Platystoma meridionale Hendel, 1913

Harym, Younes El & Korneyev, Valery, 2023, New additions to the fauna of the superfamily Tephritoidea (Diptera) of Morocco, Zootaxa 5360 (4), pp. 487-514 : 496-501

Platystoma meridionale Hendel, 1913

Platystoma meridionale Hendel 1913: 40 .

Platystoma meridionale meridionale Hennig 1945: 40 ; Soós, 1984: 42.

Platystoma idia Séguy 1934b: 40 , syn. n.

Platystoma meridionale idia Hennig 1945: 40 ; Soós, 1984: 42.

Material examined. Type: Syntype ♂ Platystoma meridionale : Tunisia: “ Gafsa / Biro” ( HMNH). The syntype (-s) from “ Marokko , Mogador ” not located. Syntype ♂ Platystoma idia : Morocco: Middle Atlas , Rabat province: “MUSEUM PARIS / MAROC / Forét des Zaers / Aïn Sferguila / R. Benoist 1928”, “ 20 MAI 1928 ”, “143”, “ Platystoma / idia Séguy / TYPE..♂.” ( MNHNP). Non-type material: Morocco: Rif region: Aïn El Âakba Larbaâ , 19.vii.2020, 18♂♂, 4♀♀ (2♂♂, 2♀♀, pinned, 18 preserved in alcohol) (swept from human feces), 18.vi.2021, 2♂♂, 18♀♀ (pinned), 02.vii.2021, 9♂♂, 5♀♀ (pinned; genitalia of six specimens dissected), 03.vii.2022, 6♂♂, 1♀ (swept from animal feces); Middle Atlas, Tamegnoute , 25.v.2022, 1♂, 1♀ (sweeping); Anti-Atlas: Route Bab Khemis , 14.v.2015, 1♀, sweeping (El Harym) ( LESCB).

Redescription. Head ( Figs. 2b, c ; Figs. 3d, e ; Fig. 4g ): Colour and vestiture: Head mostly brown to dark brown with yellow and black areas. Frons mostly microtrichose laterally, around ocellar triangle, at orbits, around bases of black orbital setae, the base of shining black dots without microtrichia. Ocellar triangle blackish, inconspicuously microtrichose. Lunule yellow, with whitish setulae and whitish median line of microtrichia. Antenna: Yellowish; densely microtrichose; pedicel yellowish; first flagellomere mostly yellow to orange with blackish areas dorsolaterally. Face: mostly blackish by a black band under antenna and with whitish microtrichose band below pedicel, ventral margin reddish brown. Clypeus shiny black with either microtrichose spots on corners or narrow microtrichose band ventrally. Palpus dark brown to black, with dark brown base, with blackish setulae and with densely white microtrichia apically. Chaetotax y: One pair of orbital setae and one pair of postocellar setae present. Lunule setulose. Postgena with long pale brown setulae. Occiput bare. Ratios: Height/Width: Head: 1.16–1.47; frons anterior: 1.14–1.37; frons posterior: 1.18–1.43; ocellar triangle/frons: 0.25–0.33; Eye: 1.73–1.83; 1 st flagellomere: 1.31–1.87; gena/eye: 0.20–0.22; parafacial/gena: 0.24–0.30; medial vertical/ lateral vertical: 1.01– 1.16; orbital/medial vertical: 0.37–0.44; ocellar/medial vertical: 0.18–0.24; ocellar/ocellar triangle: 0.47–0.66; postocellar/medial vertical: 0.22–0.24.

Thorax: Colour and vestiture: Greyish-black, with dense grey microtrichia. Scutum irregularly microtrichose. Postpronotal lobe black. Posterior corner of postpronotal lobe and median articulation of anepisternum and katepisternum, shiny yellowish. Scutellum microtrichose, with small dark brown spots around setae bases. Subscutellum mostly shiny dark brown, sometimes with small reddish-brown area medially, and with fine greyish microtrichia. Mediotergite reddish-brown, medially shiny and laterally with dense silvery-white microtrichia. Anepisternum, except anteriorly, with homogenous reticulate pattern of microtrichia. Katepisternum mostly shiny reddish to dark brown, with microtrichia on dorsal and posterior margins. Chaetotaxy: 1 postpronotal seta and with additional short dark setulae; 1 presutural supra-alar seta; 1 postsutural supra-alar seta; Anepisternum except anteriorly, with homogenous reticulate pattern of microtrichia. Katepisternum shiny black, and short dark setulose, and with several long yellowish setulae ventrally. Ratios: Scutum: 0.87–1.06; presutural supra-alar/intra-alar: 0.92– 0.97; postsutural supra-alar/intra-alar: 0.75–1.17; postalar/intra-alar: 0.78–1.21.

Legs: Colour and vestiture: Leg yellowish to dark brown. Coxae: fore coxae yellow to brown with fine microtrichia dorsally; femora black, inconspicuously microtrichose; tarsi: fore tarsi dark brown with golden yellowish setulae ventrally, mid and hind tarsi are whitish-yellow with slightly dark brown proximally. Chaetotaxy: Coxae anterodorsally setulose; trochanters with mixed yellowish white and dark brown setulae; femora dark brown to blackish setulose, fore-femur with short setulae and mid- and hind-femora mostly short setulose, with long white setulae posterodistally and ventrally; fore-basitarsus with yellowish setulae ventrally, hind-basitarsus and their 2nd tarsomere with yellowish setulae ventrally.

Wing: ( Figs. 2 : e, f; Fig: 3f; Fig: 4h): Pattern: Generally grey to pale brown, uniformly reticulate with small hyaline spots and with isolated spots and discrete transverse series of spots as follows: two dark bands extending from pterostigma to vein R 4+5, 1 band from distal edge of pterostigma, aligned transversally with vein R 4+5, 1 band extending from cell r 2+3 distal edge, beyond level of vein R 4+5; 1 band over apex of cells r 2+3 and r 4+5. Costal cell hyaline with 4–5 dark spots. Venation: Veins and basal sclerites mostly dark brown, with partially yellowish costa and brown humeral vein. Vein M ends anterior to wing tip. Calypters subequal; dorsal calypter with yellowish margins and with mixed long white and short pale brown fringes. Halter base orange, stem yellowish-white, knob basally brown and apically yellowish-white. Chaetotaxy: Base of costa near costagial break with ventral seta. Ratios: Wing: 2.59–2.91.

Abdomen. ( Fig. 2g ; Figs. 4a–f ): Structure: Male T4 about as long as T3, the combined tergites T3+T4 are almost 0.15 times as long as T5. Female T4 almost twice as long as T3 and as long as T5. Colour and vestiture: Abdomen almost completely shiny black, with slight microtrichia.

Male terminalia ( Fig. 5a–c ): Epandrium as broad as Platystoma dimidiatum in Bodner and Freidberg 2016; ventral concavity wide and superficial; subepandrial sclerite laterally enclosed by epandrium; apex of lateral surstylus curved ventrally with a rounded hook-like apex; medial surstylus rectangular, distinguishable (visible in ventral view), cerci conspicuously elongated as those of P. dimidiatum . Terminal filaments of acrophallus ending with two inequal apical dilations and conspicuously longer than the stipe of the phallus, which is unequally thickened along whole length, the thicker longer filament 1.6–1.7 times as long as thinner and shorter filament, the shorter filament almost equal to the length of distiphallus.

Female terminalia ( Figs. 5d–e ): spermathecae with extremely dilated atriums of the spermathecal ducts and relatively small sclerotised spermatheca itself.

Ratios: Male: T3/T4: 0.82–1.15; T4/T5: 0.12–0.31; T3+T4/T5: 0.27–0.61; epandrium: 0.78–0.86; preglans: 1.15–1.34; glans: 3.40–3.86; preglans/glans: 0.26–0.28; acrophallus/ preglans+glans: 10.22–11.19; distiphallus/ preglans+glans: 6.47–6.85. Female: T3/T4: 0.58–0.73; T4/T5: 1.02–1.38; T3+T4/T5: 1.63–2.28. Aculeus: 6.25– 6.95; cercal unit 2.17; cercal unit/aculeus: 0.18–0.26.

Male genitalia as on Figs 5a–c ; the glans with two long and wide filaments ( Fig. 5c ).

Female genitalia as on Figs 5d–e ; ( Fig. 5e ).

Measurements (mm): Body length: 5.25–7.86; wing length: 3.76–5.71.

Habitat. The species was collected from Rif occidental in an area with the pine ( Pinus halepensis ) forestation accompanied by several shrub species: Cistus laurifolius , C. monspiliensis , C. crisus , C. salvifolius , Erica aroborea , Pistacia lentiscus , Myrtus communis , and Lavandula stoechas . Adult flies are attracted to dung ( Fig. 4l ). Adult activity in Morocco: May to September.

Distribution. Tunisia, Morocco (Rabat: Western Meseta, Zaers forest, Aïn Sferguila; Rif Region and Anti Atlas (new records).

Notes. The syntypes of both Platystoma meridionale and P. idia are very similar in their body colouration and vestiture, size of the male tergite 5 and reddish-yellow colouration and shape with the differences restricted to the presence of small grey dots within slightly larger hyaline spots in the P. meridionale type specimen. Otherwise, the examined type specimens show no essential differences, which do not exceed intraspecific variability. The non-type specimens have the fore femur and fore tibia widely black dorsally and yellow ventrally, whereas in the types they are almost entirely yellow. Hendel (1913: 107) also noted that the tibiae are brown ventrally; in the series of specimens from Rif and Anti-Atlas colouration of femora and tibiae is variable from mostly black dorsally ( Figs 3h–j ) to widely brownish-yellow, but always with darkened parts.

Male and female genitalia of Platystoma meridionale are as in Fig. 4 : the glans with two filaments ended with two inequal apical dilations and conspicuously longer than the stipe of the phallus ( Fig. 4c ); spermathecae with extremely dilated atriums of the spermathecal ducts and relatively small sclerotised spermatheca itself ( Fig. 4e ), which conspicuously differ from the phalli and spermathecae described for the Platystoma species occurring in the Eastern Mediterranean region ( Bodner & Freidberg 2016).

The genus Platystoma needs a detailed taxonomic revision, especially in the Western Mediterranean region, where numerous nominal species remain poorly described and non-illustrated and apparently include more junior synonyms, on one side, and undescribed species, on another side.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Platystoma meridionale lectotype ♂ (HMNH): a—habitus, lateral right view; b, c—head (b—lateral right, c— anterior view); d—mesonotum, dorsal view; e, f—wing (e—left, f—right); g—abdomen, dorsal view; h—labels. Scale bar unavailable. Photos by Valery Korneyev (except e—from Hendel 1913).

FIGURE 3. Platystoma meridionale lectotype ♂ Platystoma idia (MNHNP): a—habitus, lateral left view; b, c—head (b— lateral right, c—anterior view); d—mesonotum, dorsal view; e, f—wing (e—left, f—right); g—abdomen, dorsal view; h— labels. Scale bar unavailable. Photos by Emmanuel Delfosse.

FIGURE 4. Platystoma meridionale ♂ (a–c) and ♀ (d–g) from Rif and Middle Atlas, Morocco (HMNH): a–b, d–f—habitus, c—abdomen (a, d—lateral left, b, e—dorsal, c, f—ventral view); g—head (anterior view) h—wing i–k—fore, mid and hind legs, respectively; l—flies on animal faeces. Scale bar unavailable. Photos by Younes El Harym.

FIGURE 5. Platystoma meridionale ♂ (a–c) and ♀ (d–e) from Rif and Middle Atlas, Morocco (HMNH), genitalia: a— epandrium and hypandrium, right lateral view; b—ejaculatory apodeme, c—phallus (detached); d—aculeus (ventral view); e—spermathecae. Scale bar unavailable. Photos by Younes El Harym.