Bandella duvalli, Bickel, 2002

Bickel, Daniel J., 2002, Bandella, A New Hilarine Fly Genus from Australia (Diptera: Empididae), Records of the Australian Museum 54, pp. 313-324 : 322

Bandella duvalli n.sp.

Figs. 1, 2h, 2i, 4b, 4c

Type material. HOLOTYPE 3, Tasmania: 14 km SW by S of Wilmot , 41°30'S 146°05'E, 31.i.1983, I.D. Naumann & J.C. Cardale ( ANIC).

Additional material. Tasmania: 3, Arthur Plains , 18.ii.1965 ; ♀, Mt Bowes, NE slope, 11.ii.1965 ( MVM); 3, Mt Wellington, Hobart, 42°55'S 147°14'E, 1.ii. 1992, 720 m, on Leptospermum scoparia (UQIC) ; ♀, Cradle Valley , 26.i.1923 ; 3, Strahan , 6.ii.1923 ; ♀, Mt Farrel , 9.ii.1923 ; 3, Mt. Field NP, 950 m, 22.ii.1963 ( ANIC); 3, Mt Barrow , 41°22'S 147°25'E, 900 m, 12.ii1988 ( AMS) .

Description (male): length: 10.0; wing: 7.5×2.2 (habitus, Fig. 1). Head: post-cranium black, covered laterally and ventrally with grey pruinosity; dorsal post-cranium, vertex and frons black without pruinosity; postcranium with usual pale ventral hairs and with black dorsal hairs; postorbital setae white ventrally, black dorsally; lateral frons with setulae more distinct than usual; palp yellow with white setae, curved and slightly clavate; labrum dark brown basally, yellow distally; labellum dark brown; antenna black; scape and pedicel with short black setulae.

Thorax: pleura mostly black but red-brown near sutures, and covered with grey pruinosity; anterior mesonotum redbrown, interdigitating with black posterior mesonotum, black lateral patches and black ac band, but in some specimens this pattern is obscured ( Fig. 2h,i); scutellum red-brown with black base; postnotum black with grey pruinosity; posterior slope of mesonotum covered with field of short setulae.

Legs: coxae dark brown to black although CI and CII reddish brown distally; coxae with only short pale vestiture, no strong setae; all tarsi with strong black claws and large yellowish pulvilli; legs I and II mostly red-yellow; It 1–3, each with pairs of av setae; each tarsomere IIt 1–3 with some subapical av setae; FIII yellowish in basal two thirds, but dark brown and slightly clavate in distal third; TIII yellow at base, dark brown from 3 1 5 6, and yellow in distal sixth; distal sixth of TIII and IIIt 1 with pale yellow vestiture; IIIt 2–5 with black vestiture.

Abdomen: tergum 1 black; preabdomen translucent redbrown, with some specimens showing black areas laterally and dorsally on terga 4 and 5; cuticle glabrous, without pruinosity; tergum 7 only slightly excavated; tergum 8 with lateral flaplike projections; sternum 8 unmodified; hypopygium mostly black ( Fig. 4b,c).

Female similar to male except as noted: frons wider, thorax with black markings smaller in extent; leg and vestiture colour similar; abdomen mostly orange in colour.

Remarks. Bandella duvalli is known from various locales in western Tasmania, mostly in upland areas. There is some intraspecific variation in the intensity of mesonotal infuscation among the specimens, as shown in Fig. 4b and 4c.

This species named in honor of Steven G. Duvall of California, who helped sponsor this research.