Blepharella flavipicta Shima and Zhang, 2025

Shima, Hiroshi, Tachi, Takuji & Zhang, Wenxia, 2025, The genus Blepharella Macquart (Diptera: Tachinidae) from the Oriental Region, Journal of Natural History 59 (21 - 24), pp. 1647-1687 : 1650-1653

Blepharella flavipicta Shima and Zhang sp. n.

( Figure 1 )

Diagnosis

A medium-sized goniine tachinid, with yellowish pruinose face and thoracic dorsum and dark abdomen; antenna black in male, sometimes pedicel reddish marginally in female; palpus reddish yellow; occiput with a row of black setulae; lateral scutellar seta single; apical scutellar setae longer than scutellum, crossed horizontally; tibiae black; mid-tibia with 3–4 anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with a sparsely set row of anterodorsal setae, among them 2 stronger submedian setae present; male claws and pulvilli longer than 5th tarsomeres; abdomen without median discal setae on 3rd and 4th tergites; male with rather small sexual hair patches on venter of 4th tergite.

Description

Holotype male, CHINA / Sichuan, Yajiang / Shi, 2800–3100 23 August 1993. Lin [in Chinese characters] ( IZCAS) . Paratypes: 6 males, 23 females, same locality and date as holotype, S . Lin, H. Shima and A. Nakanishi ( BLKU, IZCAS, KIZ, KUM) .

Body length: 8.8–11.3 mm.

Male. Fronto-orbital plate, parafacial, lower margin of eye and postocular area with dense golden yellow pruinosity, face with pale yellowish pruinosity and genal dilation and occiput with dark greyish pruinosity; frontal vitta bright brown; antenna brown-black; palpus reddish yellow, weakly darkened basally. Vertex 0.25–0.27 of head width; frontal vitta about 1/2 of fronto-orbital plate; facial length in profile subequal to frontal length; face produced above vibrissal base by about 1/2 length of pedicel; parafacial about 1.5 times as wide as postpedicel at mid-height; gena 0.36–0.39 of eye height; occiput weakly bulged. Inner vertical seta about 3/5 of eye-height; outer vertical seta indistinct; 2 reclinate orbital setae, anterior seta slightly longer than posterior seta and about as long as inner vertical seta; 10–11 long frontal setae, lowest seta nearly level with upper 1/4 of postpedicel; fronto-orbital plate with rather dense and long hairs which do not descend below frontal setae; parafacial without setae; vibrissa inserted about 1/2 length of pedicel above level of lower margin of face; facial ridge with several strong setae above vibrissa extending about 1/4 of facial length; occiput with 1–2 rows of black setulae behind a row of postocular setae. Antenna falling short of lower margin of face by about length of pedicel; postpedicel 3.2–3.3 times as long as pedicel; arista thickened on basal 1/ 3, 2nd aristomere as long as wide. Palpus clavate, about as long as pedicel. Eye very sparsely short haired, distance between hairs at most 6 ommatidia.

Thorax black in ground colour, scutellum yellowish, with dense yellowish pruinosity on scutum and thin yellowish pruinosity on scutellum; pleura with thin greyish pruinosity. Prosternum with 2 fine hairs on each side; 4 postpronotal setae, 3 basal setae strong in a straight line; 2 discal scutellar setae as long as scutellum, between them 4 rather long suberect setae present; basal scutellar seta only slightly shorter than subapical scutellar seta and more than 2 times as long as scutellum; lateral scutellar seta single, 1.5 times as long as scutellum; apical scutellar seta slightly shorter than 1.5 times length of scutellum, crossed erectly; 3 katepisternal setae. Wing nearly hyaline; relative lengths of costal sectors 2nd, 3rd and 4th approximately 2:3.5:2; length of vein M 1 from crossvein dm-cu to bend subequal to that from bend and wing margin; crossvein dm-cu weakly concave, length of dm-cu about 1.25 times as long as last section of vein CuA 1. Legs black, pulvilli pale brownish; mid-tibia with 2–3 strong anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with a sparsely set row of anterodorsal setae, of which sub-basal and submedian setae stronger; claws and pulvilli longer than 5th tarsomere.

Abdomen shining black; dorsum with thin whitish pruinosity on anterior 1/3 of 3rd tergite, 1/2 of 4th tergite and narrow anterior margin of 5th tergite, a broad median vitta present; venter with thin whitish pruinosity on at most anterior 1/3 of 3rd and 4th tergites and on anterior 1/2 of 5th tergite. Hairs rather dense long and erect on dorsum; syntergite 1 + 2 with a pair of median marginal setae about 2/3 as long as 3rd tergite; 3rd tergite with two pairs of median marginal setae, inner pair shorter than outer ones, and outer pair about as long as 4th tergite; 5th tergite with regular rows of discal and marginal setae; median discal setae absent on 3rd and 4th tergites; ventrolateral side of 4th tergite with weak sexual hair patches of short and appressed hairs; 5th sternite with a small projection on inner ventromedian portion of posterior lobe.

Male terminalia. Sixth tergite separated into 2 small spherical hemitergites, without hairs; cerci in lateral view broad on basal area and narrowed on apical 1/3, evenly narrowed to weakly pointed apex, in dorsal view weakly narrowed from base to apex, weakly constricted near middle, apical 1/3 narrowly separated from each other; surstylus in lateral view nearly straight, evenly narrowed from base to apex, with dense and rather long hairs, shorter than cerci; dorsal arms of hypandrium rather long, fused with each other dorsally and narrowly separated on distal 1/2; pregonite rather long, with several hairs on posterior margin; epiphallus rather transparent on apical portion; distiphallus widely expanded on ventral portion in lateral view, with fine spinules.

Female. Mainly differing from male as follows: Antenna sometimes with scape and pedicel reddish yellow to brown especially on marginal area; vertex wide, 0.29–0.32 of head width; frontal vitta only weakly widened anteriorly, about 1/3 of frontal vitta at middle; outer vertical setae short but developed, at most 2/5 as long as inner vertical setae; 2 proclinate orbital setae, anterior seta about 1.5 times as long as posterior seta and 1.4 times as long as inner vertical seta; 5–8 frontal setae, lowest seta at level with apex of pedicel; gena about 0.33 of eye height; antenna with postpedicel about 2.5 times as long as pedicel; mid-tibia with 3–4 anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with 3 strong sub-basal to submedian setae among a regular and rather sparse row of anterodorsal setae; claws and pulvilli shorter than 5th tarsomeres; abdominal dorsum with thin whitish pruinosity on anterior 2/3 of 3rd tergite, anterior 3/4 of 4th tergite and lateral 1/2 of 5th tergite, mid dorsal longitudinal vitta rather narrow; 4th tergite without sexual hair patches; venter evenly with whitish pruinosity.

Female terminalia. Sixth tergite separated into 2 quadrate hemitergites, with many strong hairs on posterior 1/2, about as long as 6th sternite; 6th abdominal spiracle on anteroventral corner of 6th tergite, 7th spiracle on ventromedian portion of 6th tergite; 6th sternite narrowed posteroventrally, with many strong hairs on entire length; 7th tergite broadly separated into elongate hemitergite, with rather short hairs on posterior 1/4, shorter than 6th tergite; 7th sternite narrowed posteroventrally, apex weakly rounded, longer than 6th sternite, with many short hairs on posterior 1/2; 8th tergite reduced to short hemitergite, without hairs; epiproct absent.

Egg. Length: ca. 0.2 mm. Round in form and brown in colour; chorion with distinct quadrate or pentagonal structures on lower portion, irregular quadrate structures on median portion and still small circular structures on upper portion; aeropylar structure small, surrounded with many small rounded structures; median area well swollen in lateral view.

Host. Unknown.

Etymology

The specific epithet is taken from the characteristic yellowish thorax of this species, with the Latin adjective ‘ flavus ’ (yellow) plus ‘ pictus ’ (painted).

Distribution

China (Sichuan, Yajiang).

Remarks

This species and B. sichuana sp. n. are rather different from other members of Oriental and East Palearctic Blepharella in the wide gena and parafacial, the scutellum with several strong (but not spine-like) setae, strong apical scutellar setae and a single lateral scutellar seta. This species somewhat resembles Zenillia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 , but differs from it in the ocellar setae absent, 2 (male) or 3 (female) anterodorsal setae on the mid-tibia and very sparsely haired eyes.

Figures

Figure 1. Blepharella flavipicta Shima and Zhang sp. n. (A) Adult male in lateral view. (B) Same in dorsal view. (C) Adult female head in lateral view. (D) Epandrium, cerci and surstylus in lateral view. (E) Same in lateral view. (F) Same in dorsal view. (G) Hypandrium, pre- and postgonite, epiphallus and aedeagus in lateral view. (H). Same in lateral view. (I) Female terminalia in lateral view. (J) Same in ventral view. (K) Egg in dorsal view. (L) Same in lateral view. Scale bars: D–J = 0.2 mm; K, L = 0.1 mm. (a) epandrium. (b) cerci. (c) surstylus. (d) hypandrium. (e) dorsal arm of hypandrium. (f) pregonite. (g) postgonite. (h) basiphallus. (i) epiphallus. (j) distiphallus (k) 6th tergite. (l) 6th sternite. (m) 7th tergite. (n) 7th sternite. (o) 8th hemitergite. (p) 8th sternite. (q) cercus. (r) 6th sternite. (s) 7th sternite. (t) 8th hemitergite. (u) 8th sternite. (v) hypoproct. (w) cercus.