Conops (Conops) aurantius Brunetti, 1925

Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2019, New conopid records from the Afrotropical Region (Diptera: Conopidae). Part 2: Conopinae excluding Physocephalini, Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 49 (2), pp. 277-349 : 312-313

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3592432
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7B8EEDDC-9D50-402C-B70A-77626E39D31D
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15813773
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/6804879E-FFC8-FFB1-FED5-FF4FFCC4FD1C
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Conops (Conops) aurantius Brunetti, 1925
status

Treatment

Conops (Conops) aurantius Brunetti, 1925 View in CoL

( Figs 61–66)

Syntype of Conops aurantius Brunetti, 1925 (examined): ♂ bearing following labels: (1) “ Syn- / type”; (2) “Estcourt / Natal”; (3) “Recd. in exch. / fr. / Dr. Hugh Scott / 1924.279”; (4) “ Conops / aurantius / Brun Type ♂ / Det. E. Brunetti 1924”; (5) “BMNH(E)# / 248979” ( NHML) .

Syntype of Conops aurantius Brunetti, 1925 (examined): ♀ bearing following labels: (1) “ Bulawayo / S. Rhodesia. / 21.12.1919 / Rhodesia / Museum”; (2) “Press. by / Imp. Bur. Ent. / 1924-306”; (3) “ Conops / aurantius / Brun Type ♀ / Det. E. Brunetti 1924”; (4) “BMNH(E)# / 248980” ( NHML) .

Material examined: Democratic Republic of Congo: 1♀, Katanga, Kasenga , iv.1931, H.J. Brédo, det. as C. aurantius by Kröber 1935 ( MRAC) . Malawi: 1♀, Salima, lake Malawi [13°45'S 34°29'E], 4.iii.2001, F. Koch ( ZMHB) GoogleMaps . Mozambique: 1♀, Sofala Province, 110 km NW Save , 7.xii.2003, J. Halada ( CULSP) . Namibia: 1♂, 100 km SW Rundu , 1.ii.1993, J. Gusenleitner ( PMHA) ; 1♀, 125 km SW Rundu , 16.i.1993, M. Schwarz ( PMHA) ; 1♂, 40 km E Rundu , 21.i.1993, M. Schwarz ( PMHA) . South Africa: 1♀, “ South Africa ”, no date, collector unknown, det. as C. aurantius by Kröber 1938 ( NHML NHMUK013644287 About NHMUK ) ; 1♂, “Umgebung Pretoria, Mamagaties Kraal” [North-West Province, Brits, Mamagalieskraal ], 2.ii.1926, Lingnau, det. as C. aurantius by Kröber 1939 ( SDEI) . Uganda: 2♂, Terr. de Ruyigi , v.1956, F.J. François ( ISNB) . Zimbabwe: 1♂, Umtali District , 19.xi.1931, P.A. Sheppard, det. as C. aurantius by Camras 1962 ( NHML NHMUK013644286 About NHMUK ) .

Remarks: C. aurantius typically has a bright yellow wing base due to light yellow veins, but this character is variable and specimens with almost uniformly brown wing veins also occur (as, for example, in the male syntype). The abdomen is typically orange but may have some black spots ( Fig. 62) although this may just be a preparation artefact. Contrary to Stuke (2017) all three specimens mentioned in the original description should be interpreted as syntypes.