Afrotropical species of the genus Ethiosciapus Bickel

(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
 
 

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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
 
 

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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
 
 

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: 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
 
 

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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
 
 

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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
 
 

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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.
 
 

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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.