Katara connexa, 2019

Vujić, Ante, Ståhls, Gunilla & Radenković, Snežana, 2019, Hidden European diversity: a new monotypic hoverfly genus (Diptera: Syrphidae: Eristalinae: Rhingiini), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 185, pp. 1188-1211 : 1198-1200

KATARA CONNEXA VUJIĆ & RADENKOVIĆ SP. NOV.

Type-material: Holotype, ♂, GREECE; Pindos Mountains , Kampos Despoti, 39.8028N 21.2721E, 1470.5 m.a.s.l., 15.v.2011, A. Vujić ( MZH; http:// id.luomus.fi/GJ.2035).

Paratypes, GREECE: 1 ♂, Pindos Mountains , Kampos Despoti, 39.8028N 21.2721E, 1470.5 m., 20.v.1997, (S. Radenković) ( FSUNS) ; 2 ♀, (S. Šimić ), 15.v.2011 , 11 ♂, 7 ♀ (A. Vujić) ( FSUNS) ; 3 ♂, Katara Pass , 39.7968N, 21.2292E, 1717 m, 26.v.2012, (A. Vujić) ( FSUNS) .

Size (n = 16 ♂, 9 ♀): body length 8.8–9.1 mm, wing length: 7.3–7.5 mm.

Diagnosis: Shiny, black species with broad, oval abdomen ( Fig. 9).

Description of male: Head ( Fig. 4A–D). Antenna ( Fig. 4 C) dark brown with gray pollinosity. Basoflagellomere small, rounded, 0.85 times longer than wide. Arista inserted dorsally at the basal 1/3 of basoflagellomere, thickened in basal 1/2, about as long as antenna (1.2 times longer). Antennal pits almost separated by a cuticular extension of the face ( Fig. 4B). Lunula wide (0.54 times width of frons), with an almost straight posterior margin except for a notch medially. Eyes bare, separated ( Fig. 4D). Frons broad (0.4 times width of head), with transverse rugosity on lateral parts and with very rough punctuation; partly pollinose (in front of ocellar triangle and along eye margins, but lacking on rugose areas) ( Fig. 4D). Most of the vertex non-pollinose, except on posterior part. Occiput entirely gray pollinose. Ocellar triangle equilateral ( Fig. 4D). In contrast to the black colour of the whole head, there is a light brown narrow line dorsally along eye margin. Face below antennae concave, with well-developed facial tubercle and parafacia ( Fig. 4A); gray pollinose, except for shiny lateral stripes in lower parts ( Fig. 9). Long hairs on parafacia; lower part of face and mouth edge are mainly pale, as for postcranium, whereas pilosity of the frons, vertex and occiput is mainly black.

Thorax ( Fig. 5A, C). Mesonotum shiny, with fine punctuation, except for three gray pollinose longitudinal stripes (two wider lateral stripes and one narrow central) reaching the level of the transverse suture ( Fig. 5C). Hairs on mesonotum long ( Fig. 5A) and predominantly black, with some intermingled light yellow ones; without strong bristles. Pleurae gray pollinose, with posterior anepisternum and anterior anepimeron covered with black hairs, katepisternum with pale hairs; dorsal and ventral hair patches on katepisternum widely separated; the following areas lack hairs: anterior anepisternum, proepimeron, katepimeron, posterior anepimeron, meron and katatergum. Metasternum bare. Median postnotal sclerite of mesonotum gray pollinose except for shiny triangular area extending from central part to posterior margin. Wing brown hyaline, with black veins; completely covered with dense and strong microtrichia. Alula very narrow ( Fig. 8A:x); vein R 4 + 5 meets costal vein before apex of wing ( Fig. 8A:y); upper outer cross-vein (M1) joins vein R 4 + 5 at an angle of 80° ( Fig. 8A:M1). Calypter yellow, with some black marginal hairs. Halter pale-brownish. Legs black, except for pale apex of femora and basal 1/2-1/3 of pro- and mesotibiae, and basal 1/3-1/4 of metatibia. Hairs on legs a mix of black and light yellow (pale hairs predominantly on anterior part of pro- femur and tibia, basal 1/4 of mesofemur, posteriorly on metafemur, ventral part of meso- and meta- tibiae, and on all tarsi).

Abdomen ( Fig. 5E) broad and oval; clearly broader than thorax at the level of posterior margin of tergite 2. Tergites and sternites shiny black, except for dull gray pollinose zones on tergites 1–3 (almost whole of tergite 1, central area on tergite 2 in the form of an inverted trapezoid ending slightly before posterior margin, and a small triangular area antero-medially on tergite 3) ( Fig. 5E); punctuation on tergites fine as on mesonotum. Abdominal hairs erect (except adpressed hairs on dull areas of tergites 1 and 2), predominantly pale, except for some black hairs on posterior 1/2 of tergites 3 and 4 and on pregenital segments; pale-haired parts can have a few intermingled black hairs.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 6): hypandrium elongated, especially distally extended ( Fig. 6A); gonostylus plate-like, with developed ctenidium ( Fig. 6D); distiphallus dentate, in the form of an angulated tubus ( Fig. 6C:a); spermal pump bifurcated ( Fig. 6C:e); ejaculatory apodeme small, in the shape of a narrow spatula ( Fig. 6C:f); surstyli elongated ( Fig. 6A, B); minis fused, only slightly divided apically and concave ventrally ( Fig. 6B:g).

Description of female: Very similar to male, except for the following characters: basoflagellomere and arista reddish-brown, except for dark apical part of arista; frons slightly broader (0.42 times width of head), less pollinose in central part ( Fig. 4E), covered with shorter pale hairs; hairs on thorax predominantly pale; mesoscutum with shorter hairs ( Fig. 5B), less pollinose (only two short, narrow longitudinal stripes present) ( Fig. 5D); legs predominantly pale-haired; apex of femora and basal and distal parts of tibiae paler; tergites with smaller pollinose areas (tergite 3 without pollinosity) ( Fig. 5F); abdominal hairs predominantly pale, except for a few black hairs on the last segments.

Etymology: The new species is named according to the Latin word ‘ connexa ’ indicating the connection of the taxon to the other taxa of the tribe based on its characters. It is the participle of the verb ‘ connecto ’ in the nominative singular and agrees in feminine gender with the corresponding genus name.

Distribution: The specimens of Kataria connexa sp. nov. were collected at 1300–1700 m altitude in the Pindos Mountains of Central Greece. This area belongs to the Oro-Mediterranean mountain biome that is rich in pre-glacial habitats and many pre-glacial relict plant and animal taxa. The species Cheilosia katara Claussen et Vujić, 1993 , an endemic (relict) species occurring only at Pindos, was described by Claussen &Vujić (1993) from the same locality ( Katara Pass, 1300 m). These taxa are only known from relict coniferous forests with Pinus heldreichii H. Christ and Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold subsp. pallasiana (Lamb.) Holmboe.