Ommatius (Pygommatius) magnipes, Scarbrough & Marascia, 2003

Scarbrough, Aubrey G. & Marascia, Claudio G., 2003, Revision of Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae). IV. Pygommatius subgen. nov. with twenty-five Afrotropical species, Zootaxa 228 (1), pp. 1-94 : 44-46

Ommatius (Pygommatius) magnipes , sp. n.

Figs. 15 , 165­172

Male. Mostly dark brown. Length, body 10.0­ 11.7 mm; wing 7.3­8.3 mm. Head: Dull yellow tomentose. Face mostly white setose, mystax with long, dense, drooping, white setae and 2­3 pencil­like bristles, sparse short setae dorsally; 4­6 brown bristles present; FHWR 1.0:5.0­1.0:5.3. Proboscis with narrow base yellow to brown­yellow. Antenna with scape and pedicel yellow to brown­yellow, mostly light yellow setose; pedicel with 2­3 brown setae; flagellum brown, short, obovate, widest basally. Ocellar tubercle with 2 setae as long as 3 antennal segments combined. Occiput with yellowish postocular bristles, longest dorsal bristle with apex just beyond margin of eye.

Thorax: Mesonotum mostly dark brown, postpronotum and postalar callus red; tomentum largely light brown dorsally, brownish gray to gray laterally and posteriorly; 2 paramedial stripes and 2 lateral spots brown; setae sparse and short, 4 lateral and 2 dorsocentral bristles present. Scutellum grayish tomentose with sparse setae and 2 scutellar marginal bristles. Pleuron brown anteriorly, anepimeron, meron, and katepisternite usually reddishyellow to yellow, metapleuron narrowly below halter and entire metacoxa yellow; gray tomentum and sparse yellowish setae present. Halter yellow.

Wing ( Fig. 15 ): Apical third and narrow posterior dense microtrichose. Cell m 1 with vein M 1 strongly angular basally. Apex of cell m 3 oblique, just beyond crossvein r­m.

Leg: Coxae yellow, narrow base of middle and hind coxae usually brown; fore coxa apically with 4­5 stout bristles. Femora mostly yellow, with brownish­yellow to brown as an anterodorsal streak on apical third. Fore femur ventrally with only short, thin setae; 1 posterodorsal, unusually long, brown bristle present, about half as long as fore femur. Middle femur slightly concave ventrally; row of 4 brown, closely spaced bristles anteriorly; basal third of middle femur with 2 short, brown, anteroventral bristles; apical two­thirds of middle femur with posteroventral row of 10­12 short, closely spaced, comb­like bristles, plus 2­3 longer, yellow bristles basally. Hind femur with unusually long bristles, mostly brown, about one­third as long as hind femur; 6 evenly spaced anteroventral bristles present, apical bristle short; 12­15 shorter, thinner posteroventral bristles present, those on basal half of femur yellow, those on apical half brown, most of latter one­fifth to onefourth as long as hind femur; HFWLR 1.0:6.1­6.8. Tibiae yellow, narrow posterior apex of hind tibia brown; fore tibia apically with a dense fringe of short white setae, especially laterally; row of 10­14 brown setae often present plus 3­4 closely spaced, long, brown bristles. Middle tibia laterally with similar row of closely spaced brown bristles, plus a row of 7, short, thick, light yellow to white bristles. Tarsi mostly yellow, narrow apices of basal 4 tarsomeres brownish, apical tarsomere mostly brown; fore tarsus anteriorly with 2 short, white bristles on each of the 4 tarsomeres and posteriorly with 4­5, long, thin, brown bristles; basal tarsomere of fore tarsus posteriorly with abundant short, white setae; hind tarsus dorsally with several, moderately long, erect, brown setae.

Abdomen: Largely brown with dull yellow tomentum and yellow vestiture; tergites 1­5 laterally with margins narrowly yellow; apical corners of tergite 6, entire lateral margins of tergites 7 and 8, apex of sternites 6 and 7 with abundant, yellow bristly setae. Sternites 3­5 with 6, 10, and 8 widely spaced, erect, white bristles, respectively.

Terminalia ( Figs. 165­169 ): Large, as long as segments 5­8 combined, foot­like. Epandrium 3 branched; median branch capitate laterally, bifid dorsally, much longer than dorsal and ventral branches. Hypandrium with dense, flat, tuft of long bristles in dry specimens, tuft spreads into a plume with KOH treatment.

Female. Differs from male as follows. Length, body 9.7­11.5 mm; wing 7.0­ 8.2 mm. Body: Unusually abundant, long and stout vestiture of male absent. Head: Face with 6­8 brown bristles; 2­3 dorsal postocular bristles per side of head brown; FHWR 1.0:4.9­ 1.0:5.1. Thorax: Brown tomentose stripes and spots more diffuse than in male. Katatergite with 2­3 brown bristles. Leg: Middle and hind coxae basally brown­yellow. Middle femur ventrally with only thin, yellow setae. Hind femur with all bristles shorter and thinner than in males, posteroventrally with fewer bristle or bristly setae; HFWLR 1.0:6.2­1.0:6.8. Apical fourth to third of hind tibia brown. Abdomen: Margins of tergites 1­3 or 1­5 narrowly yellow. Apical corner of sternites 5­8 with 1­2 long, brown bristles. Terminalia ( Figs. 170­ 172 ): Tergite 9 with deep emargination anteriorly, extremely short mediodorsally; 1 prominent bristle in anterior corner. Three spermathecae present, apical third unusually slender; duct prebasal and lateral.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. Holotype ♂, allotype ♀, CHAD: Kalamaloué C 4 C 3 / 25.ix.1973 / J. Gruvel ( MNHN) . Paratypes, CAMEROON: 4 ♂, 3 ♀, Bas. Chari / Reserve Kalamaloué / ii­iii.1973 / J. Gruvel ( MNHN) ; CHAD: 5 ♂, 3 F same data as holotype; 14 ♂, 15 ♀, Env. Fort­Lamy / 1970 / J. Gruvel ( MNHN) ; 1 ♀, 11.ii.1965 MANI 36 / Chari­ Baquirni Tchad / Coll. J. C. Hitchcock Jr ( USNM) . NIGERIA: 1 ♀, Zaria / Samaru / 24.vi.1968 / J. C. Deeming ( BMNH) .

Distribution. The species was captured during September through June in Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

Etymology. Latin, magnipes , for ‘large foot,’ referring to the large podiform male terminalia.

Remarks. In addition to the characters in the key, the yellowish scape and pedicel, yellow base of the proboscis, and mostly yellow tarsi distinguish O. magnipes . Mystax with abundant, long, white setae, yellow postocular bristles, the slightly concave ventral margin of the middle femur and its vestiture, the long, thin anteroventral bristles on the hind femur, fringe of short, white setae on the fore tibia and fore tarsus, stout bristles on sternites 3­5 further characterize the male. The shape of the spermathecae ( Fig. 170 ) and one unusually long bristle in the apical corner of sternite 8 ( Fig. 172 ) further characterize the female.

Figures

FIGURES 11­20. Right wing of male Ommatius (Pygommatius) spp. 11. O. imaginus, sp. n..; 12. O. limbus, sp. n..; 13. O. litoreus sp. n.; 14. O. lulua, sp. n.; 15. O. magnipes, sp. n.; 16. O. ornatipes Engel; 17. O. pectinus sp. n.; 18. O. porticus, sp. n.; 19. O. renudus, sp. n.; 20. O. strigiatus, sp. n.

FIGURES 165­172. Male terminalia of Ommatius magnipes, sp. n. 165­167. Lateral, dorsal and ventral views; 168. Gonostylus; 169. Aedeagus, lateral view. Female terminalia. 170. Spermatheca; 171. Genital fork; 172. Sternite 8, ventral view.