Thyridanthrax perspicillaris perspicillaris ( Loew, 1869 )

El-Hawagry, Magdi S., Abdel-Dayem, Mahmoud S. & Al Dhafer, Hathal M., 2019, On the taxonomy of the genus Thyridanthrax Osten Sacken in Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with description of a new species (Diptera: Bombyliidae), Zootaxa 4701 (6), pp. 501-519 : 515

Thyridanthrax perspicillaris perspicillaris ( Loew, 1869)

( Figs 37–42 )

Anthrax gallus Loew 1869: 155 . Type locality: France (Bordeaux).

Anthrax perspicillaris Loew 1869: 157 . Type locality: Italy and Greece, and probably Kazakhstan [as “Südrussland”] and Turkey [as “Klein-Asien”].

Thyridanthrax ternarius Bezzi 1920: 108 . Type locality: Ethiopia [as “Scioa”].

Thyridanthrax ternarius Bezzi 1921: 136 . Type locality: South Africa (Northern Cape and Mpumalanga). Preoccupied by Bezzi (1920).

Anthrax pyrroproctus Bigot in Bezzi 1921: 137 . Nomen nudum.

Thyridanthrax ternarius Bezzi 1924: 210 . Type locality: Gambia. Preoccupied by Bezzi (1920).

Distribution: AF: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Western Cape), Sudan, United Arab Emirates. OR: Pakistan. PA: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece (incl. Rhodes), Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy (incl. Sicily), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Libya, Morocco, Mongolia, Palestine ( West Bank), Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia.

Egyptian localities: Coastal Strip: Salloum; Eastern Desert: Suez Road, Wadies southeast of Cairo; Fayoum: Fayoum City; Gebel Elba: Mersa Halayeb, Wadi Edeib; Sinai: Wadi El-Arbaein, Wadi El-Lega, Wadi El-Rabba, Wadi Firan, Wadi Garagneyia.

Saudi Arabian localities: Haiel: 40 km west of Haiel, Haiel City, Saqf (Haiel Governorate). Makkah: Al-Baha- Taief Road (Taief Governorate), nr. El-Leith (El-Leith Governorate). Riyadh: Riyadh City (Riyadh Governorate).

Material examined: EGY: 1 male, Fayoum , 11.III.1947 (Sh. & Roman) ; 1 female, Ogret El-Sheikh , 12.X.1925 (Farag) ; 1 male and 1 female, Wadi El-Arbaein (St. Katherina, S. Sinai), 19–27.IV.1939 (Eff. & Tew.) ; 1 male, same data, VIII–IX.1040 (H.C.E. & Sh. M.); Wadi Dar El-Maskhara, 12.III.1930 (Tewfik) ; 1 female, Wadi Digla , 23.VIII.1925 (Tewfik) ; 1 female, Wadi Edeib , 26.II–7.III.1938 (H.C.E. & M.T.) ; 1 male, Wadi El-Lega (S. Sinai), VI–IX.1941 (H.C.E) ; 1 female, Wadi El-Arbaein , 21.V.1997 (Magdi) ; 1 male, Wadi Gebal , R. Nada (S. Sinai), 19.VIII.1995 (Magdi S.A.) ; 1 male and 1 female, same data, 26.VIII.1996 ; 1 male, Wadi Morrah , 16.X.1925 (Farag) ; 1 male, Wadi Zaeitar (Sinai), 24.VIII.1996 (Magdi, S.A.) . KSA: 1 female, Al-Baha-Taief Road (El-Hawagry) [in personal collection of El-Hawagry] .

Diagnosis: Body length: 7–14 mm. Frons and occiput grayish-black to black in ground color, only face and oral margin yellowish, with upper middle part of face slightly blackish in some individuals; frons with numerous black hairs which may extend below antennae, mixed with some sparse golden yellow scales; face with sparse short black hairs, numerous yellowish-white hairs becoming longer and denser on sides, and yellowish-white scales becoming more whitish on sides; tip of facial cone with numerous coarse short black hairs; palpi yellowish; scape and pedicel reddish-yellow with numerous black hairs; flagellum black with pointed dark brown apex; upper part of frons in male approximately three times as wide as ocellar tubercle, those of female approximately 3.5 times or more as wide as ocellar tubercle. Thorax black in ground color, only scutellum brownish-red, at least at middle; hairs on collar and upper half of mesopleuron brownish or golden yellow, becoming whitish on prosternum and lower half of mesopleuron; scutum and scutellum covered with golden yellow and whitish scaly-hairs becoming white, larger, and denser on base of scutellum; white transverse band of scaly-hairs present on scutum in front of wing bases; hairs of scutum and scutellum yellowish, mixed with some short black hairs especially on margins of scutum; notopleura with a complete long white stripe of scaly-hairs; all thoracic setae golden-yellow. Legs mainly dark brown to black, predominantly covered with yellowish scales. Wings usually without interradial crossvein between R 2+3 and R 4 (i.e., with two submarginal cells), some individuals with interradial crossvein present (i.e., with three submarginal cells); wings with intense pattern, with apical and basal borders of infuscation sharply marked off from small hyaline areas; calypter yellowish-white to pale brownish, with long white fringe; halteres yellowish-white with more whitish tip. Abdomen black in ground color, reddish-brown at sides of 2 nd– 4 th tergites; in some individuals, reddish-brown coloration more prevalent in all tergites especially anal ones; sides of 1 st tergite, front corners of 2 nd and 4 th tergites, and mostly posterior corners of 3 rd tergite white hairy; ventrally bent parts of 2 nd, 3 rd, 5 th, and 6 th tergites black haired, those of 4 th and anal tergites with only white hairs; surface of all tergites, except last one, extensively covered with dark brown to pure black vestiture, interrupted on anterior edges of 3 rd and 4 th tergites by wide, narrowly interrupted, transverse bands of white vestiture; a large patch of white vestiture also present on middle of 6 th tergite; posterior margin of 6 th tergite and 7 th tergite with ivory white tomentum. Gonocoxites shell-like, with deep division between basal and apical halves, apical half with long hairs, basal half prominent; epiphallus broadly rounded at apex, dorsally enlarged at base aedeagus short ( Figs. 39–41 ). Spermatheca ( Fig. 42 ) with the swelling in the duct separated from the terminal bulb by more than three times the length of the pump and separated from the pump by about the length of the pump itself.

Figures

FIGURES 37–42. Thyridanthrax perspicillaris. 37. habitus; 38. Head, lateral; 39. hypopygium, lateral; 40. tip of epiphallus, lateral; 41. tip of epiphallus, dorsal; 42. spermatheca.