Thyridanthrax incanus ( Klug, 1832 )

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

Thyridanthrax incanus ( Klug, 1832)

( Figs 28–30 )

Anthrax incana Klug 1832 : pl. 30, fig. 5. Type locality: Lebanon or Syria.

Anthrax testacea Macquart 1840: 61 . Type locality: Egypt and probably Saudi Arabia [as “Arabie”].

Anthrax varipennis Macquart in Lucas 1849: 457 . Type locality: Algeria.

Distribution: OR: Pakistan. PA: Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Georgia, Iran, Israel, Italy (incl. Sicily), Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Yugoslavia.

Egyptian localities: Coastal Strip: Amiria, Burg, Mariout, Nuzha. Lower Nile Valley: Mahmoudia. Sinai: Gebel Moussa, Wadi El-Arbaein, Wadi El-Lega, Wadi El-Rabba, Wadi El-Tala’a, Wadi Gebal, Wadi Itlah, Wadi Shalalah.

Material examined: EGY: 1 male and 1 female, Farsh Gabal Moussa , 26. VI.1930 (H.C.E) ; 1 female, Mariout, Burg , 15, VII.1926 (Efflatoun) ; 1 female, Wadi El-Rabbah , 21–24.IV.1940 (H.C.E.) ; 1 female, Wadi El-Tala’a, 15.V.1996 (Magdi S.A.) ; 1 female, Wadi Gebal , R. Nada, 19.VIII.1995 (Magdi S.A.) ; 1 female, Wadi Gebal, Wadi El-Kat , 20.VIII.1995 (Magdi S.A.) ; 1 female, Wadi Shalalah (nr. Rabbah , S. Sinai), 30. VI.1943 (Efflatoun) ; 1 male, Wadi Itlah (S. Sinai), 10.VII.1943 (Efflatoun) ; 1 male, Wadi El-Lega (S. Sinai), VI–VIII.1943 (Efflatoun) .

Diagnosis: Body length: approximately 14 mm. Head yellowish-brown in ground color, only upper half of frons, vertex, and occiput black; frons with black hairs, almost as long as scape, becoming denser at middle; frons and face covered with yellowish-white scales and scaly-hairs, becoming more yellowish or ochre yellowish on oral margin, sides, and upper portion of frons and on occiput; scape yellowish with long black hairs, mixed with few yellowish ones; pedicel darker with shorter black hairs; flagellum conical, dark brown to black, longer than scape and pedicel together; upper part of frons in male less than three times as wide as ocellar tubercle, those of female more than three times as wide as ocellar tubercle. Thorax black in ground color, with apical half of scutellum yellowish-brown; collar golden ochre yellow hairy; tuft of almost pure white hairs present in front of wing base; tuft of white long scaly-hairs present above hind coxae and on laterotergites. Scutum and scutellum covered with ochre yellow scaly-hairs, becoming lighter on lateral and basal margins of scutellum; notopleural setae reddish-yellow, other setae of scutum and scutellum golden yellowish. Legs yellowish-brown, with tips of tibiae and tarsi blackish; covered with yellowish-white scales. Wings with pale brown or yellowish-brown basicostal infuscation extending over basal half to basal two-thirds of surface, with paler base and hyaline spots on crossveins (window panes); brown pattern on wing usually reduced to spots separated by pale areas on crossveins and on base; base of costa covered with yellowish-white scales becoming more whitish on lower half. Abdomen with tergites in some specimens black, with narrow brownish-yellow posterior margins and reddish-yellow spots on sides, in some other specimens tergites predominantly reddish-yellow or brown with 1 st tergite and middle parts of 2 nd and 3 rd tergites black; all sides of abdomen surrounded with glossy yellowish-white hairs, mixed with very few black ones on sides of 4 th and 5 th tergites; some black hairs present also on posterior margins of tergites 2–5; 1 st tergite with whitish relatively long scaly-hairs on posterior border; 2 nd tergite covered with yellowish scaly-hairs on anterior two-thirds becoming whitish on anterior border, with band of dark brownish scaly-hairs on posterior third becoming wider on middle; 3 rd and 4 th tergites covered with whitish scaly-hairs forming transverse band on anterior half of each, becoming yellowish and brownish on posterior half, with narrow band of dark brownish scaly-hairs sometimes present on posterior margin; 5 th tergite completely covered with yellowish scaly-hairs, becoming slightly whitish on anterior half, mixed with some black hairs on posterior margin; 6 th tergite covered with whitish scaly-hairs mixed with few yellowish ones on posterior margin; 7 th tergite completely covered with long white scales. Spermatheca ( Fig. 30 ) with the duct between the bulb and swelling slightly dilated; swelling separated from the terminal bulb by about the length of the pump and located at the middle between the bulb and the pump.

Figures

FIGURES 25–30. Thyridanthrax spp. 25–27. Thyridanthrax griseolus: 25. habitus; 26. Head, lateral; 27. Spermatheca; 28–30. Thyridanthrax incanus: 28. habitus; 29. Head, lateral; 30. spermatheca.