Ommatius (Pygommatius) jaculator Walker

Scarbrough, Aubrey G. & Marascia, Claudio G., 2003, Revision of Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae). IV. Pygommatius subgen. nov. with twenty-five Afrotropical species, Zootaxa 228 (1), pp. 1-94 : 38-39

Ommatius (Pygommatius) jaculator Walker

Figs. 29, 33

Ommatius jaculator Walker, 1851:152 .

Ommatius jaculator: Hull 1962: 436 . Oldroyd, 1980: 347 (Afrotropical catalogue).

Redescription, male. Length, head+thorax 3.8 mm; wing 6.7 mm. Black. Head: Face pale yellow tomentose with 3 pairs of thin, brown bristles and dense white setae ventrally, dorsal setae short, ventral setae longer; mystax with only 2 pencil­like bristles projecting slightly beyond proboscis; FHWR 1.0:5.6. Antenna light yellowish­brown; style lacks ventral setae, a flat tuft of 6 short, setae apically. Occiput with only 1 brown postocular bristle, apex third distance toward ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Mesonotum with margins yellowish­gray tomentose, sparse tomentose dorsally, surface shiny; vestiture sparse, yellowish­brown to brown, 4 lateral and 1 stout dorsocentral bristle present. Scutellum (greasy) yellowish­gray tomentose, sparse, short, thin setae and 2 marginal bristles present, latter about as long as the shorter notopleural bristle. Pleuron gray tomentose with mostly yellow setae; anepimeral bristle absent. Halter yellow.

Wing: Apical half dense microtrichose. Cell r 1 with apical petiole short, veins R 1 and R 2 meet just before wing margin. Cell r 4 narrow; base well beyond apex of cell d. Cell m 1 short, wide beyond narrow base, about 12 times wider at wing margin than at base; vein M 1 abruptly arched forward basally.

Leg: Coxae yellowish­gray tomentose with weak yellow vestiture. Fore coxa yellow; middle and hind coxae brown. Fore leg absent. Middle and femora mostly yellow, grading diagonally to brown on apical fourth to third. Middle femur ( Fig. 29 ) with basal half slightly concave ventrally; 1 anteroventral and 5 posteroventral yellow bristles and abundant, short setae present ventrally and posteriorly. Hind femur ( Fig. 33 ) anteriorly with a row of 7 bristles medially, 3 longer, stronger, brown bristles more dorsoapically, and several thin, short, ventroapical setae; anteroventral bristles absent; 2 basal and 1 preapical brown bristles present posteroventrally; HFWLR 1.0:7.4. Middle and hind tibiae yellow, apex of hind tibia slightly brownish; hind tibia slightly flat and sigmoid. Basal tarsomere of hind tarsus brownish­yellow; bristles brown.

Female. Unknown.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. Holotype ♂ ( BMNH).

Distribution. ‘Africa’.

Remarks. In addition to the characters in the key, O. jaculator is further distinguished by the dense white setae and two long pencil­like bristles on the face, the narrow cell r 4, the unusually short apical petiole of cell r 1 and wide cell m 1, and a weak ventral concavity on the basal half of the middle femur.

Ommatius jaculator is known only from the male holotype that is in poor condition. The fore legs except coxae, all tarsi except the basal tarsomere of the right hind tarsus, and abdomen are absent. Label data include: 1) round label with green margin and the word ‘type’; 2) white rectangular label with ‘0rce’or ‘Oru’?; 3) white rectangular label with ‘68 4’; 4) white rectangular label with ‘Africa, pres. W. W. Saunders, B.M. 1868­4’; and 5) red margined label with the word ‘Holotype’, 6) rectangular label with ‘ Holotype, Ommatius jaculator Walker , det. J. E. Chainey, 1986.’

Figures

FIGURES 29­38. Male Ommatius (Pygommatius) spp. 29. O. jaculator Walker, middle femur. 30­ 38. Hind femur, 30. O. brevicornis Curran, anterior view; 31. O. comosus, sp. n., anterior view; 32. O. dasypogon Oldroyd, anterior view; 33. O. jaculator Walker, anterior view; 34. O. limbus, sp. n., with coxa, anterior view; 35. O. litoreus, sp. n., anterior view; 36. O. neglectus Bromley, anterior view; 37. O. strigiatus, sp. n., posterior view; 38. O. vultus, sp. n., posterior view.