Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) hoeli Frey, 1955

Shamshev, Igor V., Sinclair, Bradley J. & Khruleva, Olga A., 2020, The empidoid flies (Diptera: Empidoidea, exclusive of Dolichopodidae) of the Russian Arctic islands and Svalbard Archipelago, Zootaxa 4848 (1), pp. 1-75 : 32-34

Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) hoeli Frey

( Fig. 34 )

Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) hoelsi Frey, 1950: 100 . Type-locality: Greenland.

Rhamphomyia hoeli: Frey, 1955b: 482 (revision); Downes, 1970: 779 (behaviour); Danks, 1981: 465 (arctic insects); Yang et al., 2007: 171, 195 (catalogue); Barták, 2015: 576 ( Greenland fauna); Sinclair et al., 2019: 50 (lectotype designation, redescription).

Material examined. Russia. Chukotka AO (Wrangel Island): Somnitelnaya Bay , on flower of Dryas integrifolia , spotted tundra, 19.vii.1966, KBG (2 ♂, 2 ♀, ZIN) ; environs of pass Vjuchny, NW Somnitelnaya Bay , 21.vii.1972, KBG (1 ♂, ZIN) ; 5 km N Somnitelnaya Bay, valley of Somnitelnaya River , small meadow, 25.vii.1972, KBG (2 ♀, ZIN) ; same locality, 7–8.vii.1972, KBG (2 ♀, ZIN) ; Somnitelnaya Bay, valley of Somnitelnaya River , Mineev Mtns, 150 m, pebbles, on flower of Potentilla emarginata , 22.vii.1966, KBG (7 ♂, 3 ♀, ZIN) ; near north slope of Berri Peak, 6 km ESE Sovetskaya Mtn , 15.vii.1972, KBG (5 ♂, 2 ♀, ZIN) ; upper flow of Khischniki River , 7 km SE mountain Sovetskaya, Dryas tundra near river, 200 m, 11.vii.1972, KBG (7 ♂, 2 ♀, ZIN) ; middle flow of Mamontovaya River , N Perkatkun, osier-bed in river valley, 17,22. vii.1972, KBG (8 ♂, 1 ♀, ZIN) ; same locality, 71°10′N 179°45′W, BT 20 A, YPT, 2–4.vii.2015, OAK (1 ♂, ZIN); spurs of Pervaya Mtn, 71°09′N, 179°27′W, BT 11 , Sw, 28.vi.2015, OAK (2 ♂, ZIN); same locality, BT 14 , Sw, 28.vi.2015, OAK (1 ♂, ZIN); upper flow of Neizvestnaya River , 71°13′N, 179°19′W, BT 5 А, 26.vi.2006, OAK (1 ♂, ZIN); same locality and biotope, 26.vi.2015, OAK (1♂, ZIN) .

Recognition. Rather small species (wing length 3.5–4.2 mm) with dark legs and densely pruinescent thorax and abdomen. Male ( Fig. 34 ) holoptic; antenna dark brown; scutum brownish grey with two indistinct darker vittae between rows of acr and dc (dorsal view); thorax dark setose, upper proepisternum in front of spiracle with 0–2 short setae; mesonotal setae well differentiated, bristle-like, acrostichals and dorsocentrals long, 1–2-serial, 2–3 npl, 4 sctl; spiracles dark brown; legs dark setose, fore coxa with fine setae anteriorly, tibiae and tarsomeres slender; mid tibia with 2–3 anterodorsal setae (except 1 long seta of subapical circlet), about 2X as long as tibial width; hind tibia with moderately long strong setae dorsally, 1 seta in posteroapical comb; hind femur with complete row of anteroventral setae (longest subapical setae nearly as long as femur width), hind basitarsus only with short setae dorsally; wing whitish, CuA+CuP evanescent apically, not quite reaching wing-margin or extended as faint fold, basal costa seta present, axillary incision right-angled, halter pale brown to yellow; abdomen greyish, paler than thoracic pleuron, dark setose; terminalia small; cercus shorter than epandrium, with broad base, tapered at midlength to narrow apical portion, covered with short setulae; subepandrial lobe present, cylindrical, with pointed apex, projecting slightly farther than cercus; epandrium subtriangular, tapered to truncate, slightly bilobed setose apex, curved medially, outer apex with cluster of long, dark stout setae; hypandrium short, boot-shaped, ending in middle of swollen phallus base; phallus short, gently arched between epandrial lamellae, not forming loops, base swollen, apex with shallow S-shaped curvature. Female similar to male, except eyes dichoptic; wing slightly infuscate, CuA+CuP entirely sclerotized, brownish; leg chaetotaxy reduced, without pennate setae.

Distribution. Holarctic; in North America, R. hoeli is known from the low and high arctic region east of Hudson Bay and Greenland ( Sinclair et al. 2019); in Eurasia, it is recorded only from Wrangel Island.

Habitat. On Wrangel Island this species was collected mainly in valleys of rivers and streams as well as some wet biotopes.

Figures

FIGURES 32–34. Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia), male habitus, lateral view. 32. R. (P.) filicauda Henriksen & Lundbeck; 33. R. (P.) frigida Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev; 34. R. (P.) hoeli Frey.