Trichardis rueppelii ( Wiedemann, 1828 )

Londt, Jason G. H., 2008, A review of Afrotropical Trichardis Hermann, 1906, and the description of the first Oriental representative of the genus (Diptera: Asilidae: Laphriinae), African Invertebrates 49 (2), pp. 171-171 : 198-199

Trichardis rueppelii ( Wiedemann, 1828)

Dasypogon Rüppelii : Wiedemann 1828: 569–570.

Laphria rueppelii: Oldroyd 1980: 352 .

Trichardis rueppellii: Geller-Grimm 1999: 214 .

Redescription (based on holotype in fair condition: both antennae broken off beyond pedicels, hind margins of wings damaged and not showing extent of costal vein, terminal tarsomeres mostly missing, damaged or dirty):

Head: Pale orange, silver pruinescence, setae white. Antennae orange, both broken off beyond pedicel, white setose. Mystax white. Ocellar tubercle with 4 macrosetae and a few fairly big setae. Proboscis orange with orange-brown distal half, palpi orange.

Thorax: Brown-orange, dorsal parts red-brown, setae white. Postpronotum entirely pruinose, mesonotum dark red-brown centrally, orange laterally, extensively silver pruinose except for central parts [may be worn smooth through handing?], setae white. Scutellum pruinose except for hind margin.Anepisternum lacking posterior macroseta, extensively pruinose (somewhat apruinose anteroventrally [may be worn]). Proepimeron, katepisternum and anepimeron pruinose. Legs: Uniformly orange, lengths of pulvilli and empodia difficult to study as terminal tarsomeres dirty, damaged or missing. Hind femur orange, length:height ratio 4.1:1 (i.e. slender), ventral tubercles not evident. Hind tibia lacking ventrodistal spur. Wing: 6.3× 2.4 mm. Costal veins broken and missing beyond wing tips [due to damaged hind margins]. Membrane entirely without microtrichiae.

Abdomen: Uniformly brown-orange, terga silver pruinose except for small areas anterolaterally and centrally [may be worn], white setose (setulae longish). T2 orange, pruinose except for small anterolateral and central [may be worn] areas.

Holotype (examined): ERITREA: ^‘ Abyssinia [no locality given] / Dr Rüppell.’, ‘136’ [blue with black frame], ‘Typus’ [red with black frame], ~ ‘Dipt. / 105’ [white], ‘ Trichardis / Ruppelii Wd. / det. / Dr. F. Herman’ ( SMFD). Note: Wiedemann (1928) gives the provenance as ‘Aus Nubien’. This suggests the Nubian Desert which is in Eritrea and not Sudan, as listed by Oldroyd (1980). For the present it is not possible to provide a type-locality.

Taxonomic status: Morphologically the holotype closely agrees with the description provided above for the leucocoma type except for a few small details as follows. Pruinescence of head and thorax is not as strong or extensive; the legs are uniformly orange and totally lack red-brown parts. Bearing in mind that the rueppelii holotype is a female and that some sexual dimorphism is evident in leucocoma everything points to leucocoma being a synonym of rueppelii . However, while I am reasonably sure that this will be the future taxonomic outcome, I refrain from establishing the synonymy until male specimens agreeing with leucocoma are found in Eritrea. This conservative approach also ensures retention of the well-known name, leucocoma , until further investigations of the Palaearctic Trichardis fauna have been undertaken.