Urophora iani Korneyev & Merz 1998

(Figs. 19–24)

Korneyev & Merz 1998: 350.

Material examined: Type material. Holotype (female): Kazakhstan: Moyunkum desert W of Lugovaya, ex Cousinia mollis, collected: 01.v.1994, emerged: 28.v.1994, Korneyev & Merz (SIZK). Paratypes: 2♂, 3♀, same collection data as holotype, except emerged: 12–29.v.1994 (SIZK and SMNC).

Diagnosis. A comparatively small fly, with strongly reduced wing pattern and yellow femora, similar to U. bakhtiari (in size, aculeus tip with two pairs of indistinct preapical steps, and host plant of the genus Cousinia), differing by the conspicuously shorter aculeus (AL= 2.1 mm vs. 3.2 mm, and AL/WL=0.6 vs. 0.8). This species also strongly resembles U. xanthippe in body and aculeus size, and hyaline wing, differing only in having aculeus tip with two pairs of indistinct steps (in U. xanthippe one pair of strong proximal steps and one pair of very indistinct distal steps).

Redescription. Head. Length: height: width ratio = 1: 1.14: 1.43. First flagellomere, 2 times as long as wide. Compound eye 1.25 times as high as long. Gena 0.7 times as high as length of first flagellomere (Fig. 24). Legs. Completely yellow, Wing. Entirely hyaline, in some specimens with indistinct smoky spots around crossveins r-m and dm-cu. Distance between crossveins 1.45 times as long as crossvein dm-cu. Terminalia. Aculeus apex with with two pairs of indistinct steps (Figs. 22–23). Tergite 5 of males as long as two preceding tergites.

Measurements. ♀: BL = 5.2–6.0mm (average 5.5), WL = 3.3–3.7mm (average 3.49), AL = 1.9–2.2 mm (average 2.1), AL/WL = 0.54–0.64 (average 0.6) (n = 7) (Korneyev & Merz 1998).

Host plant. Cousinia mollis Schrenk (Korneyev & Merz 1998) .

Distribution. Southeastern Kazakhstan (Korneyev & Merz 1998).