Pygommatius iriga Scarbrough & Hill

Scarbrough, A. G. & Hill, H., 2005, Pygommatius Scarbrough & Marascia, a valid ommatiine genus (Diptera: Asilidae) with new combinations and new species from the Philippines, Zootaxa 1055, pp. 1-22 : 11-14

Pygommatius iriga Scarbrough & Hill , sp. nov.

Figs. 12–20

Male. Black, pleura and coxae partly yellow. Body length 10.3–11.4 mm; wing length 7.6–8.0 mm. Head: Face shiny white tomentose, mystax with long, stout, white bristles, setae dorsally sparse, thin, white or black bristles; FHWR 1.0:13.0 –1.0:16.0. Palpus brown, brown setose. Proboscis black, base ventrally yellow; yellow setose. Antenna, frons, ocellar tubercle brown setose; FWLR 1.0:1.901.0:2.4. Frons bright brownish­yellow tomentose. Ocellar tubercle posteriorly with setae as long as or slightly longer than scape and pedicel combined. Postocular bristles proclinate, longest bristle with apex about 1/3 distance toward ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Pronotum black, white tomentose, white setose. Mesonotum yellowish­brown tomentose dorsally, narrow sides brownish­yellow to yellow; setae and bristles mostly brown, sparse; two dorsocentral and four lateral bristles present, one dorsocentral bristle sometimes yellow. Scutellum light brownish­yellow tomentose with scattered setae and two marginal bristles. Mediotergite black; anatergite brownish­yellow to yellow. Pleuron with anepisternum, katepisternum and meron mostly black, elsewhere reddish­yellow to yellow; setae yellow, one to several katatergal bristles brown.

Wing: Hyaline, dense microtrichose from apex to crossvein r­m, sparse to absent basally. Bas of cell r4 beyond apex of cell d, narrow basally, sides diverging apically. Crossvein r­m at apical 1/3 of cell d, much shorter than CuA1. Cell m1 narrow basally, wider beyond, constricted apically; m1WR 1.0:4.7:4.1–1.0:8.0:4.5. Cell m3 short, apex just beyond crossvein r­m.

Leg: Fore coxa yellow; middle coxa brownish­yellow anteriorly; hind coxa brown apically, yellow basally with sparse or numerous brown setae. Trochanters brown. Fore and middle femora yellow, apical 1/2 of hind femur brown; basal 1/2 of fore femur with thick bristles ventrally. Middle femur with thin, yellow anteroventral setae; one long, bristle basally and numerous, short, comblike, yellow bristles posteroventrally. Hind femur only with thin, brown anteroventral setae; posteroventral bristles on basal 1/2 yellow, longest bristle about 1/2 as long as hind femur; four or five shorter, thinner, brown bristles apically. Fore and middle tibiae yellow, bristles thin and long, yellow on fore tibia and mostly brown on middle tibia; hind tibia brown on apical 1/3. Basal tarsomere of fore and middle tarsi yellow, narrow apex brown; remaining tarsomeres brown; thin, long, mostly brown bristles present; fore tarsus with one or two yellow bristles.

Abdomen: Mostly brown with brown setae, sides and apical margin of basal four or five segments yellow; sternites 3–5 with stout, erect, yellow bristles; sternite 8 with abundant, brown setae and thin, long bristles.

Terminalia ( Figs. 12–16 ): Epandrium with dorsal branch long, narrow, nearly as long as ventral branch; middle branch prominent, long and narrow, apex podiform; ventral branch wide apically, spatulate. Gonostylus aviform. Aedeagus narrow apically, sheath strongly inflated apically; ejaculatory apodeme with lateral flange. Gonocoxite with margins entire, neither oblique or notched. Hypandrium with transverse cluster of wavy bristles.

Female. Differs from male as follows. Body length 10.7–10.8; wing length 8.6–9.3; FHWR 1.0:12.8–1.0:13.6; FWLR 1.0:2.0; m1WR 1.0:4.4:3.7–1.0:4.6:4.4; HFWLR 1.0:5.9–1.0:6.5. Legs: Coxae apically with numerous brown setae; middle coxa brown apically. Fore femur with only thin setae ventrally. Middle femur with numerous, brown, anteroventral setae. Hind femur with numerous stout, long bristles ventrally; anteroventral bristles especially long and thick. Fore and middle tibiae with brown and yellow bristles laterally; fore tarsus with only brown bristles. Abdomen: Margins of most tergites and sternites yellow; sternites 3–5 without stout, erect yellow bristles. Sternite 8 with apical 1/ 2 mostly thinly sclerotized, depressed surface. Terminalia ( Figs. 17–20 ): Tergite 9 straplike. Apical 1/2 or more of sternite 8 membranous. Spermatheca short, swollen basally. Genital fork with wide lateral sclerites.

Specimens examined. Holotype ɗ, PHILIPPINES: P. I. [Luzon] Camarines Sur: Mt. Iriga , 26.iv.1962 ~ H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM #16,573). Paratypes, PHILIPPINES: 1 Ψ, same data as holotype except, 500 m, 24.iii.1962 (BPBM); 1 Ψ, same data as holotype except, 500 m, 29.iii.1962 (BPBM); 2 ɗ, 2 Ψ, [Luzon] Camarines Sur: Mt. Iriga , 500–600 m, 1, 5,17. iv.62 (BPBM); 1 Ψ, same data as holotype except 500 m, 31.iii, (BPBM); 1 Ψ, P. I. [Luzon] Camarines Sur: Mt. Isarog, Pili, 700 m, light trap, 25.iv.1965, H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM); 2 Ψ, P. I. [Luzon] Camarines Sur: Mt. Isarog, Pili, 800 m, 29.iv, 30.v.1965, H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM); 1 Ψ, P. I. [Luzon] Camarines Sur: Mt. Isarog, Pili, 800 m, 30.v.1965, H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM); 1 Ψ, Luzon, Mt. Makiling, 1000’, laguna, ex. Mudspring, 30.iii. ’68, D. E. Hardy (BPBM); 1 Ψ, P. I. Luzon, Mt. Prov., Ifugao, Mayoyao, 1000–1500 m, 6.vii.1966, H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM).

Etymology: The species name iriga , a corruption of the original Bicol word I­Raga, which means ‘where there is higher land’ [Mt. Iriga ] in contrast to the low land marshes. The name [feminine] is a noun in apposition.

Remarks. Pygommatius iriga is distinguished from congeners by the mostly yellow pleuron; the anepisternum, katepisternum, and meron are partly black; coxae partly yellow. Also, the male has a row of short, comblike bristles below the middle femur. Furthermore, it is distinguished by the combined characters of the terminalia ( Figs. 12–20 ), especially the podiform apex of the epandrium and the short, basally swollen spermatheca and the membranous apical 1/2 of sternite 8 in the female. The female of P. iriga is difficult to separate from P. montanus without dissection. However, the large membranous area of sternite 8, and the contrasting dark brown color of the apical 1/2 of the hind femur are reliable characters in good specimens. Sternite 8 is more produced apically and possesses thick brown bristles that border the membranous area. Also, the hind femur usually has a pale brownish preapical band in the female of P. montanus .

Oldroyd (1972), not recognizing P. iriga as an undescribed species, reported it as O. calvus Meijere (1911) from the Philippines, redescribed the species, and illustrated the male terminalia. Java is the type locality of Ommatius calvus . A study of the syntypes of O. calvus (ZMAN) revealed that the two species are not conspecific. In addition to the distinctive male terminalia ( Figs. 12–20 ), the fore femur of the male of P. i r i g a has a ventral row of setae whereas they are stout bristles in O. calvus .

Figures

FIGURES 12 – 20. Pygommatius iriga Scarbrough, terminalia. Male, 12 – 14. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views; 15. Gonostylus, lateral view; 16. Aedeagus, lateral view. Female, 17 – 18. Dorsal and ventral views; 19. Spermatheca; 20. Genital fork.