Protypusia, Gibbs, 2023

Gibbs, David, 2023, A world review of the bee fly tribe Usiini (Diptera, Bombyliidae) - Part 3: Parageron Paramonov s. lat., European Journal of Taxonomy 863 (1), pp. 1-162 : 50-52

Genus Protypusia gen. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:81E0DF81-93F3-4DEE-B7B0-526267A5087C

Type species

Usia incisa Wiedemann, 1830 .

Diagnosis

This large genus of 23 species is rather heterogeneous and no one character distinguishes them from the other genera in Parageron s. lat. However, they are diagnosable from a combination of characters,

especially in the male and female genitalia. Most are small, delicate species, although Pro. incisa is the largest of all the Parageron s. lat., with relatively small hypopygium that in many species can be partially retracted into abdomen and inconspicuous. The epiphallic complex is relatively simple, with the tip of the epiphallus in most species having a membranous tip armed with small spines (exceptions are Pro. flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov. and Pro. grisea ). In all cases the basal ejaculatory apodeme is relatively small (a feature shared with the very different Ectopusia gen. nov.) compared to Parageron and Parusia . Female genital fork usually well sclerotised, with the tip of the genital fork bent dorsally at 90° or even more. Vaginal plate usually well sclerotised, often contiguous with the genital fork, arms of genital fork sclerotised but usually uniformly narrow. Protypusia flavipalpis and Pro. vagans exhibit the least sclerotisation of the genital fork, but seem to belong here on a suite of other characters. Within Protypusia gen. nov., several species are clearly very close, and these have been separated out as the incisa species group, the remainder placed in the punctipennis species group.

Etymology

From the Greek ‘πρότυπο’ ‘ prótypo -’ meaning ‘standard’ and genus Usia . Chosen because these are the most familiar members of the “ Parageron ” lineage with the highest diversity.

Included species

Protypusia argentata gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia deserticola ( Efflatoun, 1945) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia dimonica ( Zaitzev, 1996) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia emeljanovi ( Zaitzev, 1975) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia grata (Loew, 1856) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia grisea ( Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia hyalipennis ( Séguy, 1941) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia incisa ( Wiedemann, 1830) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia inornata ( Engel, 1932) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia kerkini gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia modesta ( Loew, 1873) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia negevi ( Zaitzev, 1996) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia ornata ( Engel, 1932) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia punctipennis ( Loew, 1846) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia raydahensis (El-Hawagry & Al Dhafer, 2016) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia separata Gibbs & Theodor gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia striata ( Báez, 1982) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia strymonas gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia tewfiki ( Efflatoun, 1945) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia vagans ( Becker, 1906) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia xizangensis ( Yang & Yang, 1994) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia zimini ( Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov.

incisa – species group

Diagnosis

This small group of five species seems to be monophyletic, all with very similar male and female genitalia. Distinguished from all other Parageron s. lat. by the conspicuously long hairs on the frons in both sexes that extend down the gena below the level of the insertion of the antennae. That this closely related group of species includes both holoptic and dichoptic males suggests that this state can evolve rapidly and is not useful in these genera.

Included species

Protypusia argentata gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia grata (Loew, 1856) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia incisa ( Wiedemann, 1830) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia separata Gibbs & Theodor gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia striata ( Báez, 1982) gen. et comb. nov.