Saropogon combustus Loew, 1874

Alberts, Charlotte H. E. & Fisher, Eric M., 2022, A new species of Saropogon Loew, 1847 (Diptera, Asilidae) from Arizona, with a review of the Nearctic species north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1130, pp. 1-63 : 1

Saropogon combustus Loew, 1874

Figs 4C, D , 5E, F , 10 , 26 , 34

Saropogon combustus Loew, 1874: 373.

Saropogon adustus Loew, 1874: 375, junior synonym.

References.

Osten-Sacken 1874:185 (catalog); Back 1909: 347 (key and redescription); Curran 1930: 2 (key), 1931: 2 (key and notes); Martin and Wilcox 1965: 383 (catalog); Wilcox 1966: 129 (key); Fisher and Wilcox 1997: 4 (catalog).

Diagnosis.

This species is sexually dimorphic: males mostly black, wings brown, four scutellar bristles; females reddish, wings yellowish, anterior corners of T2-5 black. Body length 13-19 mm; wing length 14-17 mm. Flight time May - October.

The male is easily distinguished from Saropogon fletcheri and S. pritchardi because it is significantly darker and more robust than the other males. The female is a bit more challenging but can be separated from S. fletcheri because it does not have the black anterior bands on its abdomen. The female S. pritchardi also has significantly darker wings than S. combustus which is pale brown and darker apically.

Distribution.

USA: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, SimpleMappr: https://www.simplemappr.net/map/16981.

Type material examined.

United States of America • 1 ♂, holotype; Loew; photographed pinned specimen; MCZ; Type 12819 • 1 ♀; Loew; MCZ; Type 12818.

Other material examined.

Suppl. material 1.

Comments.

The holotypes of both Saropogon combustus and S. adustus (junior synonym) are in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. The collection provides photos of the types on their website MCZBase: https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/MediaSearch.cfm?action=search&media_id=99135,99136,99137,99138,99139 and https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/MediaSearch.cfm?action=search&media_id=99130,99131,99132,99133,99134.

Figures

Figure 4. Sexual color dimorphism A Saropogon abbreviatus female B S. abbreviatus male C S. combustus female D S. combustus male E S. purus female F S. purus male G S. senex female H S. senex male. Scale bars: 2 mm.

Figure 5. Representative Saropogon wings of A S. abbreviatus female B S. abbreviatus male C S. bryanti female D S. bryanti male E S. combustus female F S. combustus male G S. dispar female H S. dispar male I S. hypomelas female J S. hypomelas male K S. luteus female L S. luteus male M S. purus female N S. purus male, and O S. senex female P S. senex male. Scale bars: 2 mm.

Figure 10. Saropogon combustus Loew, 1874 Female (USNMENT 01819131): A dorsal view B lateral view C anterior view; Male (USNMENT 01819138): D anterior view E dorsal view F lateral view. Scale bars: 2 mm.

Figure 26. Focused map of the Arizona distribution of Nearctic Saropogon (Diptera: Asilidae). Map created with SimpleMappr on January 25, 2022, and available at: https: // www. simplemappr. net / map / 17143.

Figure 34. Distribution of Saropogon (Diptera: Asilidae) specimens studied for S. combustus, S. fletcheri, S. mohawki, S. pyrodes sp. nov., and S. senex. Map created with SimpleMappr on July 25, 2022, and available at: https: // www. simplemappr. net / map / 18362.