Paramimegralla volcanica (Barraclough) Barraclough, 2017

Marshall, Stephen A., 2017, Micropezidae (Insecta, Diptera, Acalyptratae) of Madagascar and a revision of the genus Paramimegralla Hennig, Zootaxa 4290 (2), pp. 244-280 : 275-276

Paramimegralla volcanica (Barraclough) new combination

Figs 97 ̄99

Stiltissima volcanica Barraclough 1991: 9 .

Description (based on TAU male specimen). Length 14 mm. Ground colour dull black to brown, thorax and abdomen densely microsetulose with silvery pruinose highlights, legs and anterior part of head mostly orange to yellow.

Head with frons broad, brown except for shining black ocellar triangle, mostly bare or very sparsely setulose, lower frons and frontal vitta relatively dull and pruinose; posterior part of frontal vitta depressed and tapered to a thin groove posteriorly. Head with a single large orbital seta, frontal setae absent. Palpus yellow, parallel-sided; golden microsetulose with scattered black setulae. Occipital suture shining brown. Clypeus yellow, bare, shining, shorter than face plus lunule. Lower frons, face, antenna, and parafacials yellow–orange, arista black.

Thorax mostly black, brown anteriorly, sparsely microsetulose, pruinosity light and silvery. Proepisternum with short, inconspicuous ventral setae. Legs mostly orange, tibiae and tarsi dark brown to black, except for the white fore tarsomere one and white basal half of fore tarsomere two. Hind femur slightly flattened, hind tibia not sulcate.

Wing with an indistinctly pigmented apex and very narrow and weak preapical and discal bands; discal band incomplete; base of wing weakly infuscated anteriorly and with a small isolated lightly infuscated area basal to discal band. Anal cell bare, CuA2 slightly sinuate, inserted slightly distal to bm̄cu, distal angle 45 °.

Abdominal syntergite 1+2 with T1 weakly convex with scattered long pale setae; all tergites subshining blue–black but epandrium contrastingly pale yellow; pleural membrane shriveled in available material but pleural membrane 3 apparently forming a large eversible sac. Genital fork (S5) with long distally tapered and incurved arms with inner margins densely packed with short, stout setae and ventral margins strikingly long–setose. Internal genitalia not examined.

Type material. Holotype (♂, NMSA) and 5 paratypes (4♂, 2♀, NMSA, MNHN): Madagascar – Nord, Montagne d'Ambre , 1000m, dct. Diego – Suarez, 23.xi ̄ 4.xii.57, B. Stuckenberg (photos examined). In addition to the holotype label ( Stiltissima volcanica Barraclough ) the type specimen has an older manuscript name label " Paramimegralla (Hennig) tipuliformis sp. n. Je. Verbeke det, 1970".

Material examined. MADAGASCAR: Diego Suarez Prov., Ambohitra Forest Preserve , Mt. D'Ambre , 13̄ 16 Nov. 1986, John W. Wenzel (♂, Kansas University Biodiversity Institute; specimen photo examined); Ambohitra , 800m, Joffreville, 9̄ 12.iv.1991, A. Freidberg and Fini Kaplan (1♂, TAU) .

Comments. This species from the northern tip of Madagascar and the similarly long–legged P. steineri from the eastern forests were treated by Barraclough as a separate genus, Stiltissima . These apparent sister species are easily separated on the basis of leg color, head colour and pruinosity, with the mostly bare head of P. volcanica perhaps its most conspicuous character. The holotype has darker legs than the specimen illustrated in Fig. 97 , with the femora brownish orange on the holotype and yellowish on the specimen illustrated.

Figures

FIGURES 97 – 99. Paramimegralla vOlCaniCa (Barraclough), Male. 97. Whole specimen, left lateral; 98. Head and anterior thorax, anterodorsal; 99. Head, anterodorsal.