Iteaphila ribesii (Becker) Sinclair & Shamshev, 2021

Sinclair, Bradley J. & Shamshev, Igor V., 2021, World revision of Iteaphila with unbranched radial vein (Diptera: Empidoidea: Iteaphilidae), Zootaxa 4968 (1), pp. 1-89 : 29-31

Iteaphila ribesii (Becker) comb. nov.

( Figs 32 , 34 )

Anthepiscopus ribesii Becker, 1891: 282 . Type locality (by lectotype designation): Rolle-Pass [46°17′47″N 11°47′13″E], Italy.

Anthepiscopus ribesii var. nigripes Strobl, 1898: 402 (also in German: 1900: 564). Type locality: Jablanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Type material examined. LECTOTYPE (here designated in order to fix identity of the species) ♂, labelled: “Rolle-Pass [46°17′47″N 11°47′13″E]/ 20|6 90 25686”; “ Anthepiscopus / ribesii Beck. [Becker’s handwriting]”; “ SYNTYPUS [red]”; “ Zool. Mus. / Berlin ”; “ LECTOTYPE / Anthepiscopus / ribesii Becker / des. Shamshev & Sinclair 2007” ( ZMHB). PARALECTOTYPES: Rolle-Pass, 20/6 90 25686 , SYNTYPUS [red], Zool. Mus. Berlin (8 ♀, ZMNB) ; 20/6 90 25587, Anth. ribesii Beck. , det. Becker [Becker’s handwriting], SYNTYPUS [red], Zool. Mus. Berlin (1 ♀, ZMNB) ; 20/6 90 25587, SYNTYPUS [red], Zool. Mus. Berlin (2 ♀, ZMNB) .

Taxonomic notes. Becker (1891) described this species from both sexes after an unspecified number of specimens. One male and 11 female syntypes were examined.

Additional material examined. AUSTRIA. Styriae alp. [Styria; 47°15′N 15°10′E], Strobl, 13.vii.97 (1 ♂, STMD) ; Steiner Alpen, 18.vi., Strobl (1 ♀, USNM) ; Wattental [47°13′48″N 11°37′07″E], Tirol, 1500 m, 26.vi.1914 (1 ♀, USNM) . SLOVAKIA. Jamnická [49°10′34″N 19°46′24″E], dolina [valley] Vys. Tatry , 7.v.1975, M. Barták (1 ♀, OUMNH) ; Malá Fatra [49°12′42.06″N 19°05′38.34″E], N slope of Stoh , 1300 m, 1.vi.1983, M. Chvála (1 ♀, MHNG) ; Muráň [48°44′30″N 20°03′00″E], Hrtanová dolina, 19.v.1987, Straka (7 ♂, CULSP, 1 ♂, OUMNH) ; Vysoké Tatry [49°08′51″N 20°13′39″E], Hrebienok-Bil. chata, 29–30.vi.1968, M. Chvála (1 ♂, 7 ♀, OUMNH) . SWITZERLAND. CH GR 1700–1900 m, Lenzerheide [46°45′N 09°33′E], Ganas , pans, 18.v.1997, Merz & Eggenberger (1 ♂, MHNG) ; Roveredo [46°14′N 9°07′E], Auenwald , 310 m, 8.iv.1997, B. Merz (1 ♀, MHNG) .

Recognition. This species is distinguished by dark legs and halteres, horizontally projecting surstylus and long postgonite with broadly curved apex without spine-like projections ( Fig. 32 ).

Redescription. Wing length 3.8–4.1 mm. Male. Head black in ground-colour, with brown to black setation, occiput densely brownish pollinose. Eyes holoptic, with upper ommatidia enlarged. Frons represented by small triangular space just above antennae, bare, greyish pollinose. Ocellar triangle prominent, with 2 pairs of long hairlike setae. Postvertical and postocular setae rather long, thin; occiput covered with numerous similar setae in lower part. Antenna black; scape short, subequal to globular pedicel, both with short setulae; postpedicel rather narrow, nearly 4.0 times longer than wide, smoothly tapered; stylus very short, sensillum-tipped; segment 9 tubular, nearly as long as wide, apical sensillum about as long as segment 9. Proboscis long, projected obliquely; labium longer than head height; palpus long, slender, projected parallel to labrum, somewhat shorter than labrum.

Thorax black in ground-colour, with brown to black setation; scutum viewed dorsally entirely velvety brown, slightly matt, with 2 indistinct paler vittae between acrostichal and dorsocentral setae; viewed anteriorly densely brown pollinose, with 2 indistinct paler vittae; mesopleuron uniformly greyish brown pollinose. Proepisternum with a few hair-like setae. Postpronotal lobe with 1 long thin and several short setae. Mesonotal setae prominent but thin and varying in number and position; acr moderately long, biserial, lacking on prescutellar depression, distance between paired rows much shorter than length of acr; dc uniserial (with some additional setulae in anterior part), offset from row anteriorly, mostly subequal to acrostichals, 2–3 prescutellar pairs longer; 1 ph, 1 presut spal (sometimes with additional setulae), 3–4 npl (with 2 additional shorter setae), several psut spal of different lengths, 1 long and 1 short pal, 6–7 pairs of sctl.

Legs, including coxae, almost entirely brownish; knees of fore and mid legs brownish yellow, tarsi somewhat darker. Coxae and trochanters with unmodified hair-like setae. Fore femur with row of short anteroventral hair-like setae and moderately long bristly hairs on posteroventral, dorsal and posterior faces. Mid femur with moderately long posteroventral bristly hairs along entire length (somewhat longer and stronger on apical half), bearing some moderately long setae on dorsal and posterior faces. Hind femur with long anteroventral and dorsal setae along whole length. Tibiae with prominent posterodorsal setae. Tarsomere 1 of mid and hindlegs with pair of rows of stiff ventral setae; tarsomere 5 on all legs somewhat flattened; pulvilli broad, shorter than tarsal claw.

Wing distinctly uniformly brownish infuscate; basal costal seta absent; pterostigma distinct brownish, elliptical, overlapping apex of R 1; anal lobe very prominent, acute. Sc complete; vein R 2+3 straight in apical part; R 4+5 unbranched; cell dm broad, longer than basal cells, hardly produced apically, almost truncate; base of M 2 (crossvein) nearly one-fourth length of dm-m, M branches widely separated; dm-m crossvein straight. Apex of cell cua recurved, CuA+CuP long, faint, ending just short of wing margin. Halter brown, stem somewhat paler.

Abdomen brown, subshiny, finely brownish grey pollinose, covered with short brown bristly hairs. Terminalia ( Fig. 32 ) concolorous with abdomen, small. Hypandrium with numerous long setae, rounded, slightly upcurved apically, apex broad and rounded; gonocoxal apodeme broad and long; inner apodeme narrow and flattened, onehalf length of gonocoxal apodeme; postgonite broad at base, arched, produced into pair of slender, outwardly curved lobes. Phallic guide extended well beyond epandrium, apex broad, rounded and expanded; apex with inner skeleton pattern, with tooth-like projections and ragged margin. Epandrium not inflated laterally; dorsal bridge narrow; produced distally into horizontally projecting surstylus; apex of surstylus with hook-like projection posteromedially. Phallus slender, arched beyond epandrium, bent nearly at right angles subapically; apical section broad and gently curved; ejaculatory apodeme plate-like, rounded, shorter than gonocoxal apodeme. Cercus long, broad, two-thirds length of epandrium; apex broadly rounded, extended free from epandrium; hypoproct produced into pair of long, slender processes, projecting beyond epandrium, apex with very long seta.

Female. Similar to male, except as follows: Eyes dichoptic; ommatidia equally small. Frons very broad, somewhat widened toward ocellar tubercle, subshiny, finely brownish grey pollinose, with marginal setulae. Thorax with postpronotal lobe posteriorly and below and entire postalar tubercle yellowish. Scutellum usually with 4–5 pairs of setae. Legs, including coxae, largely yellowish; hind femur rather brownish yellow, hind tibia and tarsus of all legs brownish (fore basitarsus somewhat paler basally). Fore and mid legs almost lacking prominent setation, femora with some short posteroventral subapical bristly hairs. Abdomen brownish yellow, subshiny, finely greyish pollinose; covered with short setulae somewhat longer posteriorly. Cercus brownish, long, slender, covered with minute setulae.

Distribution. Palaearctic: Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland. Records of this species from Germany (Spiegelau) ( Barták 1998; Meyer & Stark 2015) are actually I. bartaki sp. nov. (see list of Paratypes under that species). Iteaphila ribesii is known only from the alpine region of the mountains of Central Europe ( Fig. 34 ).

Remarks. Becker (1891) collected this species from flowers of Ribes alpinum . After examination of the type series, it was determined that the illustration of the male terminalia labelled as A. zontaki in Engel (1941: 204, fig. 111f) is actually A. ribesii (see also under I. zontaki ).

The male terminalia are very similar to I. falki in the shape of the phallus and inner skeleton-pattern of the phallic guide, but I. falki possesses a pair of spine-like projections on the phallic guide, a synapomorphy of the I. macquarti species group. The genitalic similarity of I. ribesii with I. falki provides justification for including the former species in the I. macquarti species group. In addition, I. testacea Melander has rather similar male terminalia with these two species, but also lacks the spine-like projections on the phallic guide. Consequently, I. testacea is likewise tentatively transferred to the I. macquarti species group.

Figures

FIGURES 29–32. Male terminalia of Iteaphila with unbranched R 4+5, lateral view. 29, I. bartaki sp. nov.; 30, I. falki sp. nov.; 31, I. kyrgyzstanensis sp. nov.; 32, I. ribesii (Becker). Scale bar = 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: cerc—cercus; ej apod—ejaculatory apodeme; goncx apod—gonocoxal apodeme; hypd—hypandrium; hyprct proc—hypoproct process; i apod—inner apodeme; ph—phallus; ph gd—phallic guide; sur—surstylus.

FIGURES 33–35. Distribution of Iteaphila with unbranched R 4+5. 33, I. falki sp. nov., I. caelebs (Becker); 34, I. ribesii (Becker), I. zontaki (Nowicki); 35, I. bartaki sp. nov.