Aspistomella heteroptera Hendel, 1909

Kovac, Damir, Kameneva, Elena P., Korneyev, Severyn V., Araújo, Alexandre Santos, Savaris, Marcoandre, Smit, John T., Schneider, Alexander, Schreiber, Robert & Korneyev, Valery A., 2024, Revision of the Aspistomella group of genera (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Pterocallinae: Lipsanini), Zootaxa 5530 (1), pp. 1-117 : 44-47

Aspistomella heteroptera Hendel, 1909

Figs 5 B , 25–26

Aspistomella heteroptera Hendel 1909b: 266 , 1910: 49; Steyskal 1968: 54.14.

Material examined. Type. Lectotype [here designated] ♀: “ Peru - Meshagua / 13.10.03 / Urubambafl.” [Schnuse leg.] “ Aspistomella \ heteroptera H. / det. Hendel ” [one wing missing] ( SMTD) . Paralectotype: 1♀: “ Peru - Meshagua / Urubamba/ 11.X.03” [Schnuse leg.] ( NHMW) .

Non-type. Bolivia: Santa Cruz, near Buena Vista ( El Cairo ), on cut culm of Gineurium sagittatum , 18.i.2011, Bol B 42/11, 5♀ (leg. D. Kovac) , idem, near on freshly cut culm of Gineurium sagittatum , 21.i.2011, Bol G 28/11, 1♂ (leg. D. Kovac) (dissected) ( SMF; SIZK) ; Mapiri, Sarampioni , 700 m, 4.01.1903, 1♀ , idem, 13.02.1903, 1♀ (Schnuse) ( SMTD) . Peru: Meshagua, Urubambafl [uss], 150 m, 28.09.1903, 1♀ , idem, 30.09.1903, 2♂; Pachitea , 23.11.1903, 1 ♀ [headless]; Pamchamayo, 15.01.1904 (Schnuse), “heteroptera / det. F.Hendel \ Aspistomella ” ( SMTD) .

Diagnosis. Aspistomella heteroptera differs from the species of the genus in the combination of the face between the antennae pitchy black (also in A. sachavaca ) and the costal vein bent anteriorly before the apex of vein Sc, the costal cell is conspicuously lobate, and the pterostigma very short, shorter than the width of the costal cell (also in A. duo , A. lobioptera , A. steyskali , and A. tres ), differing from them by details of the wing pattern: the apical quarter of cell r 4+5 with triangular incision extending only into cell r 2+3 (in A. lobioptera and A. steyskali it extends into cell r 1, whereas in A. duo and A. tres it is entirely dark); differing from A. duo , A. sachavaca , and A. tres by the bare vein R 1. The male genitalia are similar to those of A. duo and A. tres (surstylus directed mesally, with the pimple-like apical projection and cerci moderately elongate), differing mainly by the cerci fused only at the base.

Description. Male. Head ( Figs 25 C–D ) ratio (length: height: width) = 1: 1.3: 1.5, frons, parafacial, and gena reddish or yellowish brown, face and occiput mostly black. Frons conspicuously narrowed posteriorly ( Figs 25 B, D ), 1.5–1.7× longer than wide at lunule and 2.3–2.5× longer than wide at vertex, with subshiny, partly brown or black ocellar triangle and brown vertical plates; orbits, vertex, gena and occiput silver-white microtrichose; parafacial narrow, 0.2–0.4× broader than postpedicel, sparsely white microtrichose. Frontal setulae short, moderately strong, black, proclinate and partly inclinate, forming three irregular rows of 4–6 setulae on each side; 3 interfrontal setae, anteriormost crossing, longer than other setae and as long as outer vertical seta; 1 very long orbital seta, 1.1–1.2× longer than ocellar seta, 0.8× longer than inner vertical seta and 4× longer than outer vertical seta; postocellar seta long, 0.4× longer than inner vertical seta; outer vertical seta short, 0.4× longer than inner vertical seta and as long as postocular setae, forming one row, allied by 4–5 dorsal and 5–6 ventral occipital setae. Lunule very narrow, indistinct, orange. Eye 1.5–1.6× higher than long. Face (above epistome) 0.8× higher than wide at transverse fold, black, densely black microtrichose; epistome dark brown to black, sparsely white microtrichose, with metallic greenish sheen, strongly produced anteriorly and separated from upper part of face by deep suture. Clypeus brown, sparsely white microtrichose, subshiny, 0.2–0.25× higher than epistome. Gena brownish yellow, with long genal seta and 3–4 additional setae anterior to it, 0.4–0.6× longer than genal seta. Occiput black, except postgena partly brown, with cyan metallic sheen, greyish microtrichose; ventral part of occiput (postgena) with 5–7 setae almost 0.5–0.6× longer than genal seta.

Antenna brown to black; scape and pedicel with black setulae; postpedicel brown, whitish microtrichose, 2– 2.2× longer than wide, apically conspicuously narrowed; arista black except yellow at base, almost bare. Mouthparts black, prementum black, shiny. Palp brown to black, narrowly crescent-shaped, apically rounded, with 10–12 strong black setulae, of which 2–3 subapical setulae 1.5–2× longer than other setulae.

Thorax ( Figs 25A–C ) brown to black (in teneral specimens with brownish-yellow postpronotal lobe, notopleural triangle and scutellum), with bluish sheen and sparse white microtrichia not obscuring underlying cuticle. Mesonotal scutum 1.3×as long as wide; setulose black, with 6–8 rows of setulae between rows of dorsocentral setulae; acrostichal prescutellar setae absent in all specimens examined; prescutellar area without setulae behind anterior dorsocentral setae. Scutellum dorsally very slightly convex, orange to black, subshiny, sparsely microtrichose, without setulae, laterally with silver or bluish sheen. Subscutellum subshiny, dark brown to black. Mediotergite shiny black, not microtrichose. Other setae as described for the genus. All the setae and setulae black.

Wing ( Fig. 5 B ) 5.5 mm (♂), 4.8–5.7 mm (♀) long, 2.9–3.5× longer than wide; basicostal cell hyaline; costal cell lobed, 4× longer than wide, brown in basal and apical quarter of length, with costa conspicuously curved posteriorly and covered with slightly longer setulae before apex of vein Sc; pterostigma entirely brown, narrowly triangular, 0.4–0.5× longer than wide, vein R 1 bare dorsally, ending slightly proximally of crossvein dm-m level in both sexes; vein R 2+3 almost straight, subparallel to costa to very apex. Crossvein r-m at middle (in ♂) or slightly proximal to middle of cell dm (in ♀). Cell r 4+5 5.5–7× longer than wide, apically narrowed. Cell m 1 narrowly triangular and strongly narrowed in apical half, as ultimate section of M 1 sinuate subapically; the latter 3–4× longer than crossvein dm-m and 2–2.5× longer than penultimate section. Vein CuA Z-shaped, forming moderately short posteroapical lobe of cell cua along vein CuP, 1.2–1.5× longer than its anterior shoulder. Wing pattern with short subbasal crossband from humeral vein through cell cua into alula, and large dark brown mark from apical lobe of costal cell to whole cell m 4 except its very base, and 3 wide triangular incisions: from cell r 1 through cell dm distally from crossvein r-m to vein M 4, in base of cell m 1 and from apex of cell m 1 into cell r 2+3. Cell cup (anal cell sensu Kameneva & Korneyev 2010) and anal lobe narrower than cell cua. Alula 2× longer than wide, darkened in apical half. Calypters white, with white cilia. Halter yellow.

Legs ( Fig. 25 A ) with yellow or brownish-yellow coxae and trochanters, femora entirely yellow in Bolivian specimens to largely black in Peruvian syntypes (then greenish subshining with sparse microtrichia) except anterior surface of fore tibiae and all knees yellow; tibiae either mostly dark brown to entirely yellow (in teneral or discoloured specimens) and tarsi entirely yellow, black setose and setulose. Fore femur with 2 rows of posterodorsal and posterior setae slightly shorter than femur width, and short and thin posteroventral setulae. Mid femur anteriorly with short suberect setulae; mid tibia ventrally with single spur-like seta 1.5–2× longer than tibia width. Hind femur in apical 0.6–0.7 of its length with 2 suberect dorsal setae.

Abdomen moderately elongate ( Figs 25A, B ) brown to black, syntergite 1+2 broadly yellow, tergite 3 sometimes yellow basally; tergites 3–4 sparsely microtrichose, appearing less microtrichose in apical third, with faint cyan or greenish metallic sheen, except tergite 5 of both ♂ and ♀, which shines brown to black without metallic sheen; setulae and setae black; tergite 6 of ♀ short, completely hidden beneath tergite 5. Tergites 4, 5 and 6 of ♂ subequally long.

Male genitalia. Cerci wide oval, fused at base, short setulose, moderately flattened dorso-ventrally, bilobate posteriorly ( Figs 26 A–D ). Epandrium short setulose, with setulae 3–6× shorter than base of surstylus ( Fig. 26 A ). Each surstylus broad basally, gradually narrowing without additional lobes and curved mesally, with a row of five shortened setulae on its mesal surface, two of which are conspicuously thickened, but not strongly sclerotised ( Figs 26 A, E ). Pregonites symmetrical, slightly lobed, with 5 setulae ventro-mesally, conspicuously anterior to the postgonites ( Figs 26 C, E ). Postgonites rounded, with 5–6 small trichoid sensilla. Phallus moderately long and narrow, about about 3–3.5× longer than epandrium high, basally short microtrichose ( Figs 26 A, B ), apically with numerous lamellar cuticular sclerotisations, in rest coiled on right side of abdomen.

Female terminalia: taeniae 0.66 as long as eversible membrane; aculeus not flattened, with cercal unit oval and long setulose, 1.9 mm long; 2 subglobose spermathecae.

Remarks. Originally Hendel (1909b: 266) mentioned 8♀ from Peru (Meshagua, October and January), which were the syntypes; in fact only 2 of the 4 specimens in SMTD and NHMW collected in January and October fully correspond to the original locality data,; we also considered them all as syntypes (except 1♀ collected on 15.01.1904 is from Pamchamayo) and here designate them as lectotype and paralectotype. The other 2♂ and 4♀ specimens from SMTD were collected by Schnuse in February, September and November in Peru —Pachitea and Bolivia and were not included in the type series. We suspect in this case that Hendel’s list of localities may have been based on a few specimens from the whole series, and that Hendel merely read only a few labels.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Aspistomella, wing. A, A. pachitea sp. nov.; B, A. heteroptera Hendel; C, A. duo sp. nov.; D, A. tres sp. nov.; E, A. lobioptera Hendel; F, A. steyskali sp. nov.; G, A. lunata (Hendel); H, A. enderleini sp. nov. Abbreviations: C—costal vein; c—costal cell; dm—discal medial cell; h—humeral crossvein; M1—first branch of media; M4—fourth branch of media; m1— first medial cell; m4—fourth medial cell; ptstg—pterostigma; R1—anterior branch of radius; r1—first radial cell; R2+3—second branch of radius; R 4+5 —third branch of radius; r 4+5 —fourth + fifth radial cell. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 25. Aspistomella heteroptera Hendel, ♀. A, habitus, left; B, same, dorsal; C, head and thorax, left; D, head anterior.

FIGURE 26. Aspistomella heteroptera Hendel, ♂ genitalia. A, postabdomen, posterior; B, same, lateral; C, same, ventral; D, same, dorsal; E, surstylus, posterior; F, part of hypandrium and pregonite, ventral; G, ejaculatory apodeme. Abbreviations: cerc—cerci; ej apod—ejaculatory apodeme; hypd—hypandrium; ph—phallus; pi p—pimple-like process; pregt—pregonite; s—seta; sur—surstylus; v l sur—ventral lobe of surstylus.