Sinothereva shangui, Winterton, 2020

Winterton, Shaun L., 2020, A new bee-mimicking stiletto fly (Therevidae) from China discovered on iNaturalist, Zootaxa 4816 (3), pp. 361-369 : 365-366

Sinothereva shangui sp. n.

( Figs 1–7 )

( urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AC0BE480-9DA1-4D0E-8202-A9A8E0B422DB )

Common name. ‘Mountain ghost stiletto fly’.

Type material. Holotype male, CHINA: Beijing Administrative Region: Mentougou: [adjoining] Xiaolongmen National Forest Park; S.L. Winterton, 10.iv. 2013, 1246m, hand collected [39.964, 115.447] (Type deposited in China Agricultural University Collection, Beijing).

Other material. CHINA: Hebei Province: Chengde, Xinglong , 30.iv.2019, Shan Gui [40.642346, 117.463749]. [Note: specimen not collected; only known from photographs ( Figs 1–3 )]

Diagnosis. Robust fly with dense erect setal pile giving a bumble bee-like appearance; head with black setal pile, thorax, abdomen and legs with yellow pile, end of abdomen with black setal pile; wing hyaline, smoky infuscate in distal half.

Description. Male: Body length: 9.0 mm. Head with frons black with sparse silver pubescence, denser ventrally on lower frons and face ( Figs 4, 6), extensive erect black setal pile ( Fig. 2 ); eyes bluish-black in life; occiput black with sparse silver pubescence, black macrosetae admixed with erect pale setae; mouthparts black with erect black setal pile; antenna black, scape slightly thickened and with sparse silvery pubescence admixed with erect black setae; flagellum brown; thorax ground colour black with sparse silver pubescence, extensive erect yellow setal pile on scutum, scutellum and pleuron; scutal macrosetae black; coxae and femora black with erect yellow setal pile, macrosetae black; tibiae dark yellow, black apically, hind tibia with extensive black suffusion, tibiae relatively thick with erect black macrosetae; tarsi dark yellow, each tarsomere brownish distally; haltere brownish; wing hyaline, smoky infuscate in distal half, venation dark with yellowish suffusion on membrane along veins; abdomen and terminalia ground colour black with sparse silver pubescence, admixed with extensive erect yellow setal pile on segments 1–5, segments 6–8 and terminalia with erect black setal pile. Male genitalia ( Fig. 7 ): Epandrium quadrangular with erect black setae, longer laterally, cerci elongate, setae shorter; gonocoxite broadly rounded, quadrangular posteriorly with only slight posterior process, extensive erect and elongate setae, stronger apically, gonocoxal apodeme very small, hypandrium small, triangular; ventral lobe rounded, inner gonocoxal apodeme spatulate, strong setae apically; gonostylus straight; aedeagus with dorsal apodeme of parameral sheath large, convoluted distally, ventral apodeme narrow, distiphallus narrow and recurved ventrally; ejaculatory apodeme very narrow. Female is unknown.

Comments. The pinned holotype specimen ( Figs 4–6) is in considerably poor condition compared to a living individual ( Figs 1–3 ). Even when collected by hand-net, the specimen exhibited significant loss and dishevelling of vestiture on the entire body; by comparison the living individual displays extensive, erect and brightly coloured vestiture. The ground colour is also brighter in the living individual. It is presumed that based on the condition of the specimen, along with the sluggish behaviour at the time, that it was old and near death when collected.

I am pleased to name this new species after Shan Gui, who took excellent photographs of this new species in the field and posted them to iNaturalist. The locality of the photograph adjoins the Dongji Xiangu Natural Scenic Area and Wulingshan Forest Park ( Figs 8–9 ), and the fly was photographed on the house. The known distribution is relatively small, with both flies known only from two localities a few hundred kilometres apart in Northern China. The etymology of the species epithet (and common name) is based on the pen name of the photographer, ‘Shan Gui’ (NJẦ) meaning ‘hill/mountain’ and ‘ghost’ in Mandarin ( PRC), respectively.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., male, photographed in the field, Xinglong, China (Photograph copyright: Shan Gui). (Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/54918804)

FIGURE 2. Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., male, photographed in the field, Xinglong, China (Photograph copyright: Shan Gui). (Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/54918833)

FIGURE 3. Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., male, photographed in the field, Xinglong, China (Photograph copyright: Shan Gui). (Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/54919032)

FIGURE 7. Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., male genitalia. A. epandrium; B. gonocoxites, ventral view; C. same, lateral view; D. aedeagus, lateral view; E. same, dorsal view. Abbreviations: c, cercus; d, distiphallus; da, dorsal apodeme of parameral sheath; gs, gonostylus; h; hypandrium; hy, subepandrial membrane (=hypoproct); igp, inner gonocoxal process; va, ventral apodeme of parameral sheath; vl, ventral lobe of gonocoxite. Scale line= 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 8. Habitat of Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., Hebei Province: Chengde, Xinglong (Photograph copyright: Shan Gui).

FIGURE 9. Habitat of Sinothereva shangui gen. et sp. n., Hebei Province: Chengde, Xinglong (Photograph copyright: Shan Gui).