Thecophora freidbergi, Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2015

Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2015, New Conopid records from the Afrotropical Region (Diptera). Part 1: Paramyopa Kröber, Pseudoconops Camras, Stylogaster Macquart, Thecophora Rondani, and Zodion Latreille, Zootaxa 3963 (2), pp. 101-159 : 110-113

Thecophora freidbergi spec. nov.

( Figs 14–17 )

Type material. Holotype ♀: (1)107098. Kenya / Mt. Kenya / Castle Forest / 023′S 3719′E / 2080m, 12.ii.2011 / A. Freidberg; (2) Holotypus / Thecophora / freidbergi ♀ / spec. nov. / det. Stuke, 2014. Paratypes. KENYA: 1♀, 30.x.1983, Equator, leg. A. Freidberg, coll. TAUI; 1♀, 8.xii.1989, Abardere, 2600–3000 m, leg. A. Freidberg & F. Kaplan, coll. TAUI. Both paratypes have been identified as Thecophora nigrivena by Camras (2000).

Holotype is deposited in the TAUI. Abdomen dissected, macerated and stored in glycerine in a microvial pinned beneath the specimen. The holotype is otherwise in perfect condition.

Description of holotype (female). Body length 3.6 mm. Wing-length 3.3 mm. Head-height 0.9 mm. Head. Antenna black with some black-brown areas at inner side. Arista of 1 dark brown aristomere situated dorsally on basal flagellomere. Aristomere about as long as basal flagellomere, broad at base and becoming abruptly narrower in the apical 3/4. Scape slightly longer than broad, apically with a few bristles that are almost as long as scape. Pedicel about as long as maximum width, completely covered with short black setae. Basal flagellomere slightly longer than high, and about as long as pedicel. Ocellar tubercle with three distinct blackish brown ocelli. Ocellar triangle evident, slightly less than 1/2 of frons length. Frons black in basal half and brownish orange apically. Obvious silver dusting laterally at eye margin and an indistinct more-or-less v-shaped golden patch in front of ocellar triangle. Black hairs all over frons which might represent frontal and orbital setae. Face orange brown. Face slightly silver dusted, facial grooves shining. Gena and facial ridge with scattered black hairs. Postcranium completely black. Adjacent to ventral posterior margin of eye there is a stripe of dense silver dusting, postgena slightly silver dusted, remaining postcranium slightly dusted. Postcranium with black hairs. No hairs on a small area adjacent to eye margin and the bottom portion of postcranium. Median ocipital sclerite with a few scattered black hairs. Proboscis black. No spot between frontoclypeal membrane and mouth edge. Frontoclypeal membrane narrow, widened basally, yellowish brown and distinctly seperated from the brown clypeus. Palps long (longer than scape) blackish brown, hardly widened distally, and covered with long black hairs. Labium obviously longer than head-length, projecting out of the mouth opening, hardly thickened basally, and anterior section not fused into a tube. Labellum as long as labium, divided only apically, slightly narrower than adjacent haustellum, and covered apically with scattered hairs. Head with distinct ocellar setae, postocellar setae, 1 distinct medial and at least 3 lateral postocular setae. Thorax. Thorax blackish brown, without any reflection. Thorax completely grey dusted. Obvious shining stripe reaching from middle coxa up to postpronotum and covering the anterior part of katepisternum and most of anepisternum. On posterior half of scutum there is a shining medial patch that ends anteriorly in three indistinct shining stripes. Basisternum narrow, narrowed to a point, with 2 black hairs apically. Proepisternum with 1 black hair ventrally and a few hairs dorsally. Scutellum covered with long black hairs and with 2 pairs of scutellar bristles, the lateral scutellar bristles distinctly smaller. Scutum with black hairs distinctly longer than tibia diameter. 1 postpronotal, 2 notopleural, 2 supraalar, 2–3 postalar bristles. The bristles are difficult to pick out amongst the long body pile. 2 black bristles posterodorsally and 1 bristle ventrally on katepisternum. Metakatepisternum without bristles. Anepisternum and anepimeron hairless and without bristles. Wing inconspiciously tinged brownish. Veins greyish black all over. Basal-medial-cubital-crossvein bm-cu incomplete. Vein A 1+CuA2 only just reaching hind margin of wing. Upper and lower calypters whitish brown, upper calypter with long white hairs on margin. Alula broad (about 2 times wider than long), with long hairs on posterior margin. Haltere yellowish white with a brown base. Hairs on knob of haltere not evident. Legs uniformly blackish brown. Legs slightly dusted to shining. Posterior surfaces of fore and middle tibiae without obvious dusted fields distally. Legs all with long, semiadpressed or erect black hairs. Hind femur anterodorsally and posterodorsally with single outstanding long hairs. 1 preapical bristle dorsally on tibiae. Tibiae basally on ventral surface lacking a distinct line of small thick adpressed black bristles. Fore and middle femora distally on ventral surface each with two more-orless distinct parallel lines of small thick black bristles. No such line on hind femur. Fore coxa lacking outstanding black bristle which is stronger than the surrounding scattered black hairs. Middle and hind coxae with some distinct strong lateral bristles that are about as long as diameter of hind tibia at base. Hind femur not obviously thickened in basal half. Pulvilli yellow-whitish. Claws brown with black tips. Empodium yellowish brown. Abdomen. Abdomen black, and covered with black hairs only. Tergites 1–5 slightly dusted, tergites 3–4 with indistinct grey bands of dusting on posterior margins. Maximum width of abdomen is at segments 2–3. Length: maximum width of tergite 2 = 0.8; length: maximum width of tergite 3 = 0.7. Sternites 3–4 protuding ventrally, the posterior parts of the sternites conspicious. Shape of theca as shown in Fig. 17 . Anterior surface of theca without hairs. Apical 1/3 of posterior surface of theca with 4 horizontal lines of close-set, short, blunt spicules. Sternite 6 almost completely covered with short, blunt spicules which are almost completely arranged in 7 horizontal lines. Sternite 7 longer than broad, rounded anteriorly. Area between sides of syntergite 8+9 completely lightly sclerotised, and without a distinct sternite 8. Sack-like ventral protrusion of vagina with an annular sclerotisation and not covered with bristles. No obvious sclerotisation at base of either the accessory glands or spermathecal ducts. A dorsal sclerotisation is evident on the sack-like ventral protrusion of vagina. 2 pairs of round spermathecae, spermathecal ducts fused shortly after leaving the spermathecae. Spermathecal ducts sclerotised at spermathecae.

Male unknown.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Amnon Freidberg (Jerusalem) who has to date collected the only known specimens of this distinctive species. Amnon Freidberg has contributed greatly to knowledge of the distribution of Conopidae in the Afrotropical Region through his enormous collecting activity in Africa.

Discussion. Thecophora freidbergi is a dark species with a broad theca. It can only be confused with Thecophora hyalipennis , from which it is differentiated by its completely blackish legs ( Fig. 14 ), dark base to its wing ( Fig. 15 ) and the obvious large shining area on the anepisternum which reaches up to the postpronotum ( Fig. 15 ).

Distribution. Thecophora freidbergi is known only from Kenya thus far.

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 17. Thecophora freidbergi spec. nov. (♀, holotype). 14. Lateral view of habitus. 15. Lateral view of thorax. 16. Lateral view of antennae. 17. Posterior view of theca.