Protothereva Malloch

Webb, Donald W. & Metz, Mark A., 2003, The South American genus Protothereva Malloch (Diptera: Therevidae: Therevinae) with description of two new species, Zootaxa 234, pp. 1-12 : 2-4

Protothereva Malloch

Protothereva Malloch (1932:239 gen. key, orig. desc.). Type species Protothereva grisea Malloch (1932:239) by original designation.

Redefinition of genus. Moderate sized flies, males 4.7­7.2 mm, females 6.4­7.5 mm.

Head. Ocellar tubercle dark reddish brown, pruinescence gray; slightly raised above vertex; setae black, elongate. Eyes reddish brown, separate by distance less than 0.5 times width of median ocellus; male ommatidia becoming smaller ventrally and laterally. Male frons reduced, triangular; setae elongate, absent lateral to antennal base. Face only slightly projecting anteriorly beyond eyes. Antenna shorter than length of head; scape cylindrical, longer than wide, narrower than width of flagellum; pedicel spherical, short; first flagellomere oval to spherical, posterior third narrow, attenuated apically, second flagellomere cylindrical, third flagellomere tapered to point apically, flagellum longer than wide, longer than length of scape. Parafacial broad; setae absent. Maxillary palpus cylindrical, apex rounded. Genal setae white, elongate. Postocular macrosetae black, in single row.

Thorax. Mesonotum with 3­4 np, 2 sa, 1 pa, 0 dc, 2 sc macrosetae; vittae dull brown but indistinct. Postpronotal lobe dull brownish gray. Setae on prosternum white, elongate; absent from proepimeron, notopleural shelf, anepimeron, meron, and posterior basalare. Wing. Setulae on apical three­fourths of R1; subcosta ending in C slightly basal to r­m; R1 ending in C distal to r­m. R2+3 ending in C distal to fork of R4+5; r­m at middle of dc; R4 sinuate, ending in C anterior to apex; R5 straight, ending in C posterior to apex; r4 enclosing apex of wing; M1, M2, and M3 originate separately from apex of dc; cup closed, petiolate. Legs. Metakatepisternum lacking setae. Coxae dark reddish brown, pruinescence gray, dense; setae on posterior half of midcoxa; hindcoxa with dark reddish brown papillate projection; apical macrosetae dark brown. Femora dark reddish brown, pruinescence gray, macrosetae dark reddish brown. Tibiae dark yellow, apex dark reddish brown. Tarsomeres 1­2 dark yellow, apex dark reddish brown, tarsomeres 3­5 dark reddish brown.

Abdomen. Male terminalia . Tergite 8 ( Figs. 1 , 10 ) with anterior margin broadly concave; posterior margin deeply emarginate; median length short (0.02 mm). Sternite 8 ( Figs. 2 , 11 ) with posterior margin emarginate. Epandrium ( Figs. 1 , 10 ) quadrate, broad basally, shorter medially than wide; anterior margin emarginate; posterolateral corner short, broadly pointed; in lateral view quadrate, dorsal surface convex, posterior margin tapered to broad point. Cercus ( Figs. 1 , 10 ) ending distal to posterolateral margin of epandrium, basal to apex of hypoproct. Hypoproct ( Figs. 1 , 10 ) ending distal to apex of cercus and epandrium; apicoventral area flat. Gonocoxite ( Figs. 2­4 , 11­13 ) separated medially; inner gonocoxal process absent; gonocoxal apodeme ( Figs. 3 , 12 ) not extending beyond anterior margin of gonocoxite; gonocoxal bridge and posteromedial lobe absent; ventral lobe ( Figs. 2­3 , 11­12 ) large, broadly rounded, not wrapping around base of gonostylus, with short spines on ventral surface, in ventral view with narrow cuticular projection basolateral to ventral lobe bearing fine short setae ( Fig. 2 , VP). Aedeagus with anterior sclerotized margin of dorsal apodeme ( Figs 6 , 15 ) deeply emarginate; ventral apodeme ( Figs. 7 , 16 ) not extending beyond anterior margin of dorsal apodeme, in cross­section flattened dorsoventrally; ejaculatory apodeme ( Figs. 6 , 15 ) in cross­section flattened dorsoventrally. Female terminalia . Sternite 8 longer than wide, tapering to broad point posteriorly, with short median emargination. Median lobe of tergite 9 lacking setae. Furca ( Figs. 9 , 18 ) rectangular, closed, with posteromedial and anteromedial projections absent. Common duct ( Figs. 9 , 18 ) shorter than furca. Spermathecal ducts ( Figs. 9 , 18 ) diverging from common duct in anterior direction. Spermathecal sac large, expanded anteriorly. Spermatheca ( Figs. 9 , 18 ) spherical.

Immature Stages. Unknown.

Distribution ( Fig. 19 ). Protothereva has been collected in Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru.

No keys are available to separate the South American genera of therevids. The presence of setulae on the dorsal surface of wing vein R1 is unique within the Therevinae and will easily separate out this genus.

Figures

FIGURES 1 ­ 9. Protothereva ecuadorensis spec. nov. 1. Tergite 8, epandrium, cerci, and hypoproct, dorsal view. 2. Sternite 8, hypandrium, and gonocoxite ventral view. 3. Gonocoxite and hypandrium dorsal view. 4. Gonocoxite left lateral view. 5. Gonostylus left lateral view. 6. Aedeagus dorsal view (inset ejaculatory apodeme cross­section). 7. Aedeagus ventral view (inset ventral apodeme crosssection). 8. Aedeagus lateral view. 9. Female internal reproductive organs. Scale = 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: Acc = accessory gland duct, C = cercus, CD = common duct, DA = dorsal apodeme, Dp = distiphallus, EA = ejaculatory apodeme, Epa = epandrium, F = furca, GA = gonocoxal apodeme, Gs = gonostylus, Gx = gonocoxite, H = hypandrium, Hpt = hypoproct, Sp = spermatheca, SpD = spermathecal duct, SpS = spermathecal sac, SS = sensory seta, S 8 = sternite 8, T 8 = tergite 8, VA = ventral

FIGURES 10 ­ 19. Protothereva peruensis spec. nov. 10. Tergite 8, epandrium, cerci, and hypoproct, dorsal view. 11. Sternite 8, gonocoxite ventral view. 12. Gonocoxite and hypandrium dorsal view. 13. Gonocoxite left lateral view. 14. Gonostylus left lateral view. 15. Aedeagus dorsal view (inset ejaculatory apodeme cross­section). 16. Aedeagus ventral view (inset ventral apodeme crosssection). 17. Aedeagus lateral view. 18. Female internal reproductive organs. Scale = 0.1 mm. 19. Distribution of Protothereva: triangle = P. ecuadorensis, circle = P. peruensis, square = P. g r i s e a.