Stiremania Cerretti & O'Hara

O'Hara, James E. & Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2016, Annotated catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera) of the Afrotropical Region, with the description of seven new genera, ZooKeys 575, pp. 1-344 : 269-272

Taxon classification Animalia Diptera Tachinidae

Stiremania Cerretti & O'Hara gen. n. Figs 15, 16

Type species.

Stiremania karoo Cerretti and O’Hara sp. n., by present designation.

Etymology.

Dedicated to our friend and colleague John O. Stireman III (Dayton, Ohio, USA).

Diagnosis.

Compound eye nearly bare (scattered ommatrichia, when present, shorter than diameter of two eye facets). Ocellar seta well developed, proclinate. Frons broad, wider than compound eye in dorsal view. Two upper reclinate orbital setae. Parafacial broad, convex and entirely covered with short, black setulae. Face varying from moderately to deeply concave. Facial ridge straight or slightly concave, with fine, decumbent setae on lower 1/5 of its length. Lower facial margin not visible in lateral view. Lower occiput and postgena covered with mostly pale hair-like setulae. Vibrissa arising well above level of lower facial margin; subvibrissal ridge well developed, with a row of 4-5 subvibrissal setae subequal in size. Antenna short, at most as long as height of gena (Figs 15, 16a, c, e). Arista apparently bare; arista short and thickened on proximal 3/4. Palpus cylindrical. Prosternum with some setulae along lateral margin. Proepisternal depression bare. Proepisternal seta present. Postpronotum with 4 setae, the 3 strongest basal ones arranged in a line. Katepimeron bare. Three katepisternal setae (2+1). Three postsutural intra-alar setae. First postsutural supra-alar seta longer than notopleural setae and longer and stronger than first postsutural intra-alar seta. Four postsutural dorsocentral setae. Scutellum with 4 pairs of marginal setae and 1 pair of discal setae: apical scutellar setae crossed or sub-parallel, horizontal or slightly tilted upwards. Wing cell r4+5 closed at wing margin, short petiolate or M1 vein vanishing on membrane before reaching wing margin (Figs 15c, 16f). Wing membrane uniformly covered with microscopic setulae. Mid tibia with at least 3 anterodorsal setae and a strong submedian ventral seta. Hind coxa bare posterodorsally. Mid-dorsal depression of abdominal syntergite 1+2 reaching posterior margin of syntergite. Syntergite 1+2 and tergite 3 with 1 pair of median marginal setae. Tergite 4 with a complete row of marginal setae. Tergites 3 and 4 without median discal setae.

Remarks.

A robust body, broad head and wide parafacial covered with short setae make specimens of Stiremania easily mistaken for those of Sturmiopsis and Pseudalsomyia . However, Sturmiopsis is characterized by having the antenna distinctly longer than height of the gena, parafacial not wider than width of postpedicel, two katepisternal setae, and mid tibia with two anterodorsal setae. Also, females of Sturmiopsis species produce macrotype, membranous eggs, thus placing the genus in the tribe Eryciini . Females of Stiremania karoo , on the other hand, produce microtype, planoconvex eggs, which is the reproductive strategy of goniines. Within the Goniini , Stiremania is similar and perhaps closely related to Pseudalsomyia with which it shares, in addition to the character states it shares with both Sturmiopsis and Pseudalsomyia , a very short and narrow antenna and broadly convex parafacial. Pseudalsomyia differs from Stiremania by having one upper reclinate orbital seta, vibrissa almost indistinct from setae on facial ridge, two lateral scutellar setae, two katepisternal setae, mid tibia with one anterodorsal seta, and male possessing sexual patches on abdominal tergites 3 and 4. We have determined that the two new species described below do not fit within the limits of an existing genus and propose for them the new genus Stiremania .