Sisyromyia limbata ( Bigot, 1892 )

Li, Xuankun & Yeates, David K., 2019, Revision of the Australian bee fly genus Sisyromyia White, 1916 (Bombyliidae, Bombyliinae, Acrophthalmydini), Zootaxa 4711 (2), pp. 201-244 : 219-222

6. Sisyromyia limbata ( Bigot, 1892)

( Figs 12–14 )

Sparnopolius limbatus Bigot, 1892: 369 . Type-locality: “ Australie ”; holotype, BMNH.

Type specimen. Holotype of Sparnopolius limbatus Bigot , ♂ ( NHMUK 010921895 ) ( Fig. 12 ).

Other specimen examined. Australia, SA, ♂ Adelaide , 1949. WA, ♂ (13) ♀ (6), Mt. Singleton, 20 Jul 1983, W Williamson. ♂ (1) ♀ (1), Eradu, 8 Sep 1926, EW Ferguson. ♂ 2 mi. E. of Ghooli, 29 Sep 1956, JH Calaby .

Diagnosis. Medium-sized fly, body with mostly brownish hairs. Wing membrane darker on anterior half and spotted. Anterior margin of scutellum with a band consisting of short white scales. Male eyes holoptic; frons long, 2.8 x length of ocellar tubercle. Gap between inner apices of gonocoxites wide. Outer margin of gonocoxite nearly straight.

Redescription. Male. Body length 6.9–8.3 mm, wing length 8.0– 9.8 mm.

Head. Head about 2.1 x wider than long, mostly blackish with thick pale pruinescence and covered in admixed white to pale yellow scales and black hairs. Eyes holoptic. Frons long, 2.8 x length of ocellar tubercle, upper narrow and black; lower half triangular, 0.8 x length of upper half with sparse pale pruinescence and white scales admixed with black hairs. Ocellar tubercle slightly raised, blackish brown to black with grey pruinescence, with long black hairs admixed with few pale yellow scales. Face with thick pale pruinescence and long black hairs admixed with some pale yellow scales, parafacial area with white scales. Gena with thick pale pruinescence and long white scales. Clypeus with thick pale pruinescence and otherwise bare. Occiput with thick pale pruinescence and dense white to pale yellow scales, admixed with black hairs near dorsal eye margin. Posterior eye margin slightly convex. Antennal scape and pedicel black with thick pale pruinescence, scape with long black hairs admixed with some white scales laterally, pedicel with short black hairs and admixed with few white hairs ventrally; flagellum black without pruinescence, subapex with 3–5 long hairs. Scape 2.9 x as long as wide, and 2.6 x as long as pedicel, uniform from base to apex. Pedicel 1.1 x as long as wide. Flagellum 8.4 x as long as wide, 1.9 x as long as scape + pedicel, 2.7 x as long as scape, conical and slightly laterally compressed, one-segmented with apical stylus ( Fig. 13c ). Palpus long, just extending beyond oral cavity, brown with white hairs, one-segmented, without palpal pit. Mouthparts slender, 3.7 x as long as eye length, 2.4 x as long as head length, labellum thin and filiform ( Fig. 13h ).

Thorax. Integumental colour of scutum mostly black with thick pale pruinescence, brown pruinescence present on transverse suture, dorsocentral, and lateral margin. Scutum covered with short pale yellow hairs admixed with short black hairs and few golden scales, hairs denser anteriorly, lateral stripe consisting of long white scales. Four brownish yellow notopleural setae present. Scutellum black with sparse pale pruinescence, anterior half with a band consisting of short white scales, posterior half with long black hairs admixed with some golden hairs, black hairs denser on posterior margin. Pleura black with thick pale pruinescence, mostly covered in long pale yellow hairs, except dorsal half of anepisternum with brown hairs admixed with few black hairs, anepimeron, meron, laterotergite and mediotergite bare.

Legs. Legs mostly dark yellow except femora brown. Femora covered in golden scales, ventral face with long brown hairs. Hind femur with one row of anteroventral bristles. Bristles and other hairs on legs brown. Fore tibia 2.2 x longer than fore basitarsus, mid tibia 2.7 x longer than mid basitarsus, hind tibia 2.4 x longer than hind basitarsus.

Wings. Wing membrane slightly infuscated, with inconspicuous light markings on the area around base of vein R 4, crossvein m-m, crossvein dm-cu and apex of cell bm and cell br. Cell r 5 open, M 1 close to R 5; cell br nearly as long as cell bm, crossvein r-m arising from base of cell dm; crossvein m-m nearly as long as crossvein r-m; cell cup open ( Fig. 13d ). Haltere stem and knob pale yellow.

Abdomen. Integumental colour of tergites black mostly with sparse brown pruinescence. Tergite 1 with dense yellow hairs, admixed few long black hairs laterally; tergite 2 with long golden hairs on anterior half and laterally, and with long black hairs admixed with short golden scales on posterior half; tergites 3–7 with sparse long black hairs admixed with short golden scales, laterally with long white to pale yellow long scales; tergites 2–7 with median stripe consisting of dense, decumbent short white scales. Sternites black except posterior margin yellow, with thick pale pruinescence, covered with white to pale yellow hairs, admixed with few brown hairs. Genitalia. Epandrium anterior margin slightly concave, posterior margin slightly convex ( Fig. 14d ). Lateral margin of gonocoxite nearly straight ( Figs 14a,b ); lateral ejaculatory process wide; inner apex of gonocoxite short and acute, outer apex of gonocoxite long and sharp; gap between inner apices of gonocoxites wide; phallus shorter than gonocoxite ( Fig. 14c ).

Female. Body length 7.4–8.2 mm, wing length 8.6–10.0 mm. Very similar to male, except frons black with thick pale pruinescence, 3.4 x as wide as ocellar tubercle, frons with long black hairs admixed with some short golden scales ( Fig. 13l ). Around 20 acanthophorite spines present on each side of tergite 9+10 ( Fig. 14g ).

Distribution. Australia (SA, WA).

Figures

FIGURE 12. Sisyromyia limbata (Bigot, 1892). Holotype of Sparnopolius limbatus Bigot, 1892 (NHMUK 010921895): (a) dorsal; (b) lateral. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 13. Sisyromyia limbata (Bigot, 1892). External (a–i (♂); j–o (♀)): (a, j) dorsal; (b, k) lateral; (c) antenna, lateral; (d) wing; (e, l) head, dorsal; (f, m) head, frontal; (g, n) head, profile; (h, o) head, lateral; (i) abdomen, dorsal. Scale bars = 1 mm (a, b, d–o); = 0.1 mm (c).

FIGURE 14. Sisyromyia limbata (Bigot, 1892). Genitalia (a–e (♂); f, g (♀)): (a) genitalic capsule, dorsal; (b) genitalic capsule, ventral; (c) genitalic capsule, lateral; (d) epandrium, dorsal; (e) epandrium, lateral; (f) sternite 8, ventral; (g) genitalia and spermathecae. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.