Euscelidia anthrax Janssens, 1957

Dikow, Torsten, 2003, Revision of the genus Euscelidia Westwood, 1850 (Diptera: Asilidae: Leptogastrinae), African Invertebrates 44 (2), pp. 1-131 : 20

Euscelidia anthrax Janssens, 1957

Figs 12E–H , 16

Euscelidia anthrax Janssens, 1957: 2 ; Oldroyd 1974: 20 1980: 356.

Diagnosis: The species is distinguished from congeners by the overall black coloration and dark wings.

Redescription: Head: Black; fc silver pruinose, fc gib distinct, mystax white, few macrosetae; oc tr apruinose; occ silver pruinose, brown setae dorsally and white setae ventrally; Antennae - scp and ped dark brown with brown setae, white pruinose; pped dark brown, white pruinose; apsel brown; Thorax: Black; sct predominantly apruinose, posterior margin and dorsad of wing base silver pruinose, white setae scattered on surface; macrosetae: black, 1 npl s, 1 spal s; sctl silver pruinose, ds sctl s and sctl s long, brown; Legs - brown and yellow, pro and meso fem brown, meta fem yellow proximally, brown distad, slightly clubbed; tib brown, meta tib with yellow stripe not reaching tip anteriorly; first tar as long as 3 following tar combined; emp about a third of length of clw; Wings - densely covered with microtrichia, dark brown; ptero indistinct, brown; cell d terminating in 3 veins; hlt light brown; Abdomen: Black; T brown pruinose in proximal 3/4, grey pruinose in distal quarter, T2–3 apruinose in proximal 2/3, T1 with black setae, T2 with long brown setae laterally, remaining T with short brown setae (on brown pruinose area) and white setae (on grey pruinose area); ơ terminalia Figs 12E–H - sur broad, only slightly pointed, ventral margin straight; hypd ventral margin straight; gonst long; d aed shea tubular, medium length; lat apod simple.

Type material - The ơ holotype has to be considered lost. I was unable to locate the depository for the type specimen. Janssens stated that the type is deposited in the South African Institute for Medical Research , Pretoria , South Africa. The collection is now part of the NMSA, but the specimen could not be found there. However, I did not designate a neotype since the concept of the species is clear and there is no ‘exceptional need’ for a designation as requested by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (article 75) .

Type locality and distribution ( Fig. 16 ): Botswana , Tsessebe, 20 45'S 27 34'E. Botswana, Malawi, South Africa .

Material examined: MALAWI: 2^^ 1ơ 1? Mulanje, 15 57'S 35 37'E, 16+18+ 21.iv.1913 ; SOUTH AFRICA: KwaZulu-Natal: 1^ Dukuduku , 28 22'S 32 24'E, 7–8.iv.1960 ; Mpumalanga: 3^^ Nelspruit , 2530DB, 1–2.xii.1976 . Depository : BMNH, NMSA .

Figures

Fig. 12. ơ terminalia.A–D. Euscelidia adusta sp. n.A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Lateral. D. Aedeagus lateral. E–H. E. anthrax. E. Aedeagus lateral. F. Dorsal. G. Ventral. H. Lateral. Scale line = 1 mm.

Fig. 16. Distribution. Euscelidia anthrax, triangles; E. bequaerti, circles; E. bicolor, squares; E. bishariensis, stars; E. discors, pentagon; E. fastigium, hexagon.