Empidideicus jirofti Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat, 2020

Moghbeli, Sajjad, Fekrat, Lida & Gharali, Babak, 2020, Empidideicus jirofti sp. nov. (Diptera: Mythicomyiidae: Empidideicinae), a new microbombyliid from Kerman province, southern Iran, with a key to species of Empidideicus from Iran, Zootaxa 4722 (4), pp. 352-360 : 353-359

Empidideicus jirofti Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov.

Material examined. Holotype female (dried by HMDS)and 15 females and 20 males paratypes (preserved in alcohol, 1 female and 1 male paratypes dissected) ; IRAN, Kerman Province, Jiroft City, Esfandagheh Village , 57°28’21.07″E, 28°44’08.67″N, 1255m, 30 May 2017, leg. S. Mogbeli.

Type depository. Holotype and 5 female and 5 male paratypes in MTD, 5 female and 5 male paratypes in BPBM, the other paratypes in BG.

Diagnosis. Empidideicus jirofti Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov. is differentiated from all other species of the genus from Iran by the combination of following characters:

Frons yellow with a quadrate brown spot below ocellus, occiput brown with a small yellow spot; mesonotum brown with two admedian yellow stripes; scutellum brown with yellowish tinge basomedially; furca U-shaped with two process on lateral arms; reservoir globular with shallow invagination; gonocoxae with two triangular plate including perpendicular pointed process.

Description. Male ( Fig. 2a ). Lengths: Body: 0.9–1.3 mm. Wing: 0.8–1.2 mm.

Head ( Fig. 2 a–b). Head ovoid, longer than high; eyes dichoptic, separated at vertex by about 1.6 times between lateral ocelli; vertex blackish brown; occiput blackish brown, with tiny yellow spot in upper half; frons slightly depressed medially, yellow with quadrate brown spot just below median ocellus; antennae set in deep pocket; Scape yellow, subrectangular, wider than long, Pedicel yellow, subglobular, slightly wider than long, first flagellomere light brown, elliptical, length two-time greatest width, about three times (3.2) second flagellomere in length, second flagellomere light brown, cylindrical, apically with tiny hyaline stylus ( Fig.1a ); face yellow; mentum yellow medially brown laterally; labrum stiff, pointed apically, brown, about 1.2 head high in length; labium brown, 1.7 head high in length, pointed apically. Thorax ( Fig. 2 a–c). Mesonotum completely brown with two admedian yellow stripes coming from anterior margin of mesonotum to level of postalar calli; postpronotal lobe, postalar calli, lateral margin from postpronotal to postalar calli yellow; prescutellar area completely blackish brown; scutellum brown medially with yellowish tinge; pleura predominantly dark brown except following: upper margins of katepisternum and meron and dorsolateral corner of anepisternum and posterior margin of anepimeron; halter stem and knob white. Legs. Femora brown, distally narrowly yellow; tibia yellow; two basal segment of tarsi yellow, remainder brown. Wing ( Fig. 1b ). Hyaline, costa ends slightly beyond vein R 4+5, Sc ends much before costa; br and bm cells confluent, discal cell absent, M 1 curve; M 2 straight; M 1+2 0.7 times M 2 in length; anal cell open for width subequal to r-m cross vein; veins M 1, M 2,Cua 1 translucent. Abdomen. Tergites almost brown, posterior and lateral margins narrowly yellow; sternites brown, posterior margins narrowly yellow; pleura completely white. Male genitalia ( Fig. 3 ). Epandrium ( Fig. 3b ) subrectangular, laterally with two processes; cercus triangular, large; gonocoxites ( Fig. 3c ) connected narrowly medially, subtriangular in dorsal view, apical margin round less sclerotized than other parts, with two sclerotized triangular plates including perpendicular pointed spike, medially with narrow apically curved sclerotized appendage; gonostyli subtrapezoidal with round margin including long bristles; distiphallus ( Fig. 3a ) wide, short, lateral aedeagal apodeme slightly curved, longer than tumefied basiphallus; apical aedeagal apodeme large with two large rectangular rami basally.

Female ( Fig. 2 b–c). Similar to male except larger in size and with larger yellow spot on lateral margin of occiput and pleural sclerites lighter. Female genitalia ( Fig. 4 ). Furca U-shaped, lateral arms with two inwardly directed processes subapically ( Fig. 4c ); common spermathecal duct absent; basal spermathecal duct ( Fig. 4a ) 1.2 times apical duct in length, striated, membranous, slightly widening distally, one tenth of apical part cylindrical, narrow, smooth; apical spermathecal duct narrower than basal duct, tubular, smooth, spermathecal reservoir ( Fig. 4b ) globular with shallow, cylindrical invagination, depth of invagination one tenth dimeter of reservoir.

Remarks. The species of the genus Empidideicus described from Iran have been recently keyed by Gharali et al. (2014). This new species is stymied at couplet 3 because the lateral margin of occiput is not completely yellow or black. Empidideicus jirofti Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov. is easily separated from the other species by this character.

Distribution. The new species is currently known only from Jiroft city (Kerman province) in the south of Iran ( Fig. 5 ). The type locality is a mountainous place covered with plants of the families Rhamnaceae ( Ziziphus spp.), Fabaceae ( Astragalus spp.), and Gramineae .

Etymology. The name of new species, Empidideicus jirofti Gharali, Mogbeli & Fekrat sp. nov., is derived from the word Jiroft, a city in the southern Kerman province, an area of about 18 square kilometers with hot and humid climate, so this city is called the greenhouse city of Iran.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Empidideicus. jirofti sp. nov.: a. antenna, b. right wing.

FIGURE 2. Empidideicus. jirofti sp. nov.adult habitus: a. male paratype, b. female paratype,c. female type.

FIGURE 3. Empidideicus. jirofti sp. nov. male genitalia: a. phallic complex, b. epandrium, c. gonocoxites.

FIGURE 4. Empidideicus. jirofti sp. nov.: a. female genitalia, b. spermathecal reservoirs, c. furca.

FIGURE 5. Habitat of Empidideicus. jirofti sp. nov. in Jiroft City.