Mythenteles infrequens Evenhuis & Blasco-Zumeta

Gibbs, David, 2007, Mythenteles andalusica sp. n. (Diptera, Mythicomyiidae) from Southern Spain and the first description of the male of M. infrequens Evenhuis & Blasco-Zumeta, 2003, Zootaxa 1533, pp. 63-68 : 66-68

Mythenteles infrequens Evenhuis & Blasco-Zumeta

Mythenteles infrequens Evenhuis & Blasco-Zumeta in Evenhuis, 2003: 18

A single pair of this microbombyliid was swept from a Cistus flower along the edge of a pine plantation above Alcaucin, 800-1050 m, N36°54'44" W4°6'17" in the Sierra de Tejeda, Málaga Province, Andalusia, Spain, on 7.vi.2006. The female ( Fig 9) is a striking insect, boldly patterned with black and yellow, notably with large yellow notopleural patches, yellow sternites and broad, bright yellow marginal bands to the tergites, particularly the distal ones. The male specimen was somewhat damaged during collection but is substantially the same as the female although the abdomen is rather darker, each sternite infuscated basally.

The unique holotype of M. infrequens was collected in Zaragoza Province in northern Spain so the present record represents a southern extention of its range by more than 500km.

The male genitalia do not suggest a particularly close affinity to any of the species illustrated by Evenhuis (2003). They are certainly of a quite different type than the male genitalia of M. andalusica and M. deemingi .