Voluccella florea, Fabricius, 1794, Fabricius, 1794

Gibbs, David, 2014, A world revision of the bee fly tribe Usiini (Diptera, Bombyliidae) Part 2: Usia sensu stricto, Zootaxa 3799 (1), pp. 1-85 : 47-48

florea species group

Included species:

U. accola Becker, 1906

U. atrata (Fabricius, 1798)

U. maghrebensis Gibbs sp. nov.

U. cornigera Gibbs sp. nov.

U. florea (Fabricius, 1794)

U. vestita Macquart, 1846

Diagnosis. All are very similar in external appearance, averaging larger than members of the lata group and relitively robust. Integument black with a green or aeneous shine often apparent. All species with at least the upper part of the occiput shining, undusted. Anal lobe broad with strongly curved trailing edge. Although male genitalia are quite different between species, all have relatively small basal and lateral ejaculatory apodemes compared to the rest of the aedeagus. Female terminalia all have a heavily sclerotised apical sternite, longer than wide with relatively elongated apical processes, thus producing a deep cleft between them.

Discussion.. This group encompasses six species that represent a radiation confined to the Maghreb, North Africa. All appear to be closely related, differing externally mainly in the length of the vestiture, from very short ( U. accola ) to exceptionally long ( U. vestita ). There is also some variation in the degree of brownish infuscation of the wings, two species being distinctly infuscated, one slightly, the remainder yellow tinged. However, the genitalia are abundantly distinct almost all parts showing remarkable modifications in one or more species. Female genitalia are also diverse in form, the furca particularly varying from entirely sclerotised and pigmented to almost entirely membranous and transparent.