Euscelidia rapax Westwood, 1850

Dikow, Torsten, 2003, Revision of the genus Euscelidia Westwood, 1850 (Diptera: Asilidae: Leptogastrinae), African Invertebrates 44 (2), pp. 1-131 : 53-54

Euscelidia rapax Westwood, 1850 ( E. datis species-group)

Figs 27D–F, H

Euscelidia rapax Westwood, 1850: 232 ; Hermann 1926: 147; Engel & Cuthbertson 1934: 36; Cuthbertson 1939: 136; Oldroyd 1939: 28; Janssens 1953: 5; Lindner 1955: 28; Hull 1962: 305; Oldroyd 1980: 357.

Redescription: Head: Black; fc yellow pruinose, fc gib distinct, mystax yellow, many macrosetae, nearly as long as prob; oc tr apruinose; occ silver pruinose, setae yellow; Antennae (ped and pped broken) - scp brown, yellow setae ventrally; Thorax: Black; sct black, 2 orange spots antero-laterally, predominantly apruinose, margins white pruinose, yellow setae on anterior, lateral, and posterior margins, leaving dorsal surface nearly uncovered; sctl white pruinose, ds sctl s and sctl s long, yellow; Legs - red-orange to brown; pro and meso fem light brown, meso fem with brown ring medially, meta fem pale yellow proximally, brown medially, orange distad, clubbed, club densely covered with long, erect yellow setae; pro and meso tib brown, yellow stripe anteriorly, meta tib orange to light brown, yellow stripe not reaching tip anteriorly; emp distinct, very short; Wings - densely covered with microtrichia, brown coloured; ptero indistinct, brown; cell d terminating in 2 veins; hlt light brown; Abdomen: Brown; T on anterior and posterior margins orange, grey pruinose, setae yellow, T1 with long yellow setae, T 2 in proximal half with yellow setae laterally; ơ terminalia Figs 27D–F, H - sur bent inwards distally; hypd proximally greatly enlarged, with rectangular membranous area ventrally; d aed shea long, tip broken, lat apod bifurcated.

Type material - The ơ lectotype, here designated to preserve stability and make more universal the use of this name, is labelled ‘ Euscelidia rapax Westw Trans Ent Soc Vol 5 pl 23 Afr. trop?. (handwritten) / W / WESTWOOD’S TYPE OF Euscelidia rapax Tr Ent soc Vol V p232 MS. (1902) by J. W. Yerbury (species name and literature citation handwritten) / Asil. 1. (handwritten) / TYPE Dip.: 152 Euscelidia rapax Westwood Hope Dept. Oxford (species name and type no. handwritten) / LECTOTYPE Euscelidia rapax Westwood, 1850 by T. Dikow 2001 (red label)’. The specimen is double mounted (minuten in rectangular piece of cardboard), is in good condition (left pro leg broken, abdomen broken, but attached to piece of cardboard), and is deposited in the OXUM.

Type locality and distribution: ‘Africa tropicali?’, no exact locality, distribution uncertain. Remarks: No additional specimens of this species have been examined. The tip of the dorsal aedeagal sheath is apparently broken in the lectotype. The ơ terminalia of all other species in the species-group, however, cannot be related to the terminalia found in rapax .

Figures

Fig. 27. ơ terminalia. A–C, G. Euscelidia artaphernes. A. Dorsal. B. Ventral. C. Lateral. G. Aedeagus lateral. D–F, H. E. rapax. D. Dorsal. E. Ventral. F. Lateral. H. Aedeagus lateral (tip broken and shape unknown; aed apod not illustrated). Scale line = 1 mm.