Pales murina Mesnil, 1970

Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2005, Revision of the West Palaearctic species of the genus Pales Robineau­Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae), Zootaxa 885, pp. 1-36 : 21

Pales murina Mesnil, 1970 ( Fig. 28 )

Pales murina Mesnil, 1970: 90 . Type locality: Ghavial [ Pakistan].

Material examined. IRAN — Busher Prov., 1998, ex Thiacidas postica Walker, N. Frrar leg., 1 ɗ, 1 Ψ ( BLKU); Hamadan Prov., Moradbeyk Valley (Kuh­e Alvand) S of Hamadan, 34°43' 09.2 N 048°29' 01.7E, 23.VI.2004, 2380 m, J. Ziegler leg. 1 Ψ ( ZMHB); Esfahan Prov., Nehzatabad S Fereydun Shahr, northeast of Esfahan, 2700 m, 30.VI.2004, J. Ziegler leg., 1 ɗ ( ZMHB); Fars Prov., Valley near Ganjgan, southeast of Yasuj, 30°27' 56.9 N 051°41' 36.1 E, 2230 m, 10.VII.2004, J. Ziegler leg., 3 ΨΨ ( ZMHB).

Diagnosis. Thorax (except scutellum) black in ground colour; posterior half or more of the scutellum reddish or yellow. Abdomen black (except for reddish spots on sides of tergites 3 and rarely 4) without blue reflections, densely and evenly covered with silvergrey microtrichosity ( Fig. 28 ). Tibiae yellow or brownish­yellow, but black on the basal 1/3 –1/2 of their ventral side. ɗ: postpedicel 3.7–4.0 times as long as the pedicel; height of facial ridge 0.94–1.15 times as long as the frons in lateral view; frons 0.73–0.78 times as wide as an eye in dorsal view; fore claws longer than tarsomere 5; abdominal tergites 3 and 4 without median discal setae (rarely 2 short and weak on tergite 4); terminalia in posterior view as in Fig. 24 . Female differs from male as follows: frons wider, 0.90–1.00 times as wide as an eye in dorsal view. Postpedicel about 2.5–3.1 times as long as the pedicel.

Distribution. Iran, Pakistan (cf. Crosskey 1976; Herting 1984; Herting & Dely­Draskovits 1993).

Hosts. Lepidoptera : Ephesia nymphaea (Esper) ; Dicycla oo (Linnaeus) ( OILB­list 1983), Thiacidas postica Walker (Noctuidae) .

Figures

FIGURES 27 – 30. Abdomen of Pales spp. in dorsal view. 27. Pales latifrons Kugler Ψ (Israel). 28. Pales murina Mesnil ♂ (Iran). 29. Pales cyanea (Macquart) ♂ (Spain, Canary Isalands). 30. Pales marae sp. nov. paratype ♂ (Italy, Sardinia, Cagliari prov.).

FIGURES 20 – 26. Male terminalia, scale bar 0.5 mm. 20 – 23. Pales pavida (Meigen). 20. (Italy, Latium), cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 21. Cerci and right surstylus in right lateral view (Germany, Baden­Württemberg). 22. (Germany, Baden­Württemberg), cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 23. (Italy, Latium), epandrial complex in lateral view. 24 – 25. Pales processioneae (Ratzeburg) (Germany, Baden­Württemberg). 24. Cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 25. Epandrial complex in right lateral view. 26. Pales latifrons Kugler (Israel), cerci and surstyli in posterior view.