Meomyia sericans ( Macquart, 1850 )

Li, Xuankun & Yeates, David K., 2020, Revision of the Australian bee fly genus Meomyia Evenhuis, 1983, with description of three new species (Bombyliidae, Bombyliinae, Bombyliini), Zootaxa 4810 (2), pp. 201-243 : 229-233

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4810.2.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B55A484B-64D6-401D-B995-10A31620B13C
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4331953
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EBCE66-FFE3-C140-A7DA-FA8DFDFFFABE
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Meomyia sericans ( Macquart, 1850 )
status

Treatment

8. Meomyia sericans ( Macquart, 1850) View in CoL

( Figs 18–20 View FIGURE 18 View FIGURE 19 View FIGURE 20 , 27 View FIGURE 27 ab)

Bombylius sericans Macquart, 1850: 420 View in CoL (116). Type-locality: “ Nouvelle-Hollande, côte orientale” [= eastern Australia]; 1 Syntype, MNHN; 1 Syntype, NHMUK.

Systoechus pausarius Jaennicke, 1867: 348 View in CoL [1868: 40]. Type-locality: “ Australia ”; Holotype, SMFD.

Type specimens. ♀ Syntype of Bombylius sericans Macquart, 1850 ( NHMUK 010921902 View Materials ) . ♀ Syntype of Bombylius sericans Macquart, 1850 ( MNHN ED9259 View Materials ) .

Other specimens examined. Australia, Vic., ♂ (18), 36°29’58”S 141°59’54”E, Little Desert National Park , Eastern Block , Pomponderoo Hill , 5.7km, SW of Dimboola, 21 Nov 2002, net, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♂ 36°30’57”S 141°58’52”E, Little Desert National Park , Eastern Block , One Tree Hill, handnet, 21 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♂ 36°29’14”S 141°46’59”E, Trig Point Walk, Little Desert Na- tional Park, 20km SE Nhill, handnet, 21 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♀ (5), 36°29’32”S 141°01’10”E, Little Desert National Park , Western Block , Mount Moffat Track , 60km WSW Nhill, 19-22 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♀ (2), 36°31’39”S 141°55’01”E, Little Desert National Park , Eastern Block , McCabes Hut Track, 12.6km SW Dimboola, 16-22 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♂ (1) ♀ (1), 36°29’30”S 141°01’09”E, Little Desert National Park , Western Block , Mount Moffat Track , 60.7km WSW Nhill, 15-19 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♀ 34°50’30”S 141°01’40”E, Mur- ray Sunset Natl Park, Milewa South Bore Track , 31.1km S Shearers Quarters, malaise, 14-23 Nov 2002, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♂ 36°29’58”S 141°59’54”E, Little Desert National Park , Eastern Block , Pompon- deroo Hill, 5.7km, SW of Dimboola, 20 Nov 2002, net, C Lambkin, D Yeates, N Starick, J Recsei. ♀ 35°31’03”S 141°18’56”E, Big Desert, Big Billy, 7-19 Nov 1997, M Neave, M Powell. ♂ (1) ♀ (1), Lake Hattah , 3 Sep 1966, G Anderson. ♂ Lake Powell , WJ Groeu, 7 Sep 1967. WA, ♂ (4) ♀ (1), 33°14’42”S 119°44’9”E, 20k SbE Lake King Pallarup NR, 25 Oct 2016, D Yeates, X Li, J Lumbers A Landford. ♂ 30°00’52”S 115°52’31”E, Pinjarrega NR, Coorow-Green Head Rd, 20 Oct 2016, D Yeates, X Li, J Lumbers A Landford. ♀ 29°50’9”S 116°56’45”E, 47k NE Wubin, Jibberding, White Wells RA, 18 Oct 2016, D Yeates, X Li, J Lumbers A Landford. ♂ Wurarga, 3 Sep 1984, K & E Carnaby. ♂ Eradu, 8 Sep 1926, EW Ferguson. ♂ Kojarena, 6 Sep 1926, EW Ferguson. ♀ (2), Sand plains, Dumbleyung, Sep 1938, EH Kipps. ♀ 2 ml. W. of Boondi, 22 Sep 1952, McIntosh & Calaby. ♂ Buniche. ♀ Hoff- man Mill GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis. Upper clypeal margin with some black hairs. Posterior margin of scutum with a black band. Wing membrane with some unconspicuous markings. Anterior margin of male epandrium strongly concave. Epiphallus of male gonocoxite short, not modified.

Redescription. Male. Body length 7.7–12.0 mm, wing length 8.0– 12.4 mm.

Head. Head about 1.7 x wider than long, mostly black with thick pale pruinescence and covered in white hairs and scales, and admixed with some black hairs. Eye holoptic. Frons long, 3.7 x length of ocellar tubercle, upper narrow and black, with long black hairs; lower half triangular, 0.7 x length of upper half, with thick pale pruinescence, and white scales admixed with some black hairs. Ocellar tubercle slightly raised, blackish brown to black with sparse pale pruinescence, with long black hairs. Face with thick pale pruinescence and mostly covered in long white hairs, except upper clypeal margin and dorsolateral area admixed with some black hairs. Gena with thick pale pruinescence and sparse white hairs. Clypeus with thick pale pruinescence and otherwise bare. Occiput with thick pale pruinescence and long white hairs, admixed with brownish yellow setae and black hairs. Posterior eye margin slightly concave. Antennal scape and pedicel brown with sparse pale pruinescence, scape with long black hairs, ventral half admixed with some white hairs, pedicel with short black hairs, ventral face admixed with short white hairs; flagellum black without pruinescence, bare. Scape 2.8 x as long as wide, and 3.2 x as long as pedicel, uniform from base to apex. Pedicel 0.9 x as long as wide. Flagellum 10.0 x as long as wide, 2.1 x as long as scape + pedicel, 2.8 x as long as scape, conical and slightly laterally compressed, one-segmented with apical stylus ( Fig. 19c View FIGURE 19 ). Palpus not extending beyond oral cavity, black with short black hairs, one-segmented, without palpal pit. Mouthparts slender, 4.8 x as long as eye length, 2.9 x as long as head length, labellum large and fleshy ( Fig. 19h View FIGURE 19 ).

Thorax. Integumental colour of scutum mostly black with sparse grey pruinescence. Scutum covered with white to black hairs, anterior half covered in dense white hairs, admixed with few black hairs; posterior half with pale yellow hairs admixed with some black hairs; posterior margin with a black band, consisting of black hairs; postalar callus with eight brownish yellow setae and admixed with dense black hairs. Ten brownish yellow notopleural setae present. Scutellum black with sparse pale pruinescence, pruinescence denser on the margin, covered with long white hairs, posterior margin with brownish yellow setae. Pleura black with thick pale pruinescence, mostly covered in long white hairs, except postpronotal lobe, proepisternum, proepimeron and anterodorsal area of anepisternum with yellow setae, anepimeron, meron, laterotergite and mediotergite bare.

Legs. Legs mostly dark yellow and covered in black scales, except posterior face of femora and tibia covered in white scales, ventral half of femora with long white and black hairs. Fore femur with one row of anterior bristles medially; mid femur with one row of anterior bristles; hind femur with one row of anteroventral bristles, and more separate bristles on apical half. Bristles and other hairs on legs brown. Fore tibia 2.0 x longer than fore basitarsus, mid tibia 2.4 x longer than mid basitarsus, hind tibia 2.3 x longer than hind basitarsus.

Wings. Wing membrane slightly infuscated, darker towards wing base, with some unconspicuous markings on base of R 4, apex of cell dm, base of crossvein m-cu, and apex of cell bm. Cell r 5 closed; cell br shorter than cell bm, crossvein r-m arising from base of cell dm; crossvein m-m 0.9 x as long as crossvein r-m; cell cua open ( Fig. 19d View FIGURE 19 ). Haltere stem blackish brown, knob brown.

Abdomen. Integumental colour of tergites black mostly with thick pale pruinescence. Tergite 1 with dense white hairs; tergite 2 with white hairs on anterior half, and dense black hairs on posterior half; tergites 3–4 with dense white hairs; tergites 5–7 with dense black hairs, except median with short white scales; tergite 8 with dense white hairs; posterior margin of tergites 1–6 with brownish yellow setae. Sternites black with thick pale pruinescence, sternites covered in white scales, and with brownish yellow setae on posterior margin. Genitalia. Epandrium anterior and posterior margins strongly concave ( Fig. 20d View FIGURE 20 ). Lateral margin of gonocoxite nearly straight ( Figs 20 View FIGURE 20 a–b); apex of epiphallus not bifid, short ( Fig. 20c View FIGURE 20 ).

Female. Body length 6.3–10.9 mm, wing length 6.6–11.3 mm. Very similar to male, except frons black with thick pale pruinescence, 3.9 x as wide as ocellar tubercle, frons with short white scales admixed with black setae ( Fig. 19k View FIGURE 19 ). Seven acanthophorite spines present on each side of tergite 9+10 ( Fig. 20g View FIGURE 20 ).

Remarks. Roberts (1928: 417) considered Bombylius penicillatus as a synonym of Bombylius albiceps , which was not followed by the catalog ( Evenhuis & Greathead, 1999). We examined the type specimen in MNHN and confirm it is a valid species. It matches the diagnostic characters with a series of specimens later collected from NSW. This species is redescribed and illustrated based on the specimens in ANIC.

Meomyia sericans can be easily distinguished from Meomyia albiceps by male fore tibiae without outer brush on apical half.

Distribution. Australia (Vic., WA).