Protypusia zimini ( Paramonov, 1947 ) 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 : 119-121

Protypusia zimini ( Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov.

Fig. 59

Parageron zimini Paramonov, 1947: 216 .

Etymology

Named in memory of Leonid Sergeevich Zimin (1902–1970), who collected the types.

Type material

Lectotype (here designated)

UZBEKISTAN • ♂; “ Tschangyr , northwest Bukhara, 13 June 1930 1 ♂ (leg. L.S. Zimin)/ Parageron zimini sp. nov. ♂ S. Paramonov det. Syntypus /Zool. Mus. Berlin.” ZMHB.

Paralectotypes

UZBEKISTAN • 2 ♀♀; “locality as lectotype 10 June 1930 ”; ZMHB • 1 ♂ [dissected], 1 ♀; “same locality 13 June 1930 ”; ZMHB • 1 ♀; “same data 17 June 1930 ”; ZMHB • ♂ ♀ in copula, 2 ♀♀; “same data 20 June 1930 ”; ZMHB .

Other material examined

IRAN • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; “ Ghazvin , road to Zereshk 1682 m, N36°24’128” E50°5’434” 28 June-7 July 2009, pan trap Leg. B. Gharali ”; PCDG .

Redescription

MEASUREMENTS. Body length; 3.9–5.1 mm. Wing length: 4.1–5.2 mm.

Male

HEAD. Frons and gena pale yellow in ground colour, the frons slightly tumescent covered with silky off-white dusting, lacking longer hairs. Gena moderately broad, at narrowest point about as broad as length of pedicel, more shining mouth margin a little narrower, together almost as broad as scape length. Occiput and ocellar tubercle dark in ground colour densely covered with grey dust and outstanding white hairs, ocelli contiguous with eyes. Eyes confluent for slightly longer than the length of vertex. Ommatidia conspicuously enlarged in the upper half of the eyes, sharply contrasting with the smaller ones occupying the lower half. Antennae blackish, tip of pedicel can be paler, postpedicel rather long with a small point dorsally immediately beyond the subapical sulcus. Palps small and slender, yellowish to brown, darker apically, the white apical setae shorter than the length of the palps. Proboscis very long, about equal to body length, naked dorsally, the basoventral membrane yellow.

THORAX. Dark ground colour obscured by dove-grey dust, in some becoming more yellowish on posterior of mesonotum and scutellum, very faint darker paramedian vittae on anterior half or slightly more of mesonotum, antehumeral vittae may be indicated. Whole of mesonotum and scutellum evenly covered with moderately long, silky white hair, largely absent on darker vittae, on the front of the mesonotum hairs longer than tibia is thick at its mid-point. Pleura with similar hairs on pronotum, posterior twothirds of the anepisternum, and a few in upper middle of katepisternum. Metepimeron naked, can be yellow ( Uzbekistan).

WING. Membrane hyaline, the veins pale yellow, or becoming brown apically. Crossvein r-m from basal quarter to third of the discal cell, opposite or a little beyond m-cu. Anal lobe broad with conspicuously convex margin, broader than anal cell.

HALTERE. Pale yellow, base of stem slightly infuscated.

LEGS. Coxae dark with a dense coating of grey dust. Femora predominantly dark with a covering of grey dust, up to apical quarter clear yellow ( Uzbekistan specimens) or just narrowly yellow (Iranian specimens). Front and mid-tibia clear yellow, hind tibia infuscated apically ( Uzbekistan specimens) or infuscation more extensive (Iranian specimens). Tarsi black with the basitarsi more or less yellow basally in some. Legs covered with silky white hairs, rather variable, longer on Iranian male.

ABDOMEN. Tergite one entirely yellow ( Uzbekistan specimens) or with just apical margin yellow (Iranian specimens), remaining tergites black with dense grey dusting and sharply demarcated apical yellow margins ( Uzbekistan specimens) or poorly defined pale margins (Iranian specimens), these becoming narrower rearwards. Sternites similar but yellow apical margins clearer. Tergites and sternites all covered with fairly long, erect white to very pale yellow, rather wavy hairs.

GENITALIA. Relatively large when compared to other holoptic species. Gonocoxites black, grey dusted with broad yellow tips, covered in long whitish hairs. Epandrium basally black, grey dusted, with very broad yellow apical margin and narrow lateral margins, covered in short whitish hairs.

Female

Differs from the male in its broadly separated eyes, the frons pale yellow and hairless anteriorly, densely pale-grey dusted on hind half, laterally with 1–2 rows of tiny hairs. Legs yellow except for coxae basally ( Uzbekistan specimens) or similar to the male, grey dusted, more or less infuscated tarsi largely blackish. Abdomen much more extensively yellow than in the male with less well defined blackish-brown bases to the tergites (except T1) and sternites ( Uzbekistan specimens) or similar to male. Hairs on the thorax and abdomen a little shorter, most clearly on the tergites.

Remarks

Although twelve specimens were available, they originate from just two widely separated localities, 10 from the type locality and two from Iran. There is quite a degree of variation between these two locations notably in the extent of yellow on tergites and legs. Uzbekistan specimens have much yellower tergites and legs compared to the two specimens from Iran. However, in most features, including the structure of both male and female genitalia, they differ very little so I am as confident as I can be that they are conspecific.

The illustrations provided by Zaitzev (1966) and ascribed to Pro. grisea (Paramonov) are certainly not Pro. grisea and appear very similar to this species or, perhaps the closely related Pro. negevi . The description, while brief, could fit either species, closer to Pro. negevi on size but more likely to be Pro. zimini on range. Without seeing the specimens it is not possible to be confident what species Zaitzev had before him.

Distribution

(? Georgia), Iran, Uzbekistan.

Figures

Fig. 59. Protypusia zimini (Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov. a. Epiphallic complex ventral. b. Epiphallic complex lateral. c. Gonocoxite ventral. d. Gonocoxite lateral. e. Epandrium dorsal. f. Female genitalia ventral.