Psilota nigripila Young, 2020

Young, Andrew D., Skevington, Jeffrey H. & Steenis, Wouter Van, 2020, Revision of the Psilota Meigen, 1822 flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Australia, Zootaxa 4737 (1), pp. 1-127 : 63

Psilota nigripila Young sp. nov.

(Species plate: Fig. 26 ; Genitalia: Fig. 44 E–F; Map: Fig. 60A )

Diagnosis: Face black, densely white pollinose, with black pile. Frons (in male) and vertex black pilose. Thorax black. Hind femur with a low triangular apicoventral setulose carina. Hind tibia with basoventral spur. Calypter with dark brown border. Halter pale. Abdomen black. Lateral edges of tergite 3 black pilose. Male genitalia with inner lobe broadest near apex. Body length: 11.9 mm.

Description: MALE: Head: Head black, face densely grey pollinose. Face mostly black pilose with some pale pile around the anterior rim of the eye, frons and vertex black pilose. Scape and pedicel orange-brown, postpedicel brown. Postpedicel triangular, approximately 1.5 times as long as widest point. Eye densely brown pilose. Thorax: Thorax black. Legs mostly orange, with apical 1/3 rd of femora, base and apex of hind tibia, and apical tarsomeres brown. Hind femur with a low, pointed apicoventral setulose carina. Hind tibia with a basoventral spur. Pleuron densely grey pollinose. Pile on anepisternum and anepimeron mixed black and white, pile on remainder of pleuron white. Pile on scutum and scutellum mixed black and whitish-yellow. Wing faintly brown tinted on apical half. Wing bare on anterior three-quarters of cell bm and one-quarter of cell cua, cell c bare on basal one-third. Alula completely microtrichose. Halter pale, sometimes with knob slightly pigmented. Calypter with border dark brown, upper calypter hairs brown, lower calypter hairs yellow. Abdomen: Abdomen black. Tergite 2 mostly white pilose, with some central black pile at posterior border. Tergite entirely black pilose. Tergite 4 with mixed black and white pile. Sternites black, with white pilosity. Genitalia: Epandrium compact, about as long as tall. Outer lobe of surstylus inserted at bottom of inner lobe, bent smoothly downwards at midlength, and then swollen and bent slightly backwards at apex. Inner lobe of surstylus broadening over entire length, with a large ventral excavation at midlength, rounded at apex. Phallapodeme smooth. Gonostylus thick, not darkened.

FEMALE: Unknown.

Etymology: The specific epithet ‘ nigripila ’ consists of nigri -, derived from the Latin for “black” or “dark” (‘niger’), and -pila, derived from the scientific term “pile”, which refers to the hair-like structures covering some tergites in Syrphidae . This is in reference to the dark pile on the face of Psilota nigripila sp. nov. that distinguishes it and Psilota spathistyla sp. nov. from Psilota nitida .

Specimens examined: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Charmillin Creek , -17.700000 145.516667, 940mm, rainforest, treetrunk flux, 1.XII.1997, coll. G. Monteith, QM _REG._NO._T223229, (1♂, QM).

Discussion: The lone specimen of this species was collected at a rainforest tree trunk flux. As it is a male, it was not ovipositing at this location, but it may have been looking for a female that would be, or simply feeding on the decaying tree sap.

Figures

FIGURE 26. P. nigripila sp. nov., A) male dorsal habitus, B) male anterolateral face, C) male lateral habitus. Scale bar =1 mm.

FIGURE 44. Lateral and dorsal male genitalia of A, B) P. mcqueeni sp. nov.; C, D) P. metallica sp. nov.; E, F) P. nigripila sp. nov., and G, H) P. nitida (Macquart). Scale bar =1 mm.

FIGURE 60. Known range of A) P. nigripila sp. nov.; B) P. nitida (Macquart).