Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant & Wheeler, 1954

Zatwarnicki, Tadeusz & Irwin, Anthony G., 2018, Taxonomic notes on the genera Scatella and Scatophila (Diptera: Ephydridae) with a remark on Trixoscelis chilensis (Trixoscelididae), Zootaxa 4377 (1), pp. 91-109 : 100-101

Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant & Wheeler

( Figs. 12–17 )

Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant & Wheeler, 1954: 194 . Scatophila zlobini Krivosheina, 2009: 2 , new synonym.

Type material examined: Holotype male of senior synonym glued to a paper triangle in good condition, but without right hind leg and left hind tarsus, labelled: "SteeseHwy Alsk MP 37 IX-3 -48 G Jefferson" (printed, 37 handwritten), "AlaskaIns Project" (printed), " HOLOTYPE Scatophila hirtirostris Stvt & Whlr ” (beige, printed) and paratype of the species from the same locality, preserved in USNM.

Other material examined: CANADA: British Columbia: Pritchard , 13. VII. 1974, P. H. Arnaud, 1 ex ; Northwest Territories: Aklavik , 20. VIII. 1930, O. Bryant, 1 ex ( CAS); Ft. McPherson, 1–2. VII. 1957, R. Hurley, 4 ex ; Yukon Territory: Dempster Hwy km 140, 14. VI. 1984, S. & J. Peck, 1 ♂ ( CNC).

Type localities: Type locality of the senior synonym is Alaska (MP37 is postal mile 37, which is close to Moose Creek crossing Steese Highway—coordinates 65°13'36.4"N, 146°56' 25.3" W) and that for the junior synonym is Far East of Russia (Mil’kovo of holotype and Kozyrevsk of paratypes on Kamchatka).

Diagnosis. This species is closely related to S. carinata Sturtevant & Wheeler, 1954 , but is distinguished from other species by the stout median conical tubercle on the face. The tubercle is truncate, nearly as large as a basal flagellomere, and a bears a moustache of short setae ( Figs. 12–14 ). Male terminalia ( Fig. 15–17 ) with anterior margin of epandrium bearing a short trapezoidal projection and dorsal margin of posterior aedeagal openings rounded, when seen in posterior view.

Distribution. Nearctic: Canada (British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory), USA (Alaska). Palaearctic: Russia (Kamchatka).

Remarks. This species belongs to the noctula group. Krivosheina (2009) compared her species to other species in the group ( S. noctula and S. unicornis ) and to photographs of the type of S. variofacialis Sturtevant & Wheeler. She mentioned S. hirtirostris as a member of noctula group, but she was unable to compare her material to it. Her illustrations of dissected terminalia show the structures characteristic for Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant and Wheeler and the facial profile of S. zlobini is also a good match for S. hirtirostris .

Figures

FIGURES 12–13. Head with a part of thorax of Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant and Wheeler, 1954. 12. antero-oblique view. 13. lateral view (Canada:Dempster Hwy km 140; CNC). Scale bar = 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 14. Holotype of Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant and Wheeler, 1954, dorso-oblique view. Scale bar = 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 15–17. Structures of the male terminalia of Scatophila hirtirostris Sturtevant and Wheeler, 1954 (Paratype). 15. Epandrium and cerci, ventral view. 16. Internal structures (aedeagus, phallapodeme, gonite), lateral view. 17. Same, ventral view.Scale bar = 0.1 mm.