Megaselia aequilateralis Schmitz

Disney, R. H. L., Prescher, S. & Ashmole, N. P., 2010, Scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) of the Canary Islands, Journal of Natural History 44 (3 - 4), pp. 107-218 : 130-131

Megaselia aequilateralis Schmitz

( Figures 12–14 )

Megaselia aequilateralis Schmitz, 1936 .

Megaselia baezi Disney, 1990 . Disney, 2008b.

The original description of this species emphasized that the length and breadth of the frons were subequal (“die vollkommen quadratische Stirn”), as reflected in its name. Schmitz (1938) stated that he measured the breadth of the frons between the inner margins of the eyes in the middle and the length at the side from the vertex to the upper edge of the concavities that accommodate the antennae. When fresh specimens were collected in Tenerife the frons in both sexes was clearly not quadratic in these terms ( Figure 12A,B ). For this reason these specimens were assigned to a new species, M. baezi . However, the suspicion grew that the supposedly quadratic frons of M. aequilateralis might be an error of observation. This was recently confirmed, and M. baezi has been synonymized with M. aequilateralis ( Disney 2008b) .

Previous records

Gran Canaria, Tenerife.

Figures

Figure 12. Megaselia aequilateralis. (A) Male, frons (with bristles represented by their sockets only) (ML, mediolateral bristle; PO, pre-ocellar bristle; AL, anterolateral bristle; A, antial bristle). (B) Female, frons (US, upper supra-antennal bristle, LS, lower SA bristle). (C) Female, posterior face of tip of hind tibia. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 13. Megaselia aequilateralis male, left face of hypopygium. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.

Figure 14. Megaselia aequilateralis female. (A) Right palp. (B) Abdominal tergites 5–6. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.