Physiphora polita, Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016

Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016, Revision of the Genus Physiphora Fallén 1810 (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Ulidiinae), Zootaxa 4087 (1), pp. 1-88 : 64-66

Physiphora polita sp. n.

Figures 300–312 .

Material. Type. Holotype ♂: Gambia: Bakau, at tropic bungalow, swept in meadow rich in flowers at the beach, 6–18.xi.1977, (Cederholm, Danielsson, Hammerstedt, Heqvist & Samuelsson) (ZMLU). Paratypes: 1♂: Central African Republic: “Coll. Mus. Tervuren / Rep. Centrafricaine: Bambari / III.1966 / G.Pierrard” (MRAC); Congo ( Zaïre): 27♂, 30♀: “Musee du Congo / Eala [0°40′ N 18°17′ E] / VIII—1935 / J. Ghesquiere”; 1♀: “Congo-belge, Eala”, 22-viii-1935 / J. Ghesquiere” (MRAC); 9♂, 10♀: “Musee du Congo / Eala / IX—1935 / J. Ghesquiere” (MRAC; SIZK); Côte-d’Ivoire: 2♂, 1♀: “Museum Paris / Côte-d’Ivoire, Lamto / 1–7[10]71 / Leg. D. Lachaise”, “c t M’Bra”; 2♂:“Lamto (Tumodi) Côte-d’Ivoire / 5.v. [19] 66” (Vuattoux); 1♂: “Côte-d’Ivoire, Lamto / 10.iv.1968 / Mic Boulard Rec”, “foret galerie du bandama” (MHNP); Kenya: 1♂: “Afr. or. Angl. (WA—TAITA) / Bura / Alluaud & Jeannel, / Mars 1912 / 1050 RD St. 61”, “Coll. Hendel” (NHMW). Nigeria: 3♀: “N. Nigeria / Zaria, Samaru / 17.IV.1986 / Deeming” (USNM).

Diagnosis. P. polita sp. n. belongs in the group of species differing by entirely brown or black fore basitarsomere together with P. chalybea , P. euphorbiana , P. sericea , P. smaragdina , and P. virens sp. n., differing from them by the combination of shining cyan to purple mesonotum (dull green in other species), entire transverse microtrichose band on face (λ-shaped, isolated from antennal grooves in P. sericea and P. smaragdina ), dark brown or black frons with elongate oval orbital spot of microtrichia (pitchy black in P. euphorbiana and P. sericea , with large subrectangular area of microtrichia in the first, and cuneiform spot in the second; brownish yellow to dark brown, with short semicircular area of microtrichia in P. chalybea and P. smaragdina ), and the phallus with moderately sparse and large spines on preglans (without spines in all other species with black fore metatarsus).

Description: Head ( Figs. 301–303 ). Frons 1.3–1.4 times as long as wide, shining brown, with elongate oval parafrontal microtichose spots and two pairs of poorly expressed calluses posterior to its middle and anterior half slightly concave and sparsely, very finely yellowish setulose. Vertical plates shining black, bearing 2 pairs of black, short, slightly reclinate orbital setae. Ocellar triangle black.

Face brown, dorsal half of facial carina and antennal grooves entire transverse gray microtrichose crossband. Lunule shining yellow. Facial carina with entire transverse microtrichose crossband ( Fig. 303 ). Facial ridge, parafacial and gena shining orange or brown, gena 1/3 times as high as eye; parafacial and facial ridge with white microtrichose stripe each. Epistome brown to black at middle, with greenish sheen. Occiput black, usually with brown area behind ocellar triangle and widely brown postgena; orbit posteriorly without microtrichose stripe. Medial vertical seta 0.6 times as long as frons width, 1.2 times as long as lateral vertical and 4–5 times as long as ocellar, orbital and 3 times longer than postocellar setae. Antenna yellowish brown, greyish microtrichose; flagellomere 1 rounded apically, 1.9–2.0 times as long as wide; arista bare, yellow in basal 1/6, remainder black. Clypeus brown to black. Palp brown to black, gray microtrichose, with moderately long black setulae. Mouthparts black.

Thorax. Scutum and scutellum brown to black, with strongly shining cyan to violet, green and green to golden metallic sheen, finely shagreened, without rugulose areas ( Figs. 301–302 ); supra-alar area and tympanal fossa subshining, postscutellum black, gray microtrichose; postero-ventral margin of scutellum without microtrichose area. Mesonotal scutum with fine brown setulae, forming medial (acrostichal) row, pair of regular dorsocentral and intra-alar rows; acrostichal setae either lacking or not differentiated from other setulae; one pair of hair-like dorsocentral setae. One postprononal, 2 postsutural supra-alar, one intra-alar and one postalar setae strong, black.

Scutellum with green and cyan sheen, with very fine and short whitish setulae and 2 pairs of black scutellar setae.

Wing ( Fig. 304 ). Entirely hyaline, with yellow veins; cell r4+5 narrowly closed, not forming petiole; posteroapical extension of cell cup 1.5 times as long as vein A1+CuA2, and 3–4 times as long as transverse section of vein CuA2. Length: 3.7–4.5.

Legs. Dark brown, including whole fore tarsus; mid- and hind tarsi creamy white to yellow; all setae black; fore femur postero-ventrally with 7–8 thickened, short setae in apical half.

Abdomen. Both tergites and sternites black, with very bluish reflection, tergite 1 grey microtrichose at base; female tergite 2 with pair of dimple-like structures laterally.

Male postabdomen brown to black; epandrium as on Figs. 308–309 , with wide triangular nipple-like structures; hypandrium asymmetric; phallus with stipe longer than preglans and glans; preglans with 15–20 moderately sparse and large spines; glans with one hook-like and one nail-like lobe (the latter at apex of membranous lobe) and 3–4 uncategorized sclerotized structures ( Figs. 306–307 ).

Female terminalia ( Figs. 311–312 ) as described for P. clausa .

Distribution: Subsaharan Africafrom Gambia and Côte-d’Ivoire to Kenya and Congo.

Biology unknown.

Remarks. Some specimens in USNM and possibly other collections with Steyskal’s identification labels “ Physiphora deemingi” (unpublished name) actually belong to this species.

Etymology. The specific epithet “ polita ” (Latin “polished”) reflects shiny appearance of the body and was originally proposed by Hendel on a label of a male of this species from Kenya (MHNW), as “ Chrysomyza polita ”, but the species with this name has never been described or published.

Figures

FIGURES 300 – 305. Physiphora polita: 300, habitus, left; 301, 302, head and thorax, left and dorsal; 303, head, anterior; 304, wing; 305, label. Scale 1 mm.

FIGURES 306 – 312. Physiphora polita: 306, ♂ phallus; 307, glans and preglans, enlarged; 308, epandrium, posterior; 309, surstili, posterior; 310, hypandrium, ventral; 311, ♀, aculeus, tip, enlarged; 312, spermathecae.