Syneches elevatus Bezzi

Grootaert, Patrick & Shamshev, Igor, 2013, The flies of the family Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) collected during the Boyekoli Ebale Congo 2010 Expedition in Democratic Republic of Congo, Zootaxa 3603 (1), pp. 1-61 : 7-9

Syneches elevatus Bezzi

( Figs. 4–6 )

Syneches elevatus Bezzi, 1908: 380 . Type locality: Kinshasa [D.R. Congo].

Syneches elevatus: Smith, 1980: 435 (catalogue); Yang et al., 2007: 308 (catalogue).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE, 3 labelled: small label with 3; Kinchassa/ Waelbroeck/ 9 Mars 1899; M. Bezzi det., 1908: Syneches elevatus Bezzi ; TYPE [pink]; cf. Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. vol. 52 (1908), p. 380; Syneches / elevatus / 3 n. sp. [Bezzi's hand-written] ( RBINS).

Additional material examined. D.R. CONGO: 1 3, Kona , 11 May 2010, primary swamp forest (reg. 30032, leg. P. Grootaert; MS name as Syneches 1); 1 3, Kona , Malaise trap in secondary forest, 15 May 2010 (leg. P. Grootaert); 2 3, Eyolo forest, ca. 2 km E Lieki, 2 May 2010, sweeping, lowland evergreen swamp forest (leg. A.H. Kirk-Spriggs, BECE 02630); 1 3, 4 Ƥ, Eyolo forest, ca. 2 km E Lieki, 25–29 May 2010, Malaise traps, lowland evergreen swamp forest (leg. A.H. Kirk-Spriggs; BECE 0 2390, BECE 0 2391, BECE 0 2389, BECE 0 2393, BECE 02392); 1 3, Bomane village area, 20–24 May 2010, Malaise traps, lowland evergreen swamp forest (leg. A.H. Kirk-Spriggs, BECE 01485).

Diagnosis. Recognised by the steeply humped thorax; indistinct stigma; femora almost entirely brown, only fore and mid femora brownish yellow to yellow apically; hind tibia with broad brown median ring; hind femora without tubercles ventrally.

Re-description. Male. Length: body 2.2 (holotype 2.0) mm, wing 2.5 (holotype 2.4) mm. Head black; occiput velvety brown, with scattered black setulae; face nearly 1.5 times as broad as postpedicel. Eyes holoptic, upper ommatidia greatly enlarged. Ocellar tubercle with 2 thin, moderately long setae. Antenna brown; postpedicel subglobular, with dorsal seta nearly as long as postpedicel (missing in holotype); stylus subapical, very long, whiplike. Proboscis yellow. Palpus brown, with scattered black setulae.

Thorax steeply arched, black; viewed dorsally dull, uniformly black brown (scutellum and postalar tubercle paler), viewed anteriorly distinctly brownish pollinose, viewed posteriorly appearing as whitish grey on prescutellar depression; mesopleuron brownish grey tomentose; setation black. Proepisternum with 1 short, upturned bristle on lower part. Postpronotal lobe with several setulae, lacking prominent setae. Mesonotum with 2 notopleurals (posterior bristle longer), 1 moderately long postalar and 4–5 pairs of scutellars of different lengths (apical pair always longest, cruciate); acrostichals arranged in 4 irregular rows, short, lacking on prescutellar depression; dorsocentrals uniserial, prescutellar pair long.

Legs slender, short; coxae and trochanters brown; femora brown but fore and mid femora brownish yellow to yellow apically; fore and mid tibiae rather yellowish brown, hind tibia brown on about middle but yellow basally and apically (broad brown ring); hind basitarsus broadly brownish but yellow basally and apically, all tarsi with brownish tarsomere 5, otherwise tarsi yellow. Coxae and trochanters with unmodified setation. Fore and mid femora with short setulae. Fore tibia somewhat swollen basally, with some hardly prominent short dorsal setae (1 seta on about middle usually somewhat stronger and longer) and rather long, thin, posteroventral setae of different lengths. Mid tibia with 1 very long strong black bristle on about basal 1/3; subapical circlet with 1 very long ventral subapical bristle. Hind femur with 1–2 (usually 2) moderately long bristles on middle part. Hind tibia with 1 very long black dorsal bristle on about middle; subapical circlet consisting of 4 strong setae of different lengths (longest bristle usually yellowish to brownish yellow). Tarsi of all legs with unmodified setation, covered with short setae, basitarsi with stronger setulae ventrally.

Wing faintly infuscate, with yellowish brown veins. Costal bristle short. Stigma indistinct. Veins R2+3 and M1+2 almost parallel near wing apex; vein M1+2 slightly undulate. Cells bm and cup of almost equal length. Squama brown with brown setae. Halter with black knob and yellow stem.

Abdomen black, viewed dorsally subshining, finely brownish pollinose, with narrow paler fasciae posteriorly; covered with numerous long thin setae. Terminalia ( Figs. 4–6 ) small, concolorous with abdomen, symmetrical; cercus elongate oval, with several unmodified setae; epandrial lamella subtriangular, covered with numerous unmodified setae of different lengths; hypandrium subrectangular, with 2 long subapical and several short setae ( Fig. 4 ).

Female. Similar to male; cercus concolorous with abdomen.

Distribution. D.R. Congo.

Remarks. Bezzi (1908) described this species after a single male taken from Kinshasa (D.R. Congo). The holotype of S. elevatus is in poor condition lacking the right antenna and all legs. Actually, S. elevatus is a very little known species since none of the later authors took it into account when describing new species. Within Smith's key (1969) S. elevatus runs to S. usherae Smith, 1969 known only after females from Mozambique and Sierra Leone (Smith 1969; Raffone 1994). The original description of S. usherae is quite poor in characters and it is difficult to distinguish this species and S. elevatus . The real status of S. usherae should become clear when the male is associated. Among species described by Garrett Jones (1940), S. elevatus is most similar to S. neptunus Garrett Jones, 1940 . But the latter is larger (body 6 mm) and has more numerous scutellar bristles as well as anteroventral bristles on the hind femur. Syneches lachaisei Charbonnel, 1998 described from Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon primarily differs from S. elevatus by the yellow scape and pedicel ( Charbonnel 1998). In S. matilei Charbonnel, 1998 ( Cote d’Ivoire, Central African Republic) the postpedicel of the antenna bears three setae and is yellow basally, the stigma of wing is brown and apex of the hypandrium is bifid ( Charbonnel 1998). Syneches leonensis Raffone, 1994 ( Sierra Leone) and S. loici Charbonnel et Daugeron, 2000 ( Central African Republic) can be readily distinguished from S. elevatus by their yellow antenna and partly yellow thorax ( Raffone 1994; Charbonnel & Daugeron 2000).

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 6. Syneches elevatus Bezzi, 1908. 4. Hypandrium; 5. Epandrium with cerci; 6. Left epandrial lamella.