Pleurocerinella kirkspriggsi, Stuke, 2019

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 : 336-341

Pleurocerinella kirkspriggsi n. sp.

( Figs 114–124)

LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C87ACA97-EBA0-40B4-9F57-6198EE9D1E0A .

Etymology: This species is dedicated to Ashley H. Kirk-Spriggs (NHML), who collected part of the material of the new species, and who also provided a large amount of the Afrotropical Conopidae used in this study.

Diagnosis: P. kirkspriggsi is mentioned in Stuke (2009) as Pleurocerinella spec. 1 . With more material at hand the species can be clearly defined now. It is easily recognised as one of the Afrotropical Pleurocerinella species having a medially shining scutellum, basal radial cell br without microtrichia and legs partly black.All these species are included in Key 10 below. P. kirkspriggsi can be identified within this group by the lack of black ventral setae apically on hind femur ( Fig. 118), and in the male by the epandrium being broadly fused distal to cerci ( Fig. 120) and the distiphallus at its base with an obvious spine which is elongated, hardly sclerotized basally and black apically ( Fig. 121). The strongly sclerotised sack-like ventral protrusion of the vagina is diagnostic in the female ( Fig. 124).

Description: Male (holotype): Length about 7.0 mm. Wing length 3.9 mm. Head height 1.1 mm.

Head without obvious setae. Antenna black, first flagellomere basally brown. Arista stylus-like, with 2 short aristomeres situated at tip of first flagellomere ( Fig. 117). Both aristomeres minute, basal one shorter but extended ventrally. Apical aristomere with broad base and pointed apically. Scape about 2× longer than maximum width, apically with small black setae. Pedicel about as long as scape, apically distinctly widened and completely covered with black setae. First flagellomere long, about 5× as long as high, pointed, without a membranous area ventrally, without setae dorsally. Lunule between base of antennae and ptilinal suture not developed. Eyes brown, without ommatrichia, facets all of about the same size. Posterior margin of eye convex without an indentation. Genal height of head/eye height (measurements taken from head in lateral view) = 0.2. Ocellar tubercle and three ocelli distinct. No ocellar triangle evident. Frons slightly longer than broad, straight, not projecting above the eyes and lacking any grooves. Frons without setulae, in basal half silver dusted. Anterior margin of frons concave. Frons blackish brown, with narrow yellow anterior margin. No frontofacial spots. Vertex narrow, separated from frons by indistinct ridge. Vertex covered with isolated black setulae and without any grooves. Face completely yellow. Parafacial, antennal grooves, and gena obviously silver dusted. Parafacial with line of short to minute black setulae. Facial carina reaching from base of antennae to large frontoclypeal tubercle. Ptilinal suture not stretching beneath the antennal bases. Mouth opening tapering dorsally. Postcranium not obviously invaginated. Postcranium black. Adjacent to posterior margin of eye there is a distinct stripe of silver dusting in ventral half only. Postcranium with black setulae. No setulae on a small area adjacent to eye margin and bottom portion of postcranium. Postgena not widened and therefore not separated from occiput. Proboscis black. Frontoclypeal membrane minute, black brown, and easy to distinguish from clypeus. Small brown palp, with 5 setae apically. Labium shorter than head length, not thickened basally, not fused into a tube, and with black setulae. Labrum as long as labium. Labellum short, obviously broader than adjacent haustellum, and covered with black setae.

Thorax black and slightly silver dusted all over, with the exception of shining central scutum ( Fig. 116) and a shining patch on the katepisternum. Distinct dusting stripe reaching from middle coxa to notopleuron. Hind margin of postpronotum with distinct dusted patch. Presternum distinct, only slightly narrower than compound basisterna with which it is fused. Basisternum broad, not narrowed to tip, without setulae. Proepisternum without setae. Mediotergite convex, without setae, projecting distinctly over scutellum. Subscutellum inconspicuous. Scutellum small, no dorsal setulae visible, and with 2 pairs scutellar setae. Scutum with long black setulae. Setae cannot be distinguished from long black setulae on scutum. 1 long black seta posterodorsally on katepisternum, no seta ventrally on katepisternum. Metakatepisternum without setae. Anepisternum and anepimeron lacking both setae and setulae. Wing slightly tinged brownish all over, and mainly covered with microtrichia with these exceptions: basal medial cell bm completely without microtrichia, basal radial cell br basally without microtrichia, and radial cells r 1 and r 2+3 basally without microtrichia. Basal-medial-cubital-crossvein bm–cu incomplete. Veins R 1 and R 2 terminate close together in costa, well beyond end of subcosta. Vein R 4+5 with shallow and even curve in distal section directed towards wing tip. Radial cell r 4+5 pedunculate, with vein R 4+5 +M distinctly expressed and longer than r–m crossvein. Cubital cell cup elongated (distinctly longer than vein A 1 +CuA 2) and pointed distally (cubitus CuA 2 and anal vein A 1 meet at acute angle). Cubital veins CuA 1 and crossvein bm–cu distinctly separated. Upper and lower calypters yellowish white, upper calypter with long white setulae at margin. Alula broad (about 2× broader than long), without short setulae on posterior margin. No vena spuria evident. Haltere white, with light brown base. Base and stem of haltere each with areas of sensilla. Knob of haltere without isolated black setulae but with a few minute black setulae on stem. Legs yellowish brown and black. Fore and middle femur black basally. Fore and middle tibia with indistinct and incomplete subapical black ring. Hind femur almost completely black. Hind tibia black in apical two-thirds. Legs without dusting. Posterior surfaces of fore and middle tibiae without any dusted fields. Legs with black setulae and without any obvious setae. Areas with dense silver setulae ventrally at tip of fore tibia, and with dense brown setulae ventrally and posteriorly at tip of hind tibia. Basal half of middle femur posteriorly without row of regularly arranged, long black setulae. Coxae without outstanding setae. Pulvilli whitish yellow. Claws yellow with distinct black tips. Empodium whitish yellow.

Abdomen black and covered with long black setulae that are erect on tergites 2–3 and semiadpressed on tergites 4–5 and protandrium.Abdomen slightly grey dusted. Tergites 2–4 with a narrow denser silver dusted hind margin.Tergite 1 with obvious black setulae laterally on bulbous projections. Tergite 2 elongate and about twice as long as broad, lateral margins almost straight. Tergite 2 without obvious lateral tufts of setulae. Sternites 1–5 present, sternites 1 and 2 to some extent fused but still distinguishable. Tergite 5 and sternite 5 distinctly separated. Sternite 4 narrow, about half the width of sternite 5, and with only a few inconspicuous setulae. Sternite 5 apically with a field of thick setae.

Male postabdomen (based on two dissected paratypes): Protandrium obviously broader than epandrium and therefore projecting over it. Sternite 8 hardly delimited from protandrium. Ventrally the lateral edges of protandrium are fused by a narrow, sclerotised strip. Paired indistinct, slightly sclerotised and covered with setulae. Epandrium as in Fig. 120, fused distally to cerci. Posterior margin of epandrium slightly convex, with long setulae and inconspicuous blunt submedial teeth. No hypoproct evident. Posterior and anterior surstyli reduced. Several medially directed long setulae arising from lateral edges of posterior margin. Subepandrial sclerite not sclerotised and therefore not evident. Dorsal hypandrial bridge developed. No hypandrial lobe evident. Hypandrial bars fused distally; hypandrium ending in hypandrial arm. Hypandrial membrane without microtrichia. Phallus sheath fused dorsally; without any teeth. Postgonite distinct. Postgonite evagination small, not sclerotised, not projecting above distiphallus and no microtrichia recognised. No plate at inner side of postgonite evagination. Ring sclerite developed. Epiphallus indistinct. Distiphallus small but distinct, not sclerotised and with scattered microtrichia only. At its base an obvious spine which is elongated, hardly sclerotized basally and blackish apically ( Fig. 121). No lateral evaginations of distiphallus evident. Phalapodeme about as long as hypandrium arm. Ejaculatory apodeme with a large sclerotised base attached at the sperm sac and a smaller, granular muscle attachment.

Female. Female fits completely description of male with exception of female abdomen: Maximum width of abdomen at segment 6, with tergite 3 slightly narrower than tergite 4. Sternites 1–2 fused but still distinct. Sternites 3–4 not protruding ventrally. Posterior parts of sternites inconspicuous. Tergite 5 and sternite 5 fused laterally to form syntergosternite with large theca below. Theca as in Fig. 122. Anterior surface of theca with scattered small setulae. Posterior surface of theca almost completely covered with close-set, short, blunt spicules arranged in broken horizontal lines, the latter being more densely arranged towards tip. Sternite 5 anteriorly without an elongation. Sternite 6 almost completely covered with short black spicules arranged in uneven horizontal lines, and with single palisade boundary row laterally ( Fig. 123). Posterior part of sternite 6 bent at nearly right angle to middle part of sternite 6. Tergite 7 distinctly bent ventrally, without longitudinal gap, and without protruding tooth. Sternite 7 about as broad as wide, anteriorly slightly rounded. Sternite 8 fused with syntergite 8+9 and therefore connecting at its sides. Tooth on syntergite 8+9 distinct, its base elongated anteriorly. Laterally to base of the tooth long setulae on syntergite 8+9. Sternite 9 bulging posteriorly, covered with strong short black setae and with strong long setae on posterior margin. Paired cerci distinct. Sack-like ventral protrusion of vagina completely and strongly sclerotised, forming an obvious and unique structure in female postabdomen that has not so far been recognised in any other Conopidae ( Fig. 124). One pair of round spermathecae only, spermathecal ducts fused shortly after leaving spermathecae and not sclerotised at spermathecae.

Variability: ♂ Wing length 3.7–4.3 mm. Anterior half of frons may be shining. Wing may be hyaline. Radial cell r 2+3 can be completely covered with microtrichia. Legs may be almost completely orange-brown with the exception of the black to brown apical two-thirds of the hind tibia.Abdominal dusting and/or stronger dusting at hind margin of tergites 2–3 may be indistinct or missing, although this may be a result of wear or preparation.

Holotype: ♂ Cameroon: (1) “ Malaise traps / degrated savanna / forest”; (2) “ Cameroon : Far-North Reg. / Mayo Tsanga , Mogode-Cha / 10°34.111'N, 13°36.422'E / 8–10.viii.2013, 1001 m / A.H. Kirk. Spriggs ”; (3) “Entomology Dept. / National Museum / P. O. Box 266 / Bloemfontein 9300 / South Africa ”; (4) “ Holotypus / Pleurocerinella / kirkspriggsi / spec. nov. ♂ / det. Stuke 2018” ( BMSA). The specimen is pinned and in a very good condition.

Paratypes: Cameroon: 1♀, Far-North Reg., Mayo-Tsanga, Mogode-Cha [10°34.111'N 13°36.422'E], 1001 m, Malaise trap, degrated savanna forest, 8–10.viii.2013, A.H. Kirk-Spriggs ( BMSA) . Central African Republic: 1♀, 50 km E Bossangoa [6°28'N 18°02'E], 500 m, 27.v.2009, J. Halada ( CULSP) ; 1♂, 90 km S Bozoum [5°39'N 16°37'E], 780 m, 30.v.2009, J. Halada ( CULSP) . South Africa: Eastern Cape: 1♂, Port Alfred [33.586°S 26.885°E], 20.iv.1958, C. Jacot-Guillarmod ( AMGS) . Tanzania: 1♂, Dodoma Province, 60 km N Kondua [4°36'S 35°46'E], 1570 m, 19.xii.2006, J. Halada ( CULSP) .

Distribution: The records presented here show a wide distribution of P. kirkspriggsi in the Afrotropical Region.