Anthrax greatheadi El-Hawagry, 1998

El-Hawagry, Magdi S., 2021, Taxonomy of the genus Anthrax Scopoli (Diptera: Bombyliidae) in Egypt, Journal of Natural History 55 (9 - 10), pp. 597-624 : 610-611

Anthrax greatheadi El-Hawagry, 1998 ( Figures 7 , 15 (c))

Anthrax greatheadi El-Hawagry, 1999: 108 . Type locality: Egypt (Sinai: St. Catherine ‘ Hagar Bardeiya’ ) .

Diagnosis

Male: 5–8 mm in length ( Figure 15 (c)). Hairs on frons black, mixed with a few scattered yellow-white scales. Hairs on face long and black, mixed with yellowish ones on the lower margin and around the buccal cavity. Antennae dark brown to black. Occiput with yellowbrown hairs on upper part. Thorax dull black, dusted yellow, with weak brassy tinge, with black erect hairs on the middle of scutum becoming more extensive and dense and mixed with white-yellow hairs at sides. Wings ( Figure 15 (c)) with dark brown pattern spreading over more than basal half, paler at cell sc, alula and squama; this dark pattern consists of numerous irregular black-brown confluent spots, in addition to two isolated spots, one at distal portion of cell r1, touching tip of vein R1 and costal border, and the other spot on cross-vein m-m; in this dark pattern there are some conspicuous hyaline windows. Cell cup with a basal infuscation only at basal half, in addition to a pre-apical large spot; anal lobe mainly hyaline, with only weak infuscation extending from cell cup infuscation. Plumula white. Halteres dark brown with knobs paler at apex. Leg dark brown with tibiae and sometimes tarsi paler; hind femora with some yellow-white scales. Abdomen black, slightly shining, with 7th tergite slightly brownish; 1st tergite with tufts of long and erect white hairs at corners and sides, while sides of other tergites with black tufts; 1st tergite with a few silvery white scales at sides; 2nd tergite with broader, more extensive and dense silvery white scales at sides of posterior margin; 4th and 5th tergites without any scales; 6th and 7th tergites with silvery white scales covering all sides. Gonocoxites ( Figure 7 (a)) truncate, triangular, swollen at base, grey dusted at middle surface, yellowish at sides and black at tip; gonostyli red-brown with dark tips; epiphallus simple with hooked apex; aedeagus simple ( Figure 7 (b)). Female: Very similar to male; however, upper part of frons narrower than in male. White scales of 2nd tergite sometimes form a stripe over the entire posterior margin. Last tergite with very few scattered yellow-white scaly hairs on sides. Spermatheca ( Figure 7 (c)) with a long, weakly sclerotised, club-shaped bulb.

Material examined

Holotype male, South Sinai , Hagar Bardeiya (28.6286°N, 33.656°E), 29 May 1997 (El-Hawagry, leg.); paratypes: 1 female, South Sinai , W. E 1- Arbaein (28.5469°N, 33.9530°E), 22 May 1997 (El-Hawagry, leg.); 1 male, same data as the previous specimen; 1 female, South Sinai, Ein Maein El-Roaian (28.5244°N, 33.8906°E), 22 August 1995 (El-Hawagry, leg.) [ EFC]. 1 male, Israel, Ein Gedi (31.451969°N, 35.382042°E), 6 August 2001 (Rami. leg.) [ MSHC].

Remarks

One male specimen of this species was collected from Ein Gedi, west of the Dead Sea, Israel, 31.451969°N, 35.382042°E, by a Palestinian student at Cairo University, Rami Ahmed . This is the first record of this species from Israel . Male genitalia and spermatheca of A . greatheadi are identical to those of the Israeli Anthrax sp. no. 1 in Theodor’s study (1983, p. 195) .

Figures

Figure 7. Anthrax greatheadi: (a) gonocoxites, ventral view; (b) hypopygium, lateral view; (c) spermatheca.

Figure 15. Anthrax spp., habitus: (a) A. aethiops bezzii; (b) A. dentatus; (c) A. greatheadi; (d) A. lucidus; (e) A. melanistus.