Mallota hirsuta Hull, 1941

Figs 1, 11, 25, 37, 47

Mallota hirsuta Hull, 1941: 327 .

Differential diagnosis

One of the two Madagascan species. It can be differentiated from the other Madagascan species ( M. meromacrimima) by the orange face (more yellow in meromacrimima), the posterior anepisternum with yellow-orange pile (pale yellow in meromacrimima), the darker abdomen, and the absence of white pollinose fasciae on abdominal terga (present in meromacrimima) but see comments under meromacrimima . Both can be differentiated from the only other Afrotropical species with bare eyes ( M. aperta) by the absence of a distinct medial dark brown macula in the wing (present in aperta), and the unmarginated, rounded apical margin of the scutellum (distinctly marginated in aperta).

Type material

Holotype

MADAGASCAR • ♀; Tananarive Dist., Moramanga, Oriental Forest; May–Sep. 1938; C. Lamberton leg.; ANSP, ANSP ENT 142915 (6591).

Description

Body length: 15.0 mm. Wing length: 11.5 mm.

Female

HEAD (Fig. 11). Eye bare; dichoptic, ommatidia equal in size. Frons strongly protruding, in lateral view slightly beyond facial tubercle; ground colour dark orange, in upper third black; with medium long, yellow pile, along lateral margins and in dorsal third pile more yellow-orange. Ocellar triangle medium long black pilose. Face ground colour orange to dark orange, genae black; with whitish pollinosity, facial tubercle non-pollinose; with dispersed long yellow pile along dorsolateral margins, otherwise bare; facial tubercle distinctly pronounced. Antennal segments orange; arista bare, orange at base, darker distally; postpedicel wider than long.

THORAX (Fig. 1). Scutum subshining black; anterior third with medium long yellow to yellow-orange pile intermixed with shorter black pile, posterior two-thirds with short black pile (probably large part rubbed off in holotype); postalar callus with longer yellow-orange pile. Scutellum dark orange, anterior margin narrowly darker; with long pale yellow pile (probably large part rubbed off in holotype); unmarginated. Pleura ground colour black; posterior anepisternum with long and dense yellow-orange pile, katepisternum with dispersed long pale yellow-orange pile, anterior and dorsomedial parts of anepimeron with dispersed long black pile; otherwise pleura bare.

LEGS. Femora black; with short dense black pile; profemur posteriorly at base with longer pale yellow pile; mesofemur posteriorly along basal two-thirds with longer pale yellow pile continued distally by longer black pile; metafemur (Fig. 25) thickened, anterodorsally along basal two-thirds with row of longer pale yellow pile continued anteriorly as shorter pile; ventrally with few dispersed longer black pile. Tibia and tarsal segments dark orange; with short pale yellow pile; metatibia curved (Fig. 25).

WING (Fig. 37). Slightly fumose; most areas microtrichose, slightly more densely microtrichose at anterior half of cell sc and adjacent area of cell r 1. Stigmal cross-vein present between distal end of vein Sc and middle of vein R 1. Vein R 4+5 sinuate, without appendix.

ABDOMEN (Fig. 47). Subshining black to dark brown; with short black pile (large parts rubbed off in holotype) except tergum 1 with longer yellow-orange pilosity; tergum 2 anterolaterally with short whitish pile; anterior margin of tergum 3 with whitish pile; other terga laterally with longer whitish pile. Sterna black to red-brown; sterna 1–3 with very long, dispersed whitish pile intermixed with few shorter black pile, sterna 4–5 with dispersed black pile.

Male

Unknown.

Distribution

Madagascar.

Comments

See under M. meromacrimima . No DNA barcodes were obtained.