Afroestricus verutus, Scarbrough Table Of Contents, 2005

Scarbrough Table Of Contents, Aubrey G., 2005, Afroestricus, a new Afrotropical Ommatine (Diptera: Asilidae) genus with twenty species and two species groups, Zootaxa 1041 (1), pp. 1-76 : 61-62

Afroestricus verutus , sp. n.

Figs. 161–166 , 196

Male. Body 12.6 mm, wing 8.6 mm. Head: Face yellow to brownish­yellow tomentose, vestiture mostly yellow, 8 blackish bristles and setae present: FHWR 1.0:4.4. Antenna black, ventral bristles short, longest about as long as pedicel; FWLR 1.0:2.7. Frons brownish­yellow tomentose; setae as long as scape+pedicel. Occiput yellowish tomentose, mostly yellowish setae; seven to eight black postocular bristles present, thick basally, thin apically and strongly proclinate, apex of longest 1/3 to 1/2 distance toward ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Tomentum mostly yellowish. Pronotum with only yellow bristles. Mesonotum with wide median stripe and two lateral spots brown tomentose, yellow tomentum elsewhere; setae mostly blackish, anterior setae about as long as scape+pedicel, setae laterally and between dorsocentral bristles posteriorly yellow; four lateral and five dorsocentral present, posterior three of latter thick, long, and behind transverse suture, remaining two bristles anterior of suture, thinner and shorter. Scutellum yellow tomentose with yellow setae, black marginal bristles, and preapical groove. Pleuron yellow tomentose, vestiture yellow. Halter yellow.

Wing: As Fig. 3a except as follows. Surface brownish­yellow microtrichose. Cell r 1 narrow apically. Cell r 4 with base just beyond apex of cell d. Crossvein r­m beyond middle of cell d, much longer than CuA 1 +M 3. Cell m 3 oblique apically. Cell m 1 WR 1.0:3.0:2.6.

Leg: Coxae and trochanters blackish, brownish­yellow ventrally; former yellowish tomentose with yellowish vestiture. Femora and tibiae yellow, narrow apex brown; bristles mostly black. Middle femur with only thin setae­like posteroventral vestiture, bristles absent. Hind femur with posteroventral row of bristles mostly yellow, at least two or three black. Hind tibia without apical spur. Tarsi with basal tarsomere mostly and narrow base of remaining tarsomeres yellow, bristles mostly black, four to five yellow bristles present on anterior two tarsi.

Abdomen: Blackish, tomentum dorsally brownish, yellow elsewhere; setae mostly yellow, sparse black setae on basal terga medially, abundant on apical terga dorsally.

Terminalia ( Figs. 161–166 ): Yellowish­brown to reddish, blackish basally. Epandrium narrow, dorsoapical notch shallow; ventral margin minutely serrate. Gonostylus distinctive. Distiphallus projecting beyond epiphallus anteriorly, ventral surface undulant; epiphallus thin, convex, shieldlike; base of aedeagus narrow between gonocoxites; ejaculatory apodeme wide. Gonocoxite short laterally, well before apical margin of epandrium. Hypandrium browdly rounded apically.

Female. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype M, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Congo du belge: P.N.U. [=Parc National de L’Upemba 9°10’S 26°15’E], Kankunda affl. g. Lupiala, (1300 m) 22–28.xi.1947, Mis. G.F. de Witte, 1032a ( MRAC) . Paratypes, 1 M, Congo du belge: P.N.U. [=Parc National de L’Upemba 9°10’S 26°15’E], Kankunda (1300 m), 22– 24.xi.1947, Mis. G.F. de Witte, 1036a ( MRAC); 3 M, Congo du belge: P.N.U. [=Parc National de L’Upemba 9°10’S 26°15’E], Kankunda affl. g. Lupiala, (1300 m) 16– 24.xi.1947, Mis. G.F. de Witte, 1035a ( MRAC) .

Etymology. Latin verutus for armed with a dart, referring to the shape and use of the flies hypopharnyx.

Distribution ( Tables 1, 2; Fig. 196 ). Known only from environs of the Parc National de LUpemba; captured at 1300 m in November ( Tables 1, 2).

Remarks. Afroestricus verutus is distinguished from congeners such as A. variabilis and A. velatus by the characters in the key and terminalia ( Figs. 161–166 ), especially the combined characters of the epandrium, gonostylus, gonocoxite, and aedeagus.

Figures

FIGURE 196. Distribution of five species of Afroestricus in Africa and Yemen.

FIGURES 161–166. Afroestricus verutus, sp. n. Male terminalia: 161–163. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views. 164. Gonostylus. 165–166. Aedeagus, dorsal and lateral views.

FIGURES 3–4. Character states of the wing and postocular bristles of the subgenus Afroestricus Scarbrough. 3a–b. Wing venation of the macroscelis and the minutus species groups. 4a–b. Short, erect and long, thin, postocular bristles bristles. Abbrevations: First radial cell=r1; fourth radial cell=r4; discal cell=d; radial­medial crossvein=r­m; first medial cell=m1; third medial cell=m3.