Tethina shalom Freidberg and Beschovski, 1996

Munari, Lorenzo, 2016, The Canacidae of the Arabian Peninsula (Diptera: Brachycera: Carnoidea), Zootaxa 4092 (4), pp. 489-517 : 506

Tethina shalom Freidberg and Beschovski, 1996

(figs. 34‒35)

Tethina shalom Freidberg and Beschovski, 1996: 109 [ Israel. Elat; HT ♂, TAU].

Distribution. Palaearctic: Israel (Red Sea coast), Qatar.

Diagnosis. Body length 1.9‒2.3 mm; species with dark grey thorax and piceous black abdomen, with tergites bordered by pale yellow stripes; apical half of the scutellum with a remarkably dark spot (fig. 34); setal vestiture yellow; wings with pale yellow to whitish membrane; radial and medial veins distinctly brown. Head higher than long; ventral face slightly prominent; eye oblique, markedly oblong, its longest diameter 1.9‒2.5 times as long as the height of the gena; gena whitish, with obvious, translucent, longitudinal stripe; mouth parts with labella shorter than the length of the buccal cavity; palpus long and narrow; thorax dark grey; mesonotum with darker, longitudinal stripes; 2 rows of acrostichal setulae; prescutellar acrostichals lacking; both proepisternal and proepimeral setae present; legs yellow, with apical tarsomere of mid and hind legs infuscated; crossveins of wing with no trace of white halo; surstylus in lateral view as in figure 35.

Remarks. Munari (2005a) noticed that the specimens from Qatar differ from the types from Elat ( Israel, Red Sea coast) mainly by the slightly broader and darker scutellar spot, and the epiproct of the female postabdomen bearing a pair of moderately long, thin setae, instead of stout setae. Otherwise, all the external features, including the chaetotactic pattern of the female cerci, perfectly match those of the types. As for the external features of this species, Munari (2005a) compared the type series ( TAU) with the Arabian specimens, finding a strong similarity between the specimens from the Red Sea coast of Israel and those from Qatar. In addition, the morphological traits of the male terminalia, as figured by Freidberg and Beschovski (1996), agree rather well with the lateral profile of those of the specimens from Qatar. Indeed, Munari (2005a) deliberately avoided dissecting the holotype of this species, it being the only specimen of the type series in good condition and with intact abdomen.