Ethiolimnia zumpti Verbeke, 1956: 483

Knutson, Lloyd V., Deeming, John C. & Ebejer, Martin J., 2018, The Snail-killing Flies (Diptera: Sciomyzidae) of West Africa, Zootaxa 4483 (1), pp. 67-100 : 76

Ethiolimnia zumpti Verbeke, 1956: 483

(Fig. 30)

References to figures: Verbeke 1956 (surstylus, cercus, 9th tergite); Verbeke 1962b (wing).

Holotype: ♂, SOUTH AFRICA: Transvaal, Johannesburg, 28.ii.1951, F. Zumpt ( SAIMR). Verbeke, 1956 stated “un” paratype from Johannesburg was deposited at MRAC. However, in 1978 Knutson found two male paratypes in Cabinet 150, Box 1 at MRAC. One is labelled “ Paratypus ”, Johannesburg , Transvaal , leg. Zumpt (28.2.51)”, “Coll. Mus. Congo ” (purple upside-down label) “ Type ♂, J. Verbeke det. 1955, Ethiolimnia zumpti n. sp., Type (♂)”. One is labelled “ Paratypus ”, “ Johannesburg Transvaal, leg Paterson, (14.x.1951)”, “Coll. Mus. Congo, don . Dr. F. Zumpt”, (orange upside-down label folded) “Paratype ♂”, “ Ethiolimnia zumpti n. sp., Paratype, J. Verbeke det. 1955”.

A small species (body length 3.69mm, wing 3.28mm). There is some colour variation in the legs, ranging from orangish with all tibiae yellowish at least basally, and tarsus infuscate. Femora, especially fore femur, blackish brown in apical third. Fore tarsus brownish, fifth tarsomere pale, mid and hind tarsi pale with tarsomeres 3 and 4 darkened. Thoracic dorsum and abdomen blackish. Scutum with matt black lateral postsutural stripes on either side. Middle of face darkened to oral margin; upper part of face whitish pruinose, lower part shiny. Pleura shiny yellowish brown above, whitish grey below, including coxae and trochanters. Midfrontal stripe shiny black, strongly inflated anteriorly, slightly concave after ocellar triangle. Ocellar triangle slightly pruinose. Antennal pedicel and postpedicel equal in length. Thorax with 1 ppn, 2 ntpl, 1 ps, 1 sa, 1 pa, 2 postsutural dc and 2 sc. Hind femur with 2 posterodorsal setae towards apex. Wing: there is some variation in the wing pattern. Male genitalia (Fig. 30).

The male from Mt. Kinangop, Kenya has a faint indication of 1 or 2 spots in the marginal cell and the female from Mau Narok, Kenya has these spots small and widely separated. The legs of these specimens are orangish, but the femora are darkened apically. The mid frontal stripe of the Mau Narok specimen is longer, narrower and more inflated anteriorly than in other specimens. The Mau Narok specimen might represent a different species. The male from Mt. Cameroun has the legs orange, infuscate only on the fore tibia and tarsus, and obscurely so on the apex of the fore femur. This specimen is mounted in such a way as to make a full-face view impossible. However, the face does not appear to be infuscated but concolorous with the gena, although the colour of the legs of the males from Mt. Cameroun and Mt. Kinangop is similar to that of E. platalea Verbeke, 1950 ; the genitalia, compared with those of a paratype, agree very closely. The apex of the aedeagus is sac-like with minute asperities and is indistinct in form.

WEST AFRICA: CAMEROUN: Mt . Cameroun, Mann’s Quelle , 7400 ft., on grassland, 1♂, 4.ii.1937, M. Steele ( NHMUK) .

Other new records: SOUTH AFRICA : East Cape, Hogsback, N. Alice 1♂, 2–3.xi.1964, B. & P. Stuckenberg ; Orange Free State, Harrismith 2♀, 1–26.iii.1927, Turner ( NHMUK) . KENYA: Aberdare Range, Mt. Kinangop , cedar forest, 8000ft., 1♂, x.1934, F.W. Edwards ( NHMUK) ; Mau Narok Forêt, 3000–3500m, 1♀, 15–17.xii.1972, M. Boulard ( MNHNP) .

Published records. SOUTH AFRICA: Transvaal (Verbeke 1956); East Cape ( Verbeke 1962b).

Biology. Miller (1995) referred to puparia he found in empty shells of the terrestrial snail Theba pisana (Müller) (Helicidae) on 2.i.1993 at Hout Bay, western Cape coast, South Africa as being different from puparia of Ditaeniella , Pherbellia and Sepedon and noted that Ethiolimnia geniculata Loew is the dominant species in that dune habitat.