Afroestricus abyssinia, 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 : 14-16

Afroestricus abyssinia , sp. n.

Figs. 5–14 , 193

Male. Body 12.4 mm; wing 8.0– 8.7 mm. Head: Face yellow tomentose with abundant black vestiture dorsally, yellow, denser vestiture ventrally; FHWR 1.0:3.9–1.0:4.0. Antenna black, setae below scape as long as scape+ pedicel; flagellum absent. Frons yellow to brownish­yellow tomentose; setae as long as scape and pedicel combined. Occiput gray tomentose, mostly yellow and white setose; row of 12 to 14 black postocular bristles dorsally, extending to or near midlateral margin of eye; postocular bristles long, thin, and strongly proclinate, longest just before or above ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Pronotum brownish­yellow tomentose with black bristles. Mesonotum with mostly dull yellow to yellowish­gray tomentum, two median stripes and two lateral spots brown; vestiture black, anterior setae longer than scape; row of long, stout, dorsocentral bristles extend forward to postpronotum, anterior dorsocentral setae about 2/3 as long as first notopleural bristle; four lateral bristles present. Scutellum yellow tomentose with yellow setae. Pleuron yellow to yellowish­gray tomentose; setae pale yellow, anepimeral bristle pale yellow or black. Halter yellow, knob slightly brownish­yellow.

Wing: As Fig. 3a except as follows. Cell m 3 basally with short m­cu crossvein. Cell m 1 WR 1.0:2.6:2.9–1.0:2.8:2.9.

Leg: Coxae black, yellowish­gray tomentose, vestiture yellowish. Trochanter black. Femora mostly yellow with black bristles; narrow apex of middle and hind femora brown; hind femur with anterior most basal bristle yellow; fore and middle femora with mostly, long, thin yellow setae ventrally, sparse black setae present. Middle femur with preapical, posteroventral bristle. Hind femur with posteroventral bristles arched posteriorly; HFWLR 1.0:3.6–1.0:3.7. Tibiae mostly yellow, narrow apex of fore and middle tibiae and apical 1/ 2 of hind tibia anteriorly brown to black; bristles mostly black, one to three yellow bristles present. Tarsi dark brown with black bristles, narrow base of most tarsomeres yellow; basal tarsomere of fore and middle tarsi yellow with narrow brown apex; fore and middle tarsi with five or six yellow bristles.

Abdomen: Gray tomentose with mostly pale yellow to white setae; terga 6 to 8 slightly brown tomentose medially with abundant black setae; sparse black setae present on tergum 5 medially.

Terminalia ( Fig. 5–10 ). Black, apical margin brownish­yellow or red. Epandrium wide apically, apex three to four times base; apex broadly emarginated; ventral corner narrow and pointed in lateral view, wide and rounded in ventral view, forming asymmetrical clubbed; shallow, preapical, dorsoapical notch present. Gonostylus distinctive. Gonocoxite short, apex before apical margin of epandrium. Distiphallus horizontal, slightly flared apically; epiphallus narrow, constricted medially, wide triangular sides anterolateriorly; ejaculatory apodeme slightly thick medially with narrow lateral flange. Hypandrium rounded apically.

Female. Differs as follows: Body 10.1–10.7 mm; wing 7.9 mm; FHWR 1.0:3.6– 1.0:3.8; FWLR 1.0:1.6–1.0:1.9; m 1 WR 1.0:2.8:3.0; HFWLR 1.0:4.5–1.0:4.8. Face: Dorsal 1/2 of face with black vestiture. Flagellum as long as scape. Leg: Femora slender. Abdomen: Narrow middle of terga 2 to 4 black setose, terga beyond mostly to entirely black setose; apical two to three terga with only thin, black bristles, those of sterna yellow and thicker. Terminalia ( Figs. 11–14 ) Reddish­brown. Tergum 9 entirely sclerotized dorsally, about 1/2 as long as cercus. Sternum 8 with abundant thin setae laterally. Spermatheca smooth, swollen apically. Genital fork with very slender arms and base.

Type material. Holotype M, ETHIOPIA [= C. Abyssinia]: Maraquo , 2.vi.1914, O. Kovacs, ( BMNH) . Paratypes: 1 F, same data as holotype ( BMNH); 1 M [terminalia slide S.56], 4 F , same data as holotype ( BMNH) .

Etymology. The species name, abyssinia , a noun in apposition, refers to the ancient empire of the Sabean kingdoms, which includes present day Ethiopia.

Distribution ( Tables 1, 2; Fig. 193). Known from the type locality; collected in June.

Remarks. Afroestricus abyssinia is distinguished from congeners by characters in the key and terminalia ( Figs. 5–14 ). Although similar to A. macroscelis , it differs in the yellow femur, a dorsoapical notch on the epandrium, and in the distinctive shapes of the aedeagus and genital fork.

Figures

FIGURES 5–14. Afroestricus abyssinia, sp. n. Male terminalia: 5–7. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. 8. Gonostylus. 9–10. Aedeagus, dorsal and lateral views. Female terminalia: 11–12. Dorsal and ventral views. 13. Spermatheca. 14. Genital fork. Abbreviations: Aedeagus=Ae; cercus=Ce; epandrium=Ep; epandrial flange=Ef; gonocoxite=Gc; lateral and median corner of gonocoxite= L, M; gonostylus=Gs; median corner of gonocoxite; epiphallus=Eph; hypandrium=Hp; tergum 8=T8; tergum 9=T9; sternum 8=St8.

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.