Ectopusia additivaneura ( Carles-Tolrá, 2009 ) Gibbs, 2023

Gibbs, David, 2023, A world review of the bee fly tribe Usiini (Diptera, Bombyliidae) - Part 3: Parageron Paramonov s. lat., European Journal of Taxonomy 863 (1), pp. 1-162 : 32-35

Ectopusia additivaneura ( Carles-Tolrá, 2009) gen. et comb. nov.

Fig. 33

Parageron additivaneura Carles-Tolrá, 2009: 64 .

Etymology

The specific name refers to the distinct additional crossvein present between veins R 2+3 and R 4 (‘ additivus ’ = ‘additional’ in Latin; ‘ neuron ’ = ‘vein’ in Greek).

Type material

Holotype

SPAIN • ♂; “ Almería , 10-5-2004 Parque Natural Cabo de Gata –Níjar, pitfall, A. Aguirre leg./ Parageron additivaneura sp. n. ♂ Holotipo M. Carles-Tolrá det.”; PCMC-T.

Paratype

SPAIN • 1 ♀; “ Almería , 3-5-2004 Parque Natural Cabo de Gata –Níjar, pitfall, A.Aguirre leg./ Parageron additivaneura sp. n. ♀ Paratipo M. Carles-Tolrá det.”; PCMC-T .

Redescription (from two specimens in spirit, so some details will not be comparable with descriptions from pinned material)

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 2.9–4.4 mm. Wing length: 3.4 mm.

Male

HEAD. Gena relatively narrow, at narrowest point about as broad as scape is long, broadening above into frons, entirely yellow in ground colour, a very narrow shinier border to the oral opening below. Frons converging dorsally to its narrowest point just in front of front ocellus were it is separated by four times the diameter of front ocellus. Frons yellowish-white with short adpressed white hairs anteriorly. Ocellar tubercle darker brownish, ocelli arranged in an equilateral triangle, the hind ocelli a little more than the diameter of that ocellus from eye margin, a few short, white hairs close to hind ocelli. All eye facets small. Occiput dark brown becoming blacker towards neck; covered with long white hairs longer than length of scape and pedicel combined, especially dense and ‘shaggy’ below. Antennae with scape and pedicel light brown a little darker than frons, third segment lighter, yellowish, especially apically. Scape quadrate, pedicel a little deeper than long, postpedicel, a little less than twice as long as scape and pedicel together, swollen basally with narrow, parallel-sided tip. Scape and pedicel with numerous short white hairs, third segment sparsely haired towards tip on dorsal side. Palps small but readily visible, slightly swollen apically, whitish-yellow with conspicuous white apical hairs about three quarters the length of the palp. Proboscis moderate, about twice frons length, brown, tapering but without swollen base, naked, the basoventral membrane pale brown.

THORAX. Mesonotum blackish in ground-colour, yellowish post pronotal lobe, notopleuron and post alar calli; densely coated with grey dust, no darker or undusted vittae apparent. Mesonotum largely naked but white hairs on post pronotal lobe, anterior slope of mesonotum, notopleuron and a very few near scutellum. Scutellum as mesonotum but disc yellower, long white hairs present basally. Pleura yellowish-brown, a little darker on ventral parts of katepisternum and meron with long white hairs on katepisternum dorsally and anepisternum dorso-medially.

WING. Additional crossvein present between veins R 2+3 and R 4. Membrane clear and veins whitish except where infuscated. Fork R 2+3 /R 4+5, base of R 4 and crossveins R 2+3 -R 4, r-m, m-m and m-cu infuscated brownish on vein and narrowly on to adjacent membrane. Crossvein r-m a little beyond middle of the discal cell, conspicuously beyond m-cu. Anal lobe well developed with conspicuously convex margin, obviously broader than anal cell.

HALTERE. Knob whitish, stem slightly infuscated, especially at base.

LEGS. Coxae slightly paler brown than pleura. Femora, tibia and tarsi yellowish-brown. Legs covered with white hairs, longer and more erect on the coxae and femora posteriorly, tibia hairs short and adpressed.

ABDOMEN. Tergites brownish on basal two thirds, with fairly well demarcated yellow posterior margins on remainder. All tergites with pale hairs from a half to equalling the length of each tergite longer laterally. Sternites similar but paler and yellower, infuscated basally, hairing as on tergites.

GENITALIA. Brown, paler apically, pale gonostyli, covered in fairly long white hairs as on tergites.

Female

As male except gena a little broader and frons wider, evenly narrowed from front to vertex, eyes smaller, lateral ocelli a little more distant from eye margin. Frons infuscated medially so less clear yellow than in male. Antennae a little shorter, not so abruptly contracted apically. Mesonotum with slightly paler paramedian vittae separated by a narrow, dark acrostichal stripe. Abdomen tapering to a point.

Remarks

This recently discovered species is clearly distinct from all other Usiini and it is difficult to know where its affinities may lie. The female genitalia suggest affinity with Parageron s. str., with rather weakly sclerotised genital fork and unpigmented vaginal plate. However, males of this genus are holoptic or nearly so with differentiated eye facets. The gonostyli also show some similarity to those seen in Parageron s. str., with a prominent internal ‘thumb’-like process, but the epiphallus really does not conform, being closest to Protypusia flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov., otherwise a quite different species. It seems most probable that Ectopusia gen. nov. is basal to Parageron s. lat.

Distribution

So far only known from the type locality in Almería, Southern Spain.

Figures

Fig. 33. Ectopusia additivaneura (Carles-Tolrá, 2009) gen. et comb. nov. a. Epiphallic complex ventral. b. Epiphallic complex lateral. c. Gonocoxite ventral. d. Gonocoxite lateral. e. Epandrium dorsal. f. Epandrium lateral. g. Female genitalia ventral.