Pygommatius apoticius Scarbrough & Hill

Scarbrough, A. G. & Hill, H., 2005, Pygommatius Scarbrough & Marascia, a valid ommatiine genus (Diptera: Asilidae) with new combinations and new species from the Philippines, Zootaxa 1055, pp. 1-22 : 6-8

Pygommatius apoticius Scarbrough & Hill , sp. nov.

Figs. 1–11

Male. Brown. Body length 9.3–10.7 mm; wing length 8.0–8.6. Head: Face mostly yellow tomentose, glabrous immediately below antenna; scattered yellow setae and five or six long, thin brown bristles, the latter as long as or longer than proboscis; four short, stout, spikelike, yellow bristles above oral margin medially; FHWR 1.0:10.9–1.0:11.1. Palpus brown, mostly or entirely brown setose. Proboscis blackish, mostly brown setose ventrally, four ventral setae as long as proboscis. Antenna mostly brown, brown setose; flagellum yellowish­brown; FWLR 1.0:1.8. Frons yellowish­brown tomentose, row of sparse, short, brown setae laterally. Ocellar tubercle brown setose, two setae with tips at middle of flagellum. Vertex brown tomentose. Occiput brownish to yellow tomentose dorsally with sparse brown setae, yellowish­gray ventrally with white setae; five thin, brown, postocular bristles dorsally, longest with tip, 1/3 to 1/2 distance toward ocellar tubercle.

Thorax: Dark brown. Pronotum brown tomentose dorsally, with four pale yellow bristles. Mesonotum mostly brown tomentose, narrow sides yellow to yellowish­gray, posterior corner more red; setae sparse, those dorsally brown, those laterally more abundant, longer and yellowish; four or five lateral and two dorsocentral black bristles, long and stout. Scutellum brownish­gray tomentose with stout brown marginal bristles; preapical groove absent. Pleuron gray tomentose with three vertical yellow stripes; first stripe long and narrow, extending ventrally to or upon coxae, second stripe widest, third stripe forms large spot below halter and extends as narrow line to hind coxa; setae scattered anteriorly, pale yellowish; long, thin anepimeral and katatergal bristles brown.

Wing: Hyaline, dense microtrichose except in mediobasal cells. Cell r4 long and narrow, base just beyond apex of cell d; sides almost parallel, each slightly diverge apically. Crossvein r­m at apical 1/3 of cell d, as long CuA1. Cell m1 WR 1.0:4.9:5.3– 1.0:6.3:7.4. Cell m3 short, apex oblique, pointed near base of cell m1.

Leg: Coxae yellow tomentose, mostly white setose, few to several brown setae along apical margin of fore and middle coxae; fore coxa entirely brown; middle coxa yellow, narrow brown base; hind coxa yellowish­brown. Fore and middle trochanters yellowishbrown; hind trochanter brown, brown setose. Fore and middle femora mostly yellow, apically light brownish­yellow except ventrally; hind femur mostly brown, basal 1/5 to 1/4 yellow to reddish­yellow; bristles brown. Fore femur ventrally with row of three or four long, yellow setae. Middle femur with three stout bristles anteriorly; one thin, hooked, preapical, posterodorsal bristle; row of six or seven thin, brown anteroventral setae present; posteroventral setae much longer, yellow. Hind femur with two bristles anteriorly, five to seven anteroventrally and three posteroventrally; most ventral bristles present on basal 2/3, most quite long with longest anteroventral bristle 1/4 as long as femur; two posteroventral bristles unusually thick; HFWLR 1.0:6.7–1.0:6.8. Fore and middle tibiae yellow, with mostly or entirely brown bristles laterally. Hind tibia mostly yellowish­brown to brown, yellow basally; bristles short, brown; dense ventral setae pale yellow medially, brown preapically, brownish­yellow apically. Tarsi brown except basal tarsomeres of fore and middle tarsi mostly yellow; bristles brown.

Abdomen: Brown, wide apical corners of segments 1–5 yellow tomentose with mostly short, brown setae. Tergite 6 apically broadly rounded. Tergite 8 with raised tubercle laterally along apical margin. Sternites 3–5 with stout, erect, yellow bristles. Sternite 8 with abundant, long, horizontal setae; an apical row of numerous, long, bristly setae and stout bristles, the longest and thickest bristles present laterally.

Terminalia ( Figs. 1–7 ): Epandrium with dorsal branch short, trilobed apically; median branch long, flat and wide apically, asymmetrically spatulate apically, clawlike, with small digitate process present along inner margin; apex pointed inward; ventral branch shorter, curved dorsally. Gonostylus clublike. Aedeagus wide apically; sheath inflated dorsally; ejaculatory apodeme without lateral flange. Gonocoxite with inner margin slightly emarginate. Hypandrium with short, transverse cluster of stout bristles.

Female. Differs as follows. Body length 9.3–10.7 mm; wing length 8.9–10.0 mm; FHWLR 1.0:10.5–1.0:10.6; FWLR 1.0:2.5; cell m1WR 1.0:4.4–1.0:4.5; HFWLR 1.0:6.7– 1.0:7.1. Head: Flagellum brown, not significantly lighter than pedicel or scape. Occiput with five to eight brown postocular bristles. Thorax: Pleuron yellow tomentose, three ventricle stripes darker. Wing: Vein m1 more distinctively concave than in male. Leg: Mostly reddish­yellow to reddish­brown. Fore and middle femora mostly yellowish­red to red posteriorly, brown anteriorly and dorsally; most or all ventral setae brown. Hind femur red, darker reddish­brown anteriorly and dorsally, narrow base yellow; posteroventral bristles longer and thinner than in males. Fore and middle tibiae yellow, bristles brown; hind tibia reddish, narrow base reddish­yellow. Abdomen: Segments 1–7 apically, often wide margins, wide corners of tergites yellow, tomentum yellow; segments otherwise brown with brown tomentum. Setae mostly brown; apical margin of tergites with row of long setae and bristles; bristles brown, longest laterally. Tergite 8 membranous apically, bristles stout along apical sclerotized margin. Sternites 4–8 with erect, brown bristles, thinner than yellow bristles in male. Terminalia ( Figs. 8–11 ): Tergite 9 unusually narrow dorsally, corners much wider, folded ventrally. Sternite 8 with apical fourth membranous, apical margin produced, broadly pointed; V­shaped row of long, stout bristles posteriorly. Spermatheca long, sigmoid basally. Genital fork narrow basally.

Specimens examined. PHILIPPINES: Holotype ɗ, Galog Riv., 6000 ft, 5.xi ~ Mt. Apo, Mindanao, Phil. Islands, C. F. Clagg (MCZ). Paratypes, 1 ɗ, same data as holotype except 28.ix (MCZ); 1 Ψ, same data as holotype except 1.ix (MCZ); 5 Ψ, same data except 5.ix, 5.xi, 6.xi, 13.xi (MCZ); 1 Ψ, Todaya Plateau, 5000 ft, 2.ix ~ Mt. Apo, Mindanao, Phil. Islands, C. F. Clagg (MCZ); 1 ɗ, P.I. Mindanao, Mis. Or., Mt. Pomalihi, 21 km W. Gingoog City, 800–1000 m, 30.iv.65, H.M. Torrevillas (BPBM).

Etymology. The species name, apoticius , is a combination of the type locality (Mount Apo) and the latin iticius (belonging to). The gender is feminine.

Remarks. Pygommatius apoticius is distinguished by the combined characters of the male terminalia ( Figs. 1–11 ), especially the shape of the epandrium, i.e. trilobed apex of the dorsal branch, claw­like apex of the middle branch, and the hooked ventral branch and caninelike apex of the gonostylus. Also, it differs from P. hypnus (Oldroyd) by the yellow fore coxa.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 11. Pygommatius apoticius Scarbrough, terminalia. Male, 1 – 3. Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views; 4. Hypandrial bristle with bracts; 5. Epandrium with three branches, dorsal view; 6. Gonostylus, lateral view; 7. Aedeagus, lateral view. Female, 8 – 9. Dorsal and ventral views; 10. Spermatheca; 11. Genital fork. Abbrevations: Ae = aedeagus; AS = aedeagal sheath; Ce = cercus; E p = epandrium; Ej = ejaculatory apodeme; DB = dorsal branch of epandrium; MB = middle branch of epandrium; VB = ventral branch of epandrium; DA = dorsal and VA = ventral apodemes of aedeagal sheath; Gc = gonocoxite; Gs = gonostylus; Hp = hypandrium; T = moundlike tubercle; St 8 = sternite 8; T 8 = tergite 8; T 9 = tergite 9.