Ditaeniella milleri, Vikhrev & Murphy, 2022

Vikhrev, Nikita E. & Murphy, William L., 2022, Notes on the taxonomy of species of Sciomyzini with a predominantly setulose anepisternum (Diptera, Sciomyzidae), Amurian Zoological Journal XIV (2), pp. 281-298 : 290-292

Ditaeniella milleri sp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/89FE532F-

0687-49FD-B5B5-C5C49A51E5F0 Figs. 10, 11 , 12, 13

Type material. Holotype ♂: NAMIBIA, Windhoek env., 22.545 ° S, 17.255 ° E, 1870 m, 11.12.2018, N. Vikhrev.

Paratypes, 16♂, 15♀:

NAMIBIA, 15♂, 14♀, the same data as holotype ;

ETHIOPIA: Amhara Reg., 10.87 ° N, 39.81 ° E, 1450 m, 8.08.2012, I. Gomyranov, 1♂ ; Oromya Reg., Bale Mt , 3370 m, 7.088 ° N, 39.671 ° E, N. Vikhrev, 17.03.2012, 1♀ .

Type material is deposited in ZMUM apart from 1♂, 1♀ paratypes from Namibia in USNM .

Distribution. S Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Ethiopia.

Description. Male, body size: 3.8–5.2 mm.

Head. Frons matt yellow; fronto-orbital plates greyish-white; face and gena white; occiput yellowish white. Midfrontal stripe elongate, usually nearly reaching anterior margin of frons, tapered anteriorly; in dorsolateral view midfrontal stripe appears whitish matt, more pointed at apex, in dorsal view appears whitish brown with a blunted apex. Only one strong fronto-orbital seta (posterior). Gena half as wide as eye width. Antenna yellow basally, postpedicel partly blackish. Arista bare even under high magnification. Palpus yellow.

Thorax. Entirely light-yellowish-grey or scutum dark grey with dirty-yellow pleura, latter colouration probably present in aged specimens. A pair of brownish vittae mesad of dorsocentral present on scutum. Prosternum with a pair of setulae (sometimes bare, rarely with 2 pairs setulae). Anepisternum evenly setulose. Thoracic setae: 1 strong proepisternal, 1 postpronotal, 1 presutural supra-alar, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 2 notopleural, 2 postalar, 2 postsutural dorsocentral, 1 prescutellar acrostichal, and 2 pairs of scutellar setae. Subalar setae absent; anepimeron with 2 strong setae and 4–7 weak setulae; katepisternum setulose, without longer setae on upper margin; meron with 2–4 microsetulae ( Fig. 10 ). Wing hyaline, without pattern.

Legs. Yellow, only apical half of t1 and fore tarsus dark. Fore coxa with 1 d seta at middle. f1: in basal 2/3 covered with dense fine ventral setulae; in apical third with dense rows of 7–8 pv and 4–6 weaker av spines, both pv and av spines much stronger than ventral spinulose setae present at apex of f 1 in D. grisescens (see Figs. 12, 14 ). t1 with 1 dorsal preapical seta. f2 with typical “sciomyzid” a seta at middle. t2 and t3 without submedi- an setae. Inner posterior margin of hind coxa with 3 (2–4) setulae. f3: 2 pd in apical half; apical half with rows of 9–10 av and 8–9 pv spines similar to those of other species of Ditaeniella (these spines in D. parallela are shown in Fig. 17 ); ventral area between rows of spines bare in apical third and covered with dense fine setulae in basal 2/3.

Abdomen. Yellow, with indistinct median vitta. Tergites densely setulose. Surstyli reduced to small protrusions; postgonites large and visible even on intact abdomen. Postgonites ( Fig. 13 ) with external lobe with 2 longer and 2 shorter spines, although these spines are relatively shorter than those in D. grisescens ; inner spineless lobe tridentate and wider that in D. grisescens .

FEMALE differs from male as follows:

— body size 4.1–4.9 mm;

— f3 at apical third with 4–5 av and 4–5 pv spines;

— abdominal tergites less setulose than in male but setulae stronger.

Diagnosis. Similar to D. grisescens . f1: in basal 2/3 covered with dense fine ventral setulae; in apical third with dense rows of 7–8 pv and 4–6 weaker av spines, both pv and av spines much stronger than ventral spinulose setulae present at apex of f 1 in D. grisescens . ♂: Postgonites ( Fig. 13 ) with external lobe with 2 longer and 2 shorter spines, although these spines are relatively shorter than those in D. grisescens ; inner spineless lobe tridentate and wider that in D. grisescens . ♀: f3 at apical third with 4–5 av and 4–5 pv spines.

Etymology. Named in honor of Ray M. Mill- er, who first found this genus in southern Africa ( Miller 1995) and correctly identified his specimens as belonging to an undescribed species of Ditaeniella but never published a description of it.

Habitat. The Namibian series was collected near a riverbed that dries up completely during the dry season and overflows during the rainy season. In 2018, on November 26, heavy rain fell on this riverbed. When we visited this place on December 3, we did not find any Ditaeniella . We collected our series during our second visit on December 11. In January–February 2021, we returned to this place twice during the height of the rainy season. The riverbed was overflowing, but again we found no Ditaeniella .

Figures

Figs. 10–11. Ditaeniella milleri sp. nov.: 10 — microsetulae on meron; 11 — male holotype Рис. 10–11. Ditaeniella milleri sp. nov.: 10 — воΛоски на мероне; 11 — гоΛотип, самец

Figs. 12–15. Ditaeniella milleri sp. nov., male (12, 13): 12 — ventral spines at apex of anterior femora; 13 — postgonites; Ditaeniella grisescens, male (14, 15): 14 — ventral setae at apex of anterior femora; 15 — postgonites Рис. 12–15. Ditaeniella millerisp. nov., самец (12, 13): 12 — вентраΛьные шипы на переΔнем беΔре; 13 — постгониты; Ditaeniella grisescens, самец (14, 15): 14 — вентраΛьные шипы на переΔнем беΔре; 15 — постгониты

Figs. 16–19. Ditaeniella parallela, male: 16 — dorsal view; 17 — ventral view with arrow indicating ventral spines on f3; 18 — postabdomen, ventral view, postgonites are visible, each bearing only a single spine; 19 — postabdomen, lateral view with arrow pointing to apically curved sclerotised portion of cerci Рис. 16–19. Ditaeniella parallela, самец: 16 — виΔ сверху; 17 — виΔ снизу, стреΛка указывает на вентраΛьные шипики на f3; 18 — постабΔомен снизу, виΔны постгониты, кажΔый из которых несет по оΔному шипику; 19 — постабΔомен сбоку, стреΛка указывает на скΛеротизированные выросты на церках