Euscelidia zumpti Janssens, 1957

Dikow, Torsten, 2003, Revision of the genus Euscelidia Westwood, 1850 (Diptera: Asilidae: Leptogastrinae), African Invertebrates 44 (2), pp. 1-131 : 116-117

Euscelidia zumpti Janssens, 1957

Fig. 22

Euscelidia zumpti Janssens, 1957: 3 ; Oldroyd 1974: 20 1980: 357.

Type material - The ơ holotype has to be considered lost. Janssens stated that the type is deposited in the South African Institute for Medical Research , Pretoria, South Africa. The collection is now part of the NMSA, but the specimen could not be found there. The concept of zumpti remains unclear and a neotype designation is not possible at this stage .

Type locality ( Fig. 22 ): South Africa, Mpumalanga, Sabie , 2505'S 30 46'E .

Remarks: Identification of this species is very difficult because it is probably part of the brunnea species-group, in which species are mainly distinguished by characters of the aedeagus. Oldroyd (1974: 22), while working on the southern African Asilidae fauna, discussed the point that there is ‘… a complex of small specimens that might fit the description of zumpti , including the drawing of the male genitalia’. The original description is not very comprehensive in providing details useful to distinguish zumpti from other species. The new species, notialis sp. n. and vallis sp. n., might fit the description in part, but they can only be distinguished by the shape of the dorsal aedeagal sheath. The drawing of the ơ terminalia provided by Janssens does not show the aedeagus in detail. E. longibifida sp. n. has a very different aedeagus (it is not part of the brunnea species-group), but looks very similar to the mentioned species. Therefore, even a discussion of the relationship of zumpti to one of the species of the brunnea species-group with an open, sheath-like dorsal aedeagal sheath is not possible. In notialis sp. n., vallis sp. n., and longibifida sp. n. the wings are densely covered with microtrichia, a feature mentioned in the original description of zumpti . An additional feature mentioned by Janssens, namely the dull black sct, is a characteristic feature of brunnea , however, the wing of brunnea is not densely covered with microtrichia. The sct of notialis sp. n., vallis sp. n., and longibifida sp. n. is not dull black but densely covered with greyish pruinosity. This shows that it is difficult to identify the species without having studied the type specimen. I did not examine specimens from the type locality, which is plotted in Fig. 22 together with other species probably closely related to zumpti , and I am not in the position to make further comments about this species.

Identification key to species of Euscelidia

Note:not included are discors , gutianensis , rapacoides ,and zumpti .Specimens of rapacoides key out as marion , but because ơ terminalia remain unknown they cannot be separated in the key (the restricted distribution of rapacoides in the Philippines might help in identifying this species).For the other three species no specimens have been examined and the concepts of the species remain uncertain.The comparative character matrix provided in Table 3 can assist in identifying species using few diagnostic features.

1 Mystax consists of many macrosetae (usually more than 20), arranged in a number of rows dorsally on lower facial margin ............................................................. 21

– Mystax consists of few macrosetae (usually no more than 10, sometimes 12), arranged in 1 row dorsally on lower facial margin ............................................... 2

2 Cell d with no or only few microtrichia ............................................................... 6

– Cell d densely covered with microtrichia ............................................................. 3

3 Sct predominantly apruinose, pruinosity restricted to margins; anepm with many, long, densely arranged setae directing anteriorly ................................................. 5

– Sct entirely pruinose; anepm with only few, short setae directing anteriorly ....... 4

4 Mystax nearly as long as prob; continental Africa; ơ terminalia Fig. 30 .... dorata

– Mystax about 3/4 of length of prob; Madagascar; (ơơ unknown) ......... fastigium

5 Scutal pruinosity restricted to posterior margin and dorsal to wing base; wing dark brown; pro and meso fem and tib brown; ơ terminalia Figs 12E–H ......... anthrax

– Scutal pruinosity on anterior, lateral, and posterior margins; wing light brown; pro and meso fem and tib yellow; ơ terminalia Figs 33A–E ............................. festiva

Figures

Fig. 22. Distribution. Euscelidia cana sp. n., pentagon; E. natalensis sp. n., circles; E. notialis sp. n., squares; E. vallis sp. n., triangles; E. zumpti, star.

Fig. 30. ơ terminalia of Euscelidia dorata. A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Lateral. D. Aedeagus lateral. Scale line = 1 mm.

Fig. 12. ơ terminalia.A–D. Euscelidia adusta sp. n.A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Lateral. D. Aedeagus lateral. E–H. E. anthrax. E. Aedeagus lateral. F. Dorsal. G. Ventral. H. Lateral. Scale line = 1 mm.

Fig. 33. ơ terminalia. A–E. Euscelidia festiva. A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Lateral. D. Aedeagus lateral. E. Aedeagus dorsal. F–K. E. fistula sp. n. F. Hyapndrium posterior. G. Aedeagus lateral. H. Dorsal. I. Ventral. K. Lateral. Scale lines = 1 mm.