Thyridanthrax lotus ( 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 : 512-514

Thyridanthrax lotus ( Loew, 1869)

( Figs 31–36 )

Anthrax lotus Loew 1869: 164 . Type locality: Greece (Rhodes) and Turkey [as “Küste Kleinasiens”].

Villa confusa Becker 1916: 47 . Type locality: Greece and Syria, or Turkey [as “Klein-Asien”] and “Turkistan”. Distribution: PA: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece (incl. Rhodes), Georgia, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

Egyptian localities: Coastal Strip: Burg, Mariout. Eastern Desert: Wadies south east of Cairo. Fayoum: Girza Route. Sinai: Wadi El-Arbaein, Wadi Firan, Wadi Garagnyia.

Material examined: EGY: 1 male, Burg , 10.V.1927 (Tewfik) ; 1 male and 1 female, same data, 20.V.1927 ; 1 female, Fayoum, Girza Route , 14.IV.1947 (Sh.M. & Str.) ; 1 male, Wadi El-Arbaein (S. Sinai), VIII–IX.1940 (H.C.E. & Sh.M.) ; 1 male, Wadi Firan , 25. VI.1936 (H.C.E); 1 female, Wadi Garagnyia (S, Sinai), VI–VIII.1942 (H.C.E) ; 1 female, Wadi Garawi , 19.IV.1926 ( Farag ) .

Diagnosis: Body length: 8–13 mm. Frons and occiput black in ground color, ocellar tubercle dark brown, face and oral margin brownish-yellow; frons with black hairs and yellowish scales becoming more whitish on sides of lower part; face with sparse whitish hairs and covered with yellowish scales becoming whitish laterally; occiput covered with dense silvery-white scaly-hairs; upper part of frons in male approximately three times or less as wide as ocellar tubercle, those of female approximately 3.5 times or more as wide as ocellar tubercle; antennae dark brown to black, with scape and pedicel sometimes more brownish; scape and pedicel with yellowish-white hairs, mixed with some black ones on dorsal side. Thorax black in ground color, only scutellum reddish-brown at apical part; collar and upper part of mesopleuron golden-yellow hairy, remaining hairs and scales on pleura white; tufts of white scaly-hairs present in front of wing bases, forming beginnings of white transverse band connecting both wing bases; rest of scutum and scutellum covered with golden ocher-yellow vestiture, between which there are scattered black hairs especially on sides; thoracic setae golden-yellow to brownish-yellow. Legs with femora black with yellowish-brown tips; tibiae yellowish-brown with black tips; tarsi black; legs covered with yellowish-white scales. Wings hyaline, with basal costal, costal and subcostal cells almost tinged yellowish; base of costa covered with yellowish scales; calypter whitish, fringed white. Abdomen in female predominantly black in ground color, with margins of tergites and sides of basal tergites yellowish-brown; in male, yellowish-brown color is often spread and only 1 st tergite and centers of 2 nd– 6 th tergites remain black; 1 st tergite, front corners of 2 nd tergite, and lateral sides of other tergites with yellowish-white hairs; on anal tergite, yellowish-white hairs are mostly mixed with black hairs; all tergites covered with dark brown to black scales and dense brownish-white or golden scales, except anal tergites, which have lighter, almost whitish scales; black scales usually form transverse bands on posterior half of 2 nd tergite and on anterior margins of 5 th and 6 th tergits, with those of 2 nd tergite wider than the other two bands. Gonocoxites with basal half prominent and broad; epiphallus long, broad, and straight-sided when seen dorsally at apical part, with lateral halves of apical part slightly bent dorsally and with apex angulated, not rounded, not curled and not spinulate ( Figs. 33–36 ).

Remarks: The male genitalia of T. lotus differs in some features from other Thyridanthrax spp. Based on these genitalic characters and wing morphology, T. lotus is clearly do not fit to the genus Thyridanthrax , and may need to be placed elsewhere, yet it is not clear whether it can be included in any of the other currently recognized genera in the tribe Villini . We tentatively keep it here until more rigorous analysis can be conducted.

Figures

FIGURES 31–36. Thyridanthrax lotus. 31. habitus; 32. Head, lateral; 33. hypopygium, dorsal; 34. hypopygium, lateral; 35. tip of epiphallus, lateral; 36. tip of epiphallus, dorsal.