(Diptera: Dolichopodidae)
Igor Ya. GRICHANOV
Grichanov, I.Ya. Afrotropical species of the genus
Ethiosciapus Bickel (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)
E. maslovae sp.n. from Angola, E. skufjini sp.n.
from Uganda are described. Diagnosis for two subgenera,
catalogue and a key to 14 known species of Ethiosciapus
are given.
I.Ya. Grichanov, All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection,
Podbelskogo 3, St.Petersburg-Pushkin, 189620, Russia.
Key words: Diptera, Dolichopodidae, Ethiosciapus,
Tropical Africa.
Introduction
The genus Ethiosciapus was established by Bickel (1994) for 11
species originally described within the old broad concepts of
Psilopus Meigen, Sciapus Zeller and Chrysosoma Guerin-Meneville. He
divided the included species into three Groups, based on male frons
and mesonotum setation.
All the species of Ethiosciapus are known from Continental Africa
south of latitude 5 centigrades North, as well as on some Atlantic
Ocean (St. Helena) and Indian Ocean (Madagascar and Seychelles)
islands.
While processing unidentified material from the collection of the
Natural History Museum (London), six species of the genus, belonging
to all the bickelian Groups, were found. In this paper diagnosis for
two subgenera, descriptions of two new species and new records for
known species are given.
Holotypes and paratypes of the new species are conserved in the
Natural History Museum (London).
Key to known species of Ethiosciapus
Bickel
- 2 -
1. Males with strong vertical seta; femora usually bare; cercus
usually with apical brush of long hairs; acrostichals short or
absent; alula reduced (Bickeliolus subgen.n.)........................2
- Males with group of hairs laterally on frons; femora usually with
long black ventral hairs; cercus usually with short or long hairs,
but without apical brush; 3 long acrostichal setae; alula well
developed (Ethiosciapus s.s.).......................................7
2. Middle trochanter with fringe of long hairs, cercus narrowed in
the middle..........................................................3
- Middle trochanter without fringe, cercus usually tapering........4
3. (S.Africa)................................E. trochanteralis Curran
- (Madagascar).....................................E. alluadi Parent
4. Antenna black, cercus wide.......................................5
- At least scape yellow-orange, cercus thin........................6
5. Basoventral hook of cercus subtriangular......E. lamellatus Parent
- Basoventral hook of cercus club-shaped...........E. maslovae sp.n.
6. Scape yellow, other articles dark brown, first flagellomere
triangular, with rounded apex; cercus filiform........................
..........................................E. lutescens Vanschuytbroeck
- Antenna dusky orange, first flagellomere short, egg-shaped, pointed;
cercus tapering..................................E. lasiophtalmus Lamb
7. Femora mostly black, all the coxae black, fore tibia with 3 long
posteroventral bristles.............................E. dilectus Parent
- Femora mostly yellow..............................................8
8. Fore tibia with 3 long posteroventral bristles; all the coxae
black, fore coxa yellow at apex......................................9
- Fore tibia at most with 2 long posteroventrals...................10
9. Cercus shorter than hypopygium; hind femora with black ventral hairs
slightly longer than femora diameter; halteres yellow..E. latipes Parent
- Cercus longer than hypopygium; hind femora with black ventral hairs
twice as long as femora diameter; halteres black.....E. skufjini sp.n.
10.All the coxae black..............................................11
- Fore coxa yellow, with small black basal spot on the outer side..12
11.Femora entirely yellow; cercus with ventral fringe of short hairs,
with 3 long apical bristles, with long dorsal bristle and with a group
of comparatively long dorsal hairs in apical fourth..E. bilobatus Lamb
- Fore femora black ventrally
in basal half, hind femora black on
- 3 -
apex; cercus with setae gradually increasing towards apex, without
distinct groups of hairs...........................E. exarmatus Parent
12.Hind tibia at apex, hind femora and basitarsomere entirely
black-brown; cercus with short hairs in basal half and with long
bristles in apical half.........................E. bicalcaratus Parent
- Hind femora and tibia yellow, hind tarsus deep brown from the tip
of basitarsomere; cercus with at least two long bristles in basal
half.........................E. flavirostris Loew, E. integer Becker *
______________________
* Parent (1929) noted that the two species "sans doute synonymes".
Subgenus Bickeliolus subgen.n.
Type species. Ethiosciapus (Bickeliolus) maslovae sp.n., here
designated.
Diagnosis. Male and female with strong vertical seta on frons;
pedicel usually with short dorsal and ventral setae, less than twice
as long as first flagellomere. Male dorsocentrals present as 3 strong
posterior and 1 short but strong anterior bristles; acrostichals very
short or absent. Male femorae usually bare or with short white
ventral hairs; fore tibia without long setae. Alula reduced; anal
angle right; squamae with pale ciliae. Male abdominal sternum with
white hairs, without black thorns or long bristles; cercus usually
tapering, with apical brush of long hairs; basoventral process of
cercus usually as subtriangular sclerite on thin stem.
Included species (for references see Bickel, 1994):
alluaudi Parent, 1935:80 (Chrysosoma) - Madagascar.
lamellatus Parent, 1935:118 (Sciapus) - Zaire, Ruwanda, Tanzania, St.
Helena
lasiophtalmus Lamb, 1922:371 (Psilopus) - Seychelles
lutescens Vanschuytbroeck, 1952:139 (Sciapus) - Madagascar
maslovae sp.n. - Angola
trochanteralis Curran, 1924:219
(Sciapus) - South Africa
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Ethiosciapus (Bickeliolus) maslovae sp.n. (Fig. 1)
Holotype. Male. Angola: Bruco, 26.II-2.III.1972 / Southern
African Exp. B.M. 1972-1. Paratypes. 5 males and 2 females, the same
labels.
Description. Frons broad, shining metallic green. A strong front
vertical bristle bends forward, postvertical one is positioned as a
linear continuation of the postocular setal row. Ventral postcranium
covered with dense irregular white hairs. Face violet-green, epistome
shining blue, clypeus white pollinose, separated from eyes; face
slightly narrowed, 1.3 times as high as wide under antennae. Palpi
and proboscis orange, palpi with light hairs and 2 black bristles on
both sides. Antennae black, as long as height of head. Pedicel with
short but strong dorsal and ventral bristles. First flagellomere
rounded, as long as its height, with short hairs. Arista dorsal,
microscopically haired. Length ratio of scape to pedicel to first
flagellomere to arista - 4:4:6:60.
Mesonotum and scutellum brilliantly shining blue-green. Pleura
bronze-green, weakly grey pollinose. 3 strong and 1 short anterior
dorsocentral bristles; short acrostichals, restricted to anterior
third of mesonotum. Scutellum with two strong bristles.
Legs including trochanters light-yellow. Middle and hind coxae
bronze-black, apical segments of tarsi brown. Fore coxae from the
front with numerous white hairs and a few long yellow setae. Middle
and hind coxae from the outside with a few yellow hairs and bristles.
Fore and middle femorae with pale ventral hairs in basal half, which
as long as femora diameter, hind femora bare. Fifth tarsomere of all
tarsi flattened. Fore tibia bare. Fore basitarsomere ventrally
flattened, with dense pale pile. Length ratio of fore coxa to femora
to tibia to tarsus (segments from first to fifth) - 4.0 : 7.5 : 6.5 :
5.3 : 2.2 : 1.4 : 0.8 : 0.9. Middle tibia with 1 anterior, 1
antero-dorsal hairs and 2 or 3 apical bristles, other setae weak.
Length ratio of middle coxa to femora to tibia to tarsus (segments
from first to fifth) - 2.7 : 7.3 : 9.9 : 7.4 : 2.7 : 1.9 : 1.1 : 0.9.
Hind tibia usually with weak setae. Length ratio of hind coxa to
femora to tibia to tarsus (segments
from first to fifth) - 2.0 : 9.3
- 5 -
: 13.5 : 5.9 : 3.0 : 1.9 : 1.2 : 0.9.
Wings hyaline, veins brown. R4+5 gently curved to M1 in apical
fifth. M1+2 and M1 form the right angle. Ratio of parts of costa
between R2+3 and R4+5 to those between R4+5 and M1 - 16 : 4. M2
present as short stub vein and faint fold on membrane. Crossvein m-cu
straight. Ratio of crossvein m-cu to apical part of M1+2
(fork-handle) to apical part of CuA - 26 : 36 : 14. Anal vein and
lobe present. Anal angle right. Squamae yellow, with brown edging and
pale hairs. Halteres yellow, halter stem as long as knob.
Abdomen shining blue-green, with short and a few long black
bristles. Apical border of last segments black-violet; first tergum
with narrow membranous excavation and short white lateral hairs;
sternum with white hairs only. 1st-6th segments together nearly twice
as long as mesonotum. Hypopygium black-brown. Cercus yellow, broad
and tapering, with apical brush of long yellow hairs. Basoventral
sclerotised hook of cercus club-shaped.
Female. Similar to male except lacking male secondary sexual
characters, otherwise as follows: fore coxa, fore and middle femorae
with short hairs, fore coxa with 4 yellow strong bristles in apical
half. Fore tibia with one anterodorsal, middle tibia with one
anterodorsal and one anterior, hind tibia with one anterodorsal and
one anterior bristles. Ratio of first to second tarsomere of fore,
middle and hind tarsi - 4.5:1.7; 5.9:2.1; 5.3:2.5.
Length: male body 3.4 - 3.6 mm; antenna 1.1 mm; female body 2.9 -
3.2 mm; wing-length 3.4 mm; wing-width 1.1 mm.
Distribution: Angola.
Etymology. The species is named for Russian dipterologist Dr.
Olga Maslova.
Diagnosis. E. maslovae is an allied species for E. lamellatus.
Males of the new species differ by thicker hairs on fore coxa, longer
hairs on fore and middle femorae, and by the club-shaped cercal hook.
Both species similar to E. trochanteralis, which is separated by
fringe of long hairs on middle
trochanter and hypopygium morphology.
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I couldnot find any difference between females of all those species.
Ethiosciapus (Bickeliolus) lamellatus (Parent) (Fig. 2)
Material examined. 3 males and 2 females. Uganda: Ruwenzori
Range, XII.1934-I.1935. B.M. E. Afr. Exp. B.M. 1935-203 / Kilembe,
4500 ft., F.W. Edwards.
Diagnosis. E. lamellatus is closely related to E. maslovae sp.n.
Male with strong vertical seta and with 4 strong dorsocentral
bristles, the anteriormost short; acrostichals very short. Antenna
black. Legs including trochanters yellow, fore and middle femorae
with short white ventral hairs, fore basitarsomere ventrally
flattened. Cercus tapering, with apical brush of long hairs and
subtriangular basoventral sclerotised process.
Distribution: Zaire, Ruwanda, Tanzania, St. Helena, Uganda (!)
Ethiosciapus (Bickeliolus) trochanteralis (Curran)
Material examined. Male. Natal: Weenen, III.1925, H.P. Thomasset
/ Pres. by Imp. Inst. Ent. Brit. Mus. 1932-338. Female. Natal:
Weenen, 2840 ft., III.1924, H.P. Thomasset / Pres. by Imp. Inst. Ent.
Brit. Mus. 1933-14.
Diagnosis. Male with strong vertical seta; acrostichals very
short. Antenna black. Legs including trochanters yellow, middle
trochanter with a fringe of long yellow ventral hairs, middle femora
with a few fine yellow ventral hairs at base, fore basitarsomere
ventrally flattened. Cercus narrowed in the middle, with apical brush
of long setae and subtriangular basoventral sclerotised process on
thin stem. E. trochanteralis is very close to E. alluaudi and the two
species are possible synonyms (Bickel, 1994).
Distribution: South Africa
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Subgenus Ethiosciapus Bickel, 1994 (as genus)
Type species. Psilopus bilobatus Lamb, 1922, original designation.
Diagnosis. Male with a group of long hairs, arising laterally on
frons; female with strong vertical seta; pedicel usually with long
dorsal and ventral setae, more than twice as long as first
flagellomere. Male dorsocentrals present as 2 strong posterior
bristles and 3 short weak anterior hairs; 3 long pairs of acrostichal
setae. Male femorae and fore tibia with long black ventral setae.
Alula well developed; anal angle sharp; squamae usually with dark
ciliae. Male with a pair of black thorns or groups of long black
bristles on third and sometimes on second abdominal sternums; cercus
usually without tapering, with ventral pile of dense hairs and a row
of lateral bristles; basoventral process of cercus usually broadened
basally, with thin, long, pointed ventral hook.
Included species (for references see Bickel, 1994):
bicalcaratus Parent, 1933:37 (Sciapus) - Zaire, Uganda (!)
bilobatus Lamb, 1922:372 (Psilopus) - Seychelles
dilectus Parent, 1935:84 (Sciapus) - Tanzania, Uganda (!)
exarmatus Parent, 1933:39 (Sciapus) - Zaire
flavirostris Loew, 1858:371 (Psilopus) - South Africa, Mozambique,
Ethiopia
integer Becker, 1923:47 (Sciapus) - Malawi, n.comb.
latipes Parent, 1930:94 (Chrysosoma) - Madagascar
skufjini sp.n. - Uganda
Ethiosciapus (Ethiosciapus) skufjini sp.n. (Fig. 3)
Holotype. Male. Uganda: Ruwenzori Range, XII.1934-I.1935. B.M.
E. Afr. Exp. B.M. 1935-203 / Kilembe, 4500 ft., F.W. Edwards.
Paratype. Male with the same labels.
Description. Frons broad, shining
metallic green. A group of
- 8 -
long front vertical hairs present, arising laterally on frons,
postvertical bristle is positioned as a linear continuation of the
increasing postocular setal row. Ventral postcranium covered with
dense irregular white hairs. Face metallic green, slightly white
pollinose, clypeus separated from eyes; face slightly narrowed, 1.3
times as high as wide under antennae. Palpi and proboscis orange,
palpi with light hairs and 2 black bristles on both sides. Antennae
black, longer than height of head. Pedicel with strong dorsal and
ventral bristles, the longest 1.5 times as long as three articles
together. First flagellomere rounded, shorter than its height, with
short hairs. Arista dorsal, microscopically haired. Length ratio of
scape to pedicel to first flagellomere to arista - 6:5:6:85.
Mesonotum and scutellum brilliantly shining blue-green. Pleura
bronze-green, weakly grey pollinose. 2 strong posterior and a few
hairlike anterior dorsocentral setae; 3 long acrostichals. Scutellum
with two strong bristles.
Legs mostly yellow. Fore coxa except apex, middle and hind coxae
bronze-black; middle and hind trochanters, hind femora ventrally in
basal third and dorsally on apex, and tarsi except base of first
tarsomere, brown. Fore coxae from the front with numerous white hairs
and a few long yellow setae. Middle coxa from the front with dense
white hairs, hind coxa from the outside with a few white hairs. Fore
and middle femorae with one row, middle femora with two rows of long
black ventral setae, which at least twice as long as femora diameter.
Fifth tarsomere of all tarsi flattened. Fore tibia with two short
dorsal and 3 long posteroventral setae. Fore basitarsomere ventrally
flattened, with dense pale pile. Length ratio of fore coxa to femora
to tibia to tarsus (segments from first to fifth) - 4.8 : 9.0 : 9.4 :
6.0 : 2.2 : 1.5 : 0.8 : 0.9. Middle tibia with 2 or 3 anterodorsal, 2
posterodorsal, 2 or 3 ventral and 3 or 4 apical bristles. Length
ratio of middle coxa to femora to tibia to tarsus (segments from
first to fifth) - 4.0 : 9.6 : 12.2 : 8.8 : 2.9 : 2.1 : 1.1 : 0.8.
Hind tibia with 2 or 3 anterior, 2 or 3 dorsal, 3 or 4 apical, a few
weak posterior and ventral setae. Length ratio of hind coxa to femora
to tibia to tarsus (segments from first to fifth) - 2.3 : 11.7 : 18.0
: 7.8 : 3.3 : 2.3 : 1.3 : 1.0.
Wings hyaline, veins brown. R4+5 gently curved to M1 in apical
fifth. M1+2 and M1 form the right
angle. Ratio of parts of costa
- 9 -
between R2+3 and R4+5 to those between R4+5 and M1 - 23 : 5. M2
present as very short stub vein and faint fold on membrane. Crossvein
m-cu straight. Ratio of crossvein m-cu to apical part of M1+2
(fork-handle) to apical part of CuA - 38 : 47 : 29. lula well
developed; anal vein and lobe present; anal angle sharp. Squamae
brown, with dark hairs. Halteres black, halter stem as long as knob.
Abdomen shining green, with short and long black bristles. Both
borders of last segments mat-black; first tergum with narrow
membranous excavation and white lateral hairs; second sternum with
long white hairs and a few long black setae; third sternum with 2
groups of long black setae. 1st-6th segments together nearly twice as
long as mesonotum. Hypopygium black-brown. Cercus yellow, with brown
rounded apex, with pale ventral hairs and black lateral bristles.
Basoventral sclerotised hook of cercus basally broad, with black
bristles and long bare pointed ventral process.
Female unknown.
Length: male body 4.2 - 4.5 mm; antenna 1.4 mm; postabdomen
1.6 mm; wing-length 4.7 mm; wing-width 1.5 mm.
Distribution: Uganda.
Etymology. The species is named in honour of the Russian
dipterologist Prof. K.V. Skufjin.
Diagnosis. E. skufjini is close to E. latipes, differing by
longer ventral setae on all femorae, black halteres, other colour
characters, and by hypopygium morphology.
Ethiosciapus (Ethiosciapus) bicalcaratus Parent
Material examined. 7 males and 1 female. Uganda: Ruwenzori Range,
XII.1934-I.1935. B.M. E. Afr. Exp. B.M. 1935-203 / Namwamba Valley,
6500 ft., F.W. Edwards.
Diagnosis. Male with a group
of hairs laterally on frons, 2
- 10 -
strong posterior and hairlike anterior dorsocentral setae; 3 long
acrostichals. Fore coxa yellow except base, other coxae black;
femorae yellow, with long black ventral hairs, fore tibia with 2 long
posteroventral bristles; fore basitarsomere ventrally flattened.
Squamae with light ciliae. Third sternum with 2 strong black setae.
Cercus yellow, with brown border on apex, pale ventral hairs and
black lateral and apical hairs, with thin basoventral hook.
Distribution: Zaire, Uganda (!)
Ethiosciapus (Ethiosciapus) dilectus Parent
Material examined. Male. Uganda: Ruwenzori Range,
XII.1934-I.1935. B.M. E. Afr. Exp. B.M. 1935-203 / Kilembe, 4500 ft.,
F.W. Edwards.
Diagnosis. Male with a group of hairs laterally on frons, 2
strong posterior and hairlike anterior dorsocentral setae; 3 long
acrostichals. All the coxae black; femorae black except apex, with
long black ventral hairs, fore tibia with 3 long posteroventral
bristles; fore basitarsomere ventrally flattened. Squamae with black
ciliae. Third sternum with long black bristles; first tergum and
sternum with long white hairs. Cercus yellow, strap-like, slightly
broadened towards apex, with dense pale ventral hairs, a row of black
lateral bristles, and sclerotised pointed basoventral hook.
Distribution: Tanzania, Uganda (!)
Acknowledgements
I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Brian Pitkin for his kindness in
giving me the opportunity to study the collection of the Natural
History Museum (London). I appreciate the help I have received from
Ms Galina Grichanova in doing
the illustrations.
- 11 -
References
Bickel D.J. 1994. The Australian Sciapodinae (Diptera:
Dolichopodidae), with a review of the Oriental and Australasian
faunas, and a world conspectus of the subfamily. - Rec. Austral.
Mus., 1994, Suppl. 21: 1-394.
Parent O. 1929. Les Dolichopodides de la Region Ethiopienne.
Etude Systematique. - Bull. Soc. Roy. Entomol. d'Egypte, 13, 4:
151-190.
Remark under figures
Figs 1-3. Hypopygium, lateral veiw. 1, E. maslovae sp.n.; 2, E.
lamellatus Parent; 3, E. skufjini sp.n.