Asteia rotundiscuta, Grimaldi, 2009

Grimaldi, David A., 2009, The Asteioinea of Fiji (Insecta: Diptera: Periscelididae, Asteiidae, Xenasteiidae), American Museum Novitates 3671, pp. 1-60 : 44-45

Asteia rotundiscuta , new species

Figures 23 , 26

DIAGNOSIS: Head almost entirely glossy black, with white transverse band across face; mesoscutum highly arched, glossy black, with two pairs of dorsocentrals; scutellum mostly light, with very long apical pair of setae; pleura and legs entirely light, cream colored; male terminalia as figured, with bilobed surstylus.

DESCRIPTION: ThL 5 0.63. Body coloration: Frons, face, cheeks, postocciput dark, and portion of face glossy black-brown; ocelli whitish, flanked by two short, parallel stripes (‘‘interfrontal stripes’’: Sabrosky, 1957) extended from vertex to about the level of median ocellus; face with bright white transverse band near oral margin, bordered by dark brown; dorsal portion of face and bases of antennae light brown. Eyes light pink. Proboscis and palps light cream colored. Scutum shiny black-brown; scutellum mostly off-white, with posterolateral corners brown, postnotum dark brown; entire thoracic pleura and all legs cream colored; wings hyaline (no infuscation), halter with stem cream colored, knob dark tan. Abdominal tergites dark brown, remainder of abdomen light.

Head: Eye large, deep, greatest length along vertical axis; cheek extremely shallow. Frons with single pair of fronto-orbital setae, located slightly posterior to mid length of frons (ocellar, inner and outer vertical setae lost in unique specimen). Frontal vitta very slightly striate. Antennal pedicel with single, long seta on anterior margin, seta projects forward; basal flagellomere nearly round in lateral view; arista with 3 dorsal, 2 ventral branches, length of longest branch 0.3X length of entire arista. Palp very slender.

Thorax: Mesoscutum highly arched, dome shaped; lacks acrostichal setulae, with two pairs of dorsocentrals (based on sockets—setae lost in specimen). No postpronotal seta, two notopleurals (bases separated by length of anterior npl). Scutellum short, with sparse microtomentum; anterior scutellars very small and light, apical scutellars black, thick, long (length slightly more than half the length of scutum). Pleuron devoid of setae except for two light setae on dorsal margin of katepisternum. Each tarsomere on fore- and midlegs with pair of short, stout, black setae; setae are dorsal on forelegs, ventral on midlegs. Wings as figured, typical of most Asteia : C is thick, without Sc or h breaks, Cextended to apex of M, bearing thick microtrichia on leading edge; Sc incomplete; R 1 short, thickened where it meets C; R 2+3 short, apex lies slightly distal to apex of R 1; R 4+5 straight, extended nearly to apex of wing; M nearly parallel to R 4+5, slightly kinked in middle; only short br-m cross vein present; Cu well developed, but apex not reaching margin of wing; anal lobe and veins, alula absent. Wing with microtrichia arranged in longitudinal rows parallel to veins, membrane bare at wing base. Terminalia: (unknown for female); male with deep, narrow, light-colored, setose epandrium, having surstylus with short lobe on median surface. Aedeagus typically largely sclerotized, twisted (as figured), with distinctive apical membranous section.

TYPES: Holotype, male (unique specimen, dissected, no. 50) FIJI: Viti Levu , Vuda Prov., Koroyanitu N.H.P. Savuione Trail. FJ-1 Malaise. 21.IX–7.X.2002. M. Irwin, E. Schlinger, M. Tokota’a, 17 ° 409S–177 ° 339E, 450 m, FBA018203. In BPBM.

ETYMOLOGY: From the Latin rotundus for ‘‘rounded,’’ and scutum, in reference to the dome-shaped scutum.

COMMENTS: This species keys to Asteia curvinervis Duda (from Taiwan) in Sabrosky (1957). Based on the original description by Duda (1927: 145), and subsequent description by Sabrosky (1957: 226), the Fiji species differs from curvinervis by having a light (vs. dark brown) halter, by having the palps and labellum light yellow (vs. brown), longer interfrontal stripes, and larger ocellar setae. The type of A. curvinervis , reported as in the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest), was not examined.

Figures

Fig. 23. Portions of the left lateral habitus of Fiji Asteia (Asteiidae) (to the same scale). A. A. rotundiscuta, n. sp. B. A. pleurovitta, n. sp. C. A. pleurovittata, n. sp. D. A. nigriceps Bezzi.

Fig. 26. Male terminalia of Asteia rotundiscuta. A. Epandrial complex with aedeagus, posterior view. B. Aedeagus, lateral view. To the same scale.