Leptogaster suleymani, Hasbenli, Abdullah, Candan, Selami & Alpay, Neslihan, 2006

Hasbenli, Abdullah, Candan, Selami & Alpay, Neslihan, 2006, A new species of Leptogaster Meigen (Diptera, Asilidae) from Turkey with egg and spermatheca structure, Zootaxa 1267, pp. 49-57 : 50-55

Leptogaster suleymani n. sp.

( Figs. 1–3 , 7 , 9–11 , 15 –17)

Etymology

The new species is named in honor of my respected colleague Dr. Süleyman SARIBIYIK who collected the specimens first.

Description of male

Body length 13 mm. General coloration black.

Head. Face and parafacial area with silver whitish tomentum, Mouth margin projection extends from eyes line approximately as scape. Mystax with 2 black and 11 whitish setae in single row. Frons and occiput with brownish­yellow tomentum; setae on frons short, black. Proboscis and palps black with whitish setae. Parafacial with long white setae extending to half of eyes. Antennae black, scape and pedicel with black setae; flagellum two times longer than scape and pedicel; style as long as flagellum, with one or two short setae. Occipital setae numerous, thick and black.

Thorax. Mesonotum black with very sparse tomentum, anterior, lateral and posterior margins with yellow tomentum; dorsocentral vitta black, glossy. One supraalar and one notopleural macroseta black. Postpronotal lobes reddish. Pleurae with yellowish­greyish tomentum; anterior parts of anepisternum and katepisternum with long white setae. Scutellum with yellow tomentum, posterior margin with 4 black setae. Wings. Length 7 mm. Extending to sixth segment of abdomen. Membrane completely blackish, foggy, apex slightly paler. Venation black. Whole wing covered with microtrichia. Radial­medial crossvein situated in middle of discal cell. Posterior margin of wings with black thin setae. Halteres with brown stalk and knob black in anterior half, brownish yellow in posterior half. Legs. Coxa covered dense grayish white tomentum. Fore­ and midfemora black, dorsally with reddish yellow stripe. Hindfemora with apical half approximately 2 times larger than basal half; black, dorsally with reddish yellow stripe; with dorsal black and ventral short white setae. Fore­ and midtibiae black, with black setae and macrosetae; hindtibia black, dorsally with reddish yellow stripe, inner sides with yellowish white setae, outer sides with short white setae. Tarsi, ungues and empodium black; tarsal setae and macrosetae black, inner side of third hindtarsi with white setae.

Abdomen. Black, with dense grayish brown tomentum. Terminalia . Black; upper half with black setae, lower half with yellowish white setae. Cerci with white setae. Epandrium tapering to apex with apex inward curved. Hypandrium broad at base, narrowing apically with an apical point ( Figs. 1–2 ). Dististylus reaching to apex of epandrium; laterally apex obtuse with deep pit. Lateral processes of gonostyli narrow and tapering to apex, as long as half of dististylus. Aedeagus short, thin, tapering to apex. Lateral ejaculatory process rectangular. Aedeagal sheath broad at the base, narrowing to apical. Aedeagal apodeme rounded, with a basal indent in the ventral ( Figs. 3 ).

Female

Similar to male except for following.

Body length: 10–15 mm; wing length: 6–9 mm.

Head. Mystax with two rows and 10–14 white setae.

Abdomen. Tergites with grayish yellow tomentum; median of tergites with longitudinally wide dark stripe. Terminalia . Furca with narrow and pointed two bars ( Fig. 7 ). Common duct of spermatheca short, whole surface transversely folded. Reservoir canals strongly curved immediately after common duct ( Fig. 10 ) and transverse folded to valves; diameter 21 m. Spermathecal ducts then become thin and weakly sclerotized and surrounded with numerous canaliculi ( Fig. 11 ); diameter 10– 12 m. They then become strongly sclerotized and smooth; diameter on anterior half 45 m, then they taper to a diameter of 24 m. Lateral spermatheca larger than median spermatheca and some with pointed tip; length of lateral spermatheca 200 m, width 133 m, length of median spermatheca 156 m, width 100 m ( Fig. 9 ).

Eggs. Ovoid, yellow­brown; length approximately 376 m, width approximately 257 m ( Fig.15 ). Chorion surface is fairly smooth, but at higher magnification, surface is covered by hexagons ( Fig. 16 ). These hexagons include irregular debris. Micropylar region is in the opposite of hatched line of egg and daisy­like; center with two micropylar openings ( Fig. 17 ).

Specimens Examined

Holotype ɗ (spn15096): TURKEY: Kahramanmaraş, Andırın, Çokak village, 1313 m., 3745.N, 3620.E, 19.06.2005, Leg. A. Hasbenli. Paratypes (spn15097­15103): 1 ɗ, Kahramanmaraş, Andırın, Çiġşar village, 1400 m., 37°45.N, 36°19.E, 0 7.06.2002, Leg. S. Sarıbıyık; 1 ɗ, Kahramanmaraş, Andırın, Çokak village, Kabaca location, 1500 m., 0 7.06.2002, Leg. S. Sarıbıyık; 4 Ψ, Kahramanmaraş, Andırın, Çokak village, 1313 m., 19.06.2005 Leg. A. Hasbenli; 1 Ψ, Kahramanmaraş, Andırın, Çiġşar village, 1597 m., 19.06.2005 Leg. A. Hasbenli. The specimens are deposited in the collection of the Zoological Museum of the Gazi University (ZMGU), Ankara, Turkey.

Diagnosis

Blackish foggy wing coloration, general shape of spermatheca and male genitalia resemble to L. fumipennis ( Figs 4–6 , 8 , 12–14 ). Leptogaster suleymani is differentiated from L. fumipennis by the following characters ( Table.1 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Male genitalia. Leptogaster suleymani n. sp. 1. lateral view; 2. ventral view; 3. aedeagus and L. fumipennis Loew, 1871 4. lateral view; 5. ventral view; 6. aedeagus.

FIGURES 7 – 8. Spermatheca drawings (light microscope). Leptogaster suleymani n. sp. 7. general view and L. fumipennis Loew, 1871 8. general view.

FIGURES 9 – 14. SEM micrographs of spermatheca. Leptogaster suleymani n. sp. 9. general view; 10. common duct; 11. valve and L. fumipennis Loew, 1871 12. general view; 13. common duct; 14. valve.

FIGURES 15 – 20. SEM micrographs of egg. Leptogaster suleymani n. sp. 15. general view; 16. exochorion; 17. micropyle and L. fumipennis Loew, 1871 18. general view; 19. exochorion; 20. micropyle.