Sepedon (Parasepedon) umbrosa Verbeke, 1950

Gbedjissi, Louis Ghélus, Agboho, Prudenciène, Vala, Jean-Claude & Ea, Upres, 2019, The life cycle of the Afrotropical snail-killing fly Sepedon (Parasepedon) umbrosa (Diptera: Sciomyzidae), whose larvae are predators-parasitoids of the terrestrial snail Subulina octona (Mollusca: Subulinidae), Israel Journal of Entomology (Oxford, England) 49 (2), pp. 365-383 : 368-370

Sepedon (Parasepedon) umbrosa Verbeke, 1950

( Figs 1–9, 12–31)

Sepedon (Parasepedon) umbrosa Verbeke, 1950: 44 .

Description: Adult ( Figs 1–9). Body colour mainly blue-grey, legs yellowish with black parts ( Figs 1–3). Head. Frons slightly shiny, dark yellowish in middle, with dark grey edges; black more or less elongated frontal spot, separated from eye by sIlverY strIpe prUInosItY extendIng to Upper ⅓ of the front. Face entIrelY blUe-black, silvery, mostly below the antennae. Lunule shiny, yellowish in middle, with blackish edges. Black ocellar triangle with 2 strong setae. Occiput shiny blue-black on its sides. Antennae ( Fig. 4): scape (segment I) short, yellowish; pedicel (II) with long strong hairs, postpedicel (III) brownish, apex sharp; arista long plumose ( Fig. 5), yellowish at base. Gena typically shiny blackish, narrowly yellow posteroventrally, with shiny blue-black spot between antenna and eye edge.

Thorax. Matte, black; notum with light greyish pruinosity, two light yellow median stripes, and long wide blackish stripe on each side; callus blackish brown, shiny ( Fig. 3). Legs predominantly yellowish; front (I) femur dorsally blackened throughout;

mid (II) femur, mostly apical half blackened; (III) hind femur with large black ring barely separated from black apical ring, 2 – 3 dorsal setae at apical two-thirds; tibiae I and II brownish, III blackish; tarsi I blackish, II, III brownish, apices of all tarsi yellowish. Wing light brown, frontoapical quarter darker, transverse veins shaded, apices of veins R 4 and R 5 slightly converging.

Abdomen. Dark brown, slightly shiny, faint greyish pruinosity everywhere. Male: tergite 9, gonostyli and aedeagus as in Figs 6–9, with well visible spiraled filament ( Fig. 9), a characteristic Parasepedon feature.

Distribution: Sepedon (P.) umbrosa was described by Verbeke (1950) from specimens collected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DRC; then Belgian Congo): the male holotype labelled “Wombali, IX.1913 (P. Vanderijst)” and 4 paratYpes: 1♂ 1♀ “MoYen-KwIlI, LevervIlle (P. VanderlIjst)”; 1♂ 1♀ “lac KIvU, N’Gwess (Carlier)” (all types in IRSNB). The specimens were also cited by Verbeke (1963) and Knutson & Vala (2011). Knutson et al. (2018: 87) erroneously noted: “ Holotype (?): The specimen, examined by Knutson in 1978 in MRAC, is a female labelled “Moyen-Kwili; Leverville, [no date] P. Vanderijst”, contrary to Verbeke’s (1950: 45) information.

Sepedon (P.) umbrosa was reported from Côte d’Ivoire: J.-C. Vala examined In 1987 the followIng specImens: 1♂ Lamto, PaUck-QUanto Po, 26.xII.1970, D. LachaIse; 1♂ RÉserve dU Banco, R. PaUlIan & C. Delamare (both MNHN). Benin ( FIg. 10): GbedjIssI (2003) captUred the specIes fIrst at Kpassa (1♂ 1♀, 11.II.1992) close to Okpara riverbank vegetation and at Bassa; then in Cocotomey on July 1999 (3♂ 3♀) In a drY habItat; Agboho searched varIoUs localItIes dUrIng her PhD stUdIes and collected the species at Pahou, near Cocotomey.Among the 11 sciomyzid species reported in Benin, Vala et al. (1994), Gbedjissi (2003) and Agboho et al. (2017) considered S. (P.) umbrosa as one of the rarest species, sporadically collected in the country and needing more surveys to refine its distribution. Fortunately, the species is active in both dry and rainy seasons. Nigeria: 1♀ Lagos, Ojo, 11.vIII.1974, M.A. Cornes (USNM), noted by Knutson & Vala (2011) and Knutson et. al. (2018).