Ommatius (Pygommatius) pectinus, Scarbrough & Marascia, 2003

Scarbrough, Aubrey G. & Marascia, Claudio G., 2003, Revision of Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae). IV. Pygommatius subgen. nov. with twenty-five Afrotropical species, Zootaxa 228 (1), pp. 1-94 : 50-51

Ommatius (Pygommatius) pectinus , sp. n.

Figs. 17 , 181­188

Male. Brown. Length, body 11.0­ 11.8 mm; wing 7.0­ 7.5 mm. Head: Face yellow tomentose with slight tint of brown, mostly yellow vestiture, 1­3 thin, dark bristles present dorsally; 6 pencil­like bristles present, as long as or longer than proboscis; FHWR 1.0:4.5­ 1.0:5.4. Proboscis entirely black. Pedicel ventrally with 1 thick, yellow or black seta, slightly longer than flagellum; flagellum oval, only slightly longer than wide. Frons brown to slightly yellowish­brown tomentose. Ocellar tubercle with 2 long setae, as long as pedicel and scape combined. Occiput with only yellow, postocular bristles, longest about one­third distance to ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Mesonotum mostly brown tomentose, sides and posterior gray; 1 dorsocentral and 3 lateral bristles yellow, 1 notopleural bristle brown. Scutellum gray tomentose with numerous setae and 2 marginal bristles, both yellow; setae about half as long as marginal bristles. Pleuron gray tomentose, white to yellow setose; anepimeral bristle sometimes slightly thicker than setae. Halter yellow.

Wing ( Fig. 17 ): Mostly dense microtrichose, basal third, basal two­thirds medially, bare or sparsely microtrichose. Cell r 4 triangular. Cell m 1 with veins M 1 and M 2 diverge evenly from base. Apex of cell m 3 perpendicular to axis of wing, just beyond r­m.

Leg: Coxae brown, mostly or entirely gray tomentose; fore coxa anteriorly with shiny yellow tomentum. Femora and tibiae yellow, a slight tint of brown anteriorly and dorsally. Fore femur (see O. grossus , Fig. 24 ) basally with 3 long, thick, yellow, ventral bristles. Middle femur anteriorly with 1 long, brown bristle on apical third; shorter, thinner, preapical, yellow bristle present posteriorly; ventral setation absent. Hind femur with only yellow ventral bristles, 3 anteroventral and 1 posteroventrally, all short and present on apical half; 1 ventrobasal bristle one­third as long as hind femur; HFWLR 1.0:6.0­1.0:8.9. Fore tibia with yellow bristles laterally. Tarsi with apical 4 tarsomeres yellowish­brown to brown, basal tarsomere yellow; fore tarsus with 8­9 yellow bristles; basal half of middle tarsus anteriorly with 4­5 short black bristles, all about same length, comb­like.

Abdomen: Narrow with mostly gray tomentum, light brown to brown dorsally, vestiture mostly pale yellow to yellow, mostly brown on apical 3­4 tergites. Sternites 3­5 with abundant yellow bristles, bristles on sternite 3 longest and thickest; those of sternites 4­5 more abundant, shorter. Sternites 6­8 with only brown vestiture.

Terminalia ( Figs. 181­185 ): Ventral lamella apically with T­shaped process, comb­like spines present ventrally; oval tubercles basally with abundant setae. Epandrium 3 branched; dorsal branch short, fused below ventral lamella; middle branch narrow, surface rugose, apex acutely pointed; ventral branch much longer and larger, ear­like, with minute setae. Hypandrium with a ‘tuft’ of long bristles, none fused, minute bracts present.

Female. Differs from male as follows. Length, body 10.5­12.5 mm; wing 7.9­8.1 mm. Head: Face with 3­4 brown bristles; FHWR 1.0:4.9­1.0:5.3. Frons yellowish­brown to brown tomentose, brown setose. Mesonotum with 1 pair of thick, yellow dorsocentral bristles. Leg: Yellow to slightly reddish­yellow. Fore femur basally without bristles, only setae present. Fore tarsus with only 4 yellow bristles laterally. HFWLR 1.0:6.0­1.0:6.7. Abdomen: Tergites 5­8 with a thick bristle in each apical corner. Sternites 1­5 with only yellow vestiture, sternites 6­8 with abundant black vestiture; sternites 3­7 with 1 strong bristle in each apical corner, plus 2­6 additional bristles on the basal half of each sternite. Tergite 9 emarginate apically, extremely short mediodorsally. Terminalia ( Figs. 186­188 ). Three spermathecae present, tubular, apex rounded; duct prebasal and lateral. Sternite 8 brown, corners produced, surface yellow with minute setae.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. Holotype ♂, allotype ♀, SENEGAL: 33 km SSE Brin 11 km / SW Ziguinchor 9.xi.1977 / UTM 28 PCJ53­83 Loc No 22 / Lund Univ. Syst. Dept. / Sweden­Gambia–Senegal / Nov 1977 ­Cederholm­ / Danielsson­Hammarstadt­ / Hedqvist­ Samuelsson ( MZLU) . Paratypes. BENIN: 1 ♂, Museum Paris / Env. de Porto­Novo / Waterlot 1908 ( MNHN) . DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: 1 ♂, Haute Volta / Dingasso nr. Bobo / 28.ix.1979 / A. Pauly réc. ( MRAC) ; 1 ♀, Musée Du Congo / Lomani: Kanlama / 1931 / R. Massart ( MRAC) . GAMBIA: 1 ♂, 3 ♀, swept among veg. / close to the seashore / about 5 KM SSW Gunjur / 13.xi.1977 / UTM 28 PEC0554 LOC 8 / Lund Univ. Syst. Dept. / Sweden­Gambia – Senegal / Nov 1977 ­Cederholm­ / Danielsson­Hammarstadt­ / Hedqvist­Samuelsson ( MZLU) ; 1 ♀, Keneba / 20.ix.69 / J. Hamon réc ( MNHN) . GHANA: 1 ♀, N. Territories / Yopi / XI.1916 / Dr. J. J. Simpson ( BMNH) . NIGERIA: 1 ♀, Afon / 29.vi.1912 / Dr. J. W. Scott­Macfie ( BMNH) ; 1 ♀, Onisdja / 18.vii.1912 / Dr. J. W. Scott­Macfie ( BMNH) . SENEGAL: 4 ♂, 8 ♀, same data as holotype ( MZLU) ; 2 ♂, 3 ♀, same data as holotype except date 1970 ( MZLU) ; 1 ♂, Parc Nationale / Basse Cassamance swept / in dense tree savanna / 11.xi.1977 / UTM 28PCJ2968 loc 31, Lund Univ. Syst. Dept. / Sweden­Gambia – Senegal / Nov 1977 ­Cederholm­ / Danielsson­Hammarstadt­ / Hedqvist­Samuelsson ( MZLU) . SIERRA LEONE: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Lumbay Beach / Freetown / 1940 / C. R. Robband ( BMNH) .

Distribution. The species was captured among seashore vegetation and dense tree savanna during July and November in West Africa from Senegal and Sierra Leone southward to Nigeria and the western portion Democratic Republic of Congo.

Etymology. Latin, pectinus , ‘a comb’, referring to the comb­like process of the ventral lamella.

Remarks. In addition to the characters in the key, the slender body, yellow postocular, mesonotal and scutellar bristles, thin yellow legs, narrow base of cell m 1 ( Fig. 17 ), and the lateral, comb­like row of short bristles on the basal tarsomere of the middle tarsus further characterize O. pectinus .

Figures

FIGURES 11­20. Right wing of male Ommatius (Pygommatius) spp. 11. O. imaginus, sp. n..; 12. O. limbus, sp. n..; 13. O. litoreus sp. n.; 14. O. lulua, sp. n.; 15. O. magnipes, sp. n.; 16. O. ornatipes Engel; 17. O. pectinus sp. n.; 18. O. porticus, sp. n.; 19. O. renudus, sp. n.; 20. O. strigiatus, sp. n.

FIGURES 181­188. Male terminalia of Ommatius pectinus sp. n. 181a. Hypandrial bristles with minute surface bracts; 181­183. Lateral, dorsal and ventral views; 184. Gonostylus; 185. Aedeagus, lateral view. Female terminalia. 186. Spermatheca; 187. Genital fork; 188. Sternite 8, ventral view.

FIGURES 21­28. Right wing of male Ommatius (Pygommatius) spp. 21. O. talus, sp. n.; 22. O. vultus, sp. n.; 23­28. Right fore femur of male Ommatius (Pygommatius) spp. showing arrangement of anteroventral bristles. 23. O. brevicornis Curran; 24. O. grossus, sp. n.; 25. O. limbus, sp. n.; 26. O. litoreus, sp. n.; 27. O. strigiatus, sp. n..; 28. O. vultus, sp. n.