posteriorly; tomentum mostly yellow. Wing: Base of cell r 4 beyond apex of cell d. Crossvein r­m much shorter than CuA 1 +M 3. Leg: Middle femur with anteroventral bristles mostly yellow, one to two black. Hind femur with basal one to two bristles in each ventral row yellow, remaining black. Fore and middle tarsi with two and one yellow bristles respectively. Abdomen: All terga brown tomentose and brown setose dorsally; tergum 8 with deep C­shaped emargination dorsally, two contrastingly thick black bristles in each apical corner. Sterna 1 to 5 entirely and base of sternum 6 yellow setose; sterna 7 to 8 brown setose. Terminalia ( Figs. 117–120 ): Tergum 8 with wide emargination. Tergum 9 membranous dorsally, narrow and sclerotized laterally. Sternum 8 narrow, uniformly setose, wide transverse band of slightly longer and bristly setae present. Spermatheca smooth, only slightly wider apically than basally, duct attached at or just before base. Genital fork entirely membranous, an obvious base absent.

Type material. Holotype M, NIGERIA: N. W. State, Mokwa [19°13’35”N 5°09’55”E] I. A. R , mile 4, 17–19.viii.1970, P. M. Ward ~ sweep from grasses ( BMNH) . Paratypes: 1 F, same data as holotype ( BMNH); 1 M, N. Nigeria, Zaria , Samaru [11°13’52”N 07°38’08”E], 21.vi.1968. m. v. [mercury vapor] trap, J. C. Deeming, ( BMNH); 1 F, Zaria, Sumaru [11°13’52”N 07°38’08”E], NORTH NIGERIA, 14.vii.1969, J. C. Deeming, ( CNCI); 1 F, Zaria, Sumaru [11°13’52”N 07°38’08”E], NORTH NIGERIA, 14.viii.1969, J. C. Deeming, ( CNCI) . GHANA: 2 M, 15 mi S of Bimbila [8°46’57”W 0°00’00”E] [ Nanumba South District = Wulensi ] 3–6.ix.1971, J. A. Gruwell, ( BMNH); 2 M, GHANA, 15 mi S of Bimbila [Nanumba South District = Wulensi], 3– 6.ix.1971, J. A. Gruwell, ( BMNH) .

Etymology. Hausa language sadaukii , noun in apposition, for bold warrior.

Distribution ( Tables 1, 2; Fig. 194 ). Found in a few localities in Ghana and northern Nigeria; collected in July­August and November

Remarks. Afroestricus sadaukii differs from congeners by the characters in the key and the combined characters of the terminalia ( Figs. 111–120 ). It is further distinguished by the stout anterior acrostichal setae which are about as long as the pedicel and scape combined; four to five long, wide spaced, dorsocentral bristles, the first being well anterior to the transverse suture, and the presence of mostly or entirely yellow bristles below the middle and hind femora.

Figures

FIGURE 194. Distribution of six species of Afroestricus in Africa and Madagascar.

FIGURES 111–120. Afroestricus sadaukii, sp. n. Male terminalia: 111–113. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. 114. Gonostylus. 115–116. Aedeagus, dorsal and lateral views. Female terminalia: 117–118. Dorsal and ventral views. 119. Spermatheca. 120. Genital fork.

FIGURES 3–4. Character states of the wing and postocular bristles of the subgenus Afroestricus Scarbrough. 3a–b. Wing venation of the macroscelis and the minutus species groups. 4a–b. Short, erect and long, thin, postocular bristles bristles. Abbrevations: First radial cell=r1; fourth radial cell=r4; discal cell=d; radial­medial crossvein=r­m; first medial cell=m1; third medial cell=m3.