Aspistomella crucifera (Hendel, 1909) Kovac & Kameneva & Korneyev & Araújo & Savaris & Smit & Schneider & Schreiber & Korneyev, 2024

Kovac, Damir, Kameneva, Elena P., Korneyev, Severyn V., Araújo, Alexandre Santos, Savaris, Marcoandre, Smit, John T., Schneider, Alexander, Schreiber, Robert & Korneyev, Valery A., 2024, Revision of the Aspistomella group of genera (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Pterocallinae: Lipsanini), Zootaxa 5530 (1), pp. 1-117 : 25-27

Aspistomella crucifera (Hendel, 1909) comb. nov.

Figs 6 E , 13 .

Paraphyola crucifera Hendel 1909b: 262 , 1910: 47; Steyskal 1968: 54.20.

Material examined. Type. Holotype ♀: Peru: “Peru—Meshagua / 29.9.03 / Urubambafl.” [Schnuse leg.], “ Paraphyola \ crucifera H. / det. F. Hendel ” ( SMTD).

Diagnosis. Paraphyola crucifera shares with P. angustifrons , P. quinquincisa , and P. teresensis a comparatively short head, narrow frons and wings, a wing pattern with a widely dark apical half, as well as wing venation, and chaetotaxy, It differs from P. angustifrons in having yellow coxae, femora and tarsi (in P. angustifrons , largely black) and hyaline spot in posterior margin of cell m 4. It is most similar to P. quinquincisa in having wing pattern with apical dark, differing from it by having 4 hyaline incisions: cell r 1 with 2 marginal hyaline marks narrowed posteriorly, and the hyaline mark in cell m 1 only reaching vein M 1 (in, P. quinquincisa , crossing vein M 1 to the middle of cell r 4+5). It differs from P. teresensis by cell r 1 with 2 marginal hyaline marks, the first one reaching vein M 1, the second one reaching the anterior half of cell r 4+5 and cell m 1 with submarginal hyaline mark reaching only vein M 1 (in P. teresensis , cell r 1 with one cuneiform hyaline incision extending into cell dm and cell m 1 with cuneiform hyaline incision extending at least to vein R 4+5 or even into cell r 2+3).

It also differs from P. schnusei by short epistome and wing apical half widely dark (in P. schnusei , epistome strongly produced anteriorly and wing widely hyaline with narrow bands apically).

Description. Male. Head ( Figs 13 B–C ) ratio (length: height: width) = 1: 1.5: 2, frons, face above transverse fold, parafacial, and gena reddish or yellowish brown, epistome and occiput mostly black. Frons very narrow, slightly narrowed posteriorly, 0.95× as long (from lunule to anterior ocellus) or 1.8× (from lunule to inner vertical seta) as wide (at lunule), with subshining, brown or black ocellar triangle and brown vertical plates; orbits, vertex, gena and occiput silver-white microtrichose; parafacial narrow, 0.25–0.3× broader than postpedicel, reddish-yellow, sparsely white microtrichose. Frontal plates with 8–9 tiny parafrontal setulae and 5–7 frontal setae on each side, frontal vitta sparsely whitish microtrichose, with 2–4 pro- or inclinate interfrontal setae ( Fig. 13 C ). Eye 1.5× higher than long. Face; yellow, white microtrichose above epistome; epistome moderately produced anteriorly and separated from upper part of face by shallow fold, brown, sparsely white microtrichose, with metallic bluish sheen. Clypeus brown, sparsely white microtrichose, subshining, 0.2× higher than epistome height. Gena brownish yellow, with long genal seta and 6–7 additional long peristomal setae anterior of it, 0.5–0.7× longer than genal seta ( Fig. 13 B ). Occiput black, with cyan metallic sheen, greyish microtrichose. Antenna yellow; scape and pedicel with black setulae; postpedicel yellow, whitish microtrichose, 1.9× longer than wide, apically rounded; arista black except yellow at base, almost bare. Mouthparts brown to black, prementum black, sparsely microtrichose. Palp yellow to brown, as described for P. angustifrons .

Thorax brown to black, silvery subshining, with sparse white microtrichia not hiding underlying cuticle. Mesonotal scutum ( Fig. 13 D ) 1.4–1.5× longer than wide; black setulose, with 6–7 rows of setulae between rows of dorsocentral setulae; acrostichal prescutellar seta present, 0.4–0.5× longer than posterior dorsocentral seta (prescutellar area partly destroyed with pin). Other setae as described for the genus, black. Scutellum dorsally very flattened, brown, subshining, sparsely microtrichose, devoid of setulae, with silver sheen. Subscutellum and mediotergite as in P. angustifrons .

Wing ( Fig. 6 E ) about 4 mm (♀) long (holotype with both wings broken off), 3.3× longer than wide; basicostal cell hyaline; costal cell straight, 5.2× longer than wide, brown in basal 1/8 of length; pterostigma entirely brown, narrow triangular, 2.7–3× longer than wide, vein R 1 bare, ending proximally of crossvein dm-m level; vein R 2+3 slightly arcuate in basal half, straight at apex. Crossvein r-m distally of middle of cell dm. Cell r 4+5 6.5× longer than wide. Cell m 1 narrow triangular; ultimate section of M 1 4.7× longer than crossvein dm-m and 3.2× longer than penultimate section. Vein CuA Z-shaped, forming moderately short posteroapical lobe of cell cua along vein CuP, 1.25× longer than its anterior shoulder. Wing pattern with short subbasal crossband from humeral vein through cell cua into alula; wing distally of cells c, bm, cua and radial fork dark brown with 4 large hyaline areas: 2 hyaline subtriangular incisions at anterior margin from cell r 1 through cell r 2+3 into base of cell r 4+5 distally of crossvein r-m and 2 rounded or subrectangular hyaline spots in apical parts of cells dm and cua 1 and basal part of cell m 1; dark pattern separating these hyaline areas having shape of cross; wing apex dark without hyaline marks. Calypters white, with white cilia. Halter yellow.

Legs ( Fig. 13 A ) yellow; black setose and setulose. Fore femur uniformly setulose, with subapical row of 2–4 posteroventral setae as long as femur width. Mid femur anteriorly with short suberect setulae; mid tibia ventrally with single spur-like seta 3–5× longer than tibia width.

Abdomen brown to black, sparsely setulose.

Male: not known.

Female terminalia (not dissected): aculeus with ovoid, long-setulose cercal unit (partly exposed).

Remarks. The specimen is partially damaged: both wings are broken off. A pencil sketch of the wing pattern was drawn by VK in 2001, before the curator glued it back to the thorax with fish glue as in the photo ( Figs 13 A, D ); it was later redrawn as in Fig. 6 E .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Aspistomella, wing. A, A. sachavaca sp. nov.; B, A. schnusei sp. nov.; C, A. angustifrons (Hendel); D, A. garleppi sp. nov.; E, A. crucifera (Hendel); F, A. quinquincisa sp. nov.; G, A. teresensis sp. nov.; H, A. obliqua sp. nov. Abbreviations: C—costal vein; c—costal cell; M1—first branch of media; m1—first medial cell; ptstg—pterostigma; r1—first radial cell; rm—radial-medial crossvein. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 13. Aspistomella crucifera (Hendel) holotype ♀. A, habitus, left; B, head left; C, head, dorsal; D, mesonotum, dorsal; E, labels.