Aspistomella lunata Kovac & Kameneva & Korneyev & Araújo & Savaris & Smit & Schneider & Schreiber & Korneyev 2024, comb. n.
Creators: name: Kovac, Damir
name: Kameneva, Elena P.
name: Korneyev, Severyn V.
name: Araújo, Alexandre Santos
name: Savaris, Marcoandre
name: Smit, John T.
name: Schneider, Alexander
name: Schreiber, Robert
name: Korneyev, Valery A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ulidiidae
Aspistomella
Aspistomella lunata

description: Aspistomella lunata (Hendel, 1909) comb. n.
Figs 5 G, 31
Euxesta lunata Hendel 1909a: 157, 1910: 47, 49; Steyskal 1968: 54.18.
Material examined. Type. Holotype ♀: “ Peru-Meshagua, 27.9.[19]03 Urubambafl.”, [W. Schnuse leg.], “ Euxesta \ lunata H. / det. F. Hendel ”, “coll. W. Schnuse, 1911-3”, “HOLOTYPUS ♀ / Euxesta / lunata Hendel / E. Kameneva des. 2022” (left wing detached by Hendel for slide apparently missing; right wing re-attached after photography) (SMTD).
Non-type. Peru: labels as in holotype, 1 ♂ (antennae, one wing, abdominal sternites and terminalia missing) (SMTD).
Diagnosis. Aspistomella lunata is similar to A. enderleini, A. lobioptera and A. steyskali, in having wing wide oval and similar wing pattern (dark pattern with hyaline base and a few hyaline marks: apex with long crescent incision extending into cell r 1; cell r 1 with cuneiform hyaline incision distally or apex of vein R 1; cell m 4 with hyaline spot apically, differing from all of them by the first incision extending posteriorly into the base of cell r 4+5 (A. enderleini, A. lobioptera and A. steyskali the cuneiform incision is well separated from the round hyaline spot at the base of cell r 4+5); from A. lobioptera (which has dm apically of r-m entirely dark), it differs by dm with subapical hyaline spot connected to the hyaline area in cell m 4, as in A. enderleini and A. steyskali; from all other species of Aspistomella, which have a very short pterostigma (only in A. enderleini moderately short), it differs by a pterostigma slightly longer than the width of the costal cell (Figs 5 G, 31 F).
Redescription. Male. Head (Figs 31 B–D) ratio (length: height: width) = 1: 1.5: 1.9; frons, face above transverse fold, parafacial, and gena reddish or yellowish brown, epistome and occiput mostly black. Frons moderately wide, slightly narrowed posteriorly (Fig. 31 C), 0.7× as long (from lunule to anterior ocellus) or 1.1× (from lunule to inner vertical seta) as wide at lunule; vertex black, steel shining, sparsely microtrichose; orbits, vertex, gena and occiput silver-white microtrichose; parafacial narrow, 0.1–0.3× broader than postpedicel, reddish-yellow, sparsely white microtrichose. Frontal plates with 5–6 pairs of parafrontal setulae, 2–3 pairs of inclinate frontal setae slightly shorter than outer vertical seta, frontal vitta sparsely whitish microtrichose, with 2–3 shorter, proclinate or inclinate interfrontal setulae (Fig. 31 C). Lunule indistinct. Eye 1.5–2× higher than long. Epistome black medially, reddish brown laterally and anteroventrally, sparsely white microtrichose, with metallic bluish sheen, strongly produced anteriorly and separated from upper part of face by deep fold; face above epistome brownish yellow, white microtrichose. Clypeus brown, sparsely white microtrichose, 0.2× higher than epistome. Gena brownish yellow, with long genal seta and 4–5 additional long peristomal setae anterior of it, 0.3–0.9× longer than genal seta. Occiput black, except postgena partly brown, with cyan metallic sheen, greyish microtrichose.
Antenna brown; scape and pedicel with black setulae; postpedicel brownish yellow, darkened apico-dorsally, whitish microtrichose, twice as long as wide, apically rounded; arista black except yellow at base, almost bare. Mouthparts black, prementum black, shining. Palp yellow or yellowish brown, narrowly crescent, apically rounded, with 9–12 black setulae, of which 3–4 subapical setulae 2–3× longer than other setulae.
Thorax (Figs 31 B, E) brown to black, with bluish sheen and sparse white and brown microtrichia not hiding underlying cuticle. Mesonotal scutum 1.3× longer than wide; black setulose, with 8–10 rows of setulae between rows of dorsocentral setulae; acrostichal prescutellar seta present; prescutellar area with 4–5 rows of setulae between posterior dorsocentral setae. Scutellum dorsally very slightly convex, brown to black, subshining, sparsely shagreened, devoid of setulae. Subscutellum shining, dark brown to black. Mediotergite shining black, non-microtrichose medially. Other setae as described for the genus. All the setae and setulae black.
Wing (Fig. 5 G) 2.9 (♂)– 3.1 mm (♀) long, 2.5× longer than wide; generally as described for A. enderleini, costal cell 5× longer than wide, with costa very slightly curved, forming shallow cleft before apex of vein Sc; pterostigma entirely brown, narrow triangular, as long as wide and 0.25× longer than costal cell width, vein R 1 bare, ending at level of crossvein r-m level; vein R 2+3 sinuate, at apex bent anteriorly to costa. Crossvein r-m distally of middle of cell dm. Cell r 4+5 6.5× longer than wide, apically slightly narrowed. Cell m 1 subtriangular; ultimate section of M 1 3.5× longer than crossvein dm-m and 1.4× longer than penultimate section. Vein CuA Z-shaped, posteroapical lobe of cell cua along vein CuP 2.5× longer than its anterior shoulder. Wing pattern with short subbasal crossband from humeral vein through cell cua into alula, and large dark brown mark from apical lobe of costal cell to wing apex, with 3 hyaline marks: incision from cell r 1 into cell r 4+5 distal to crossvein r-m, oval spot in apex of cells dm and m 4 and long and narrow crescent or arcuate incision from apex of cell m 1 into cell r 1 subparallel to wing apex. Cell cup (anal cell sensu Kameneva & Korneyev 2010) and anal lobe slightly narrower than cell cua. Calypters white, with white ciliae. Halter yellow.
Legs (Fig. 31 A): coxae and trochanters, apices of femora and tibiae yellow, fore femora brownish-yellow ventrally, otherwise black; tibiae mostly dark brown; tarsi yellowish brown; black setose and setulose. Otherwise legs as described for A. enderleini.
Male and female terminalia not examined; partly exposed aculeus with ovoid, long-setulose cercal unit.
Remarks. Hendel (1909a) originally placed this species in the genus Euxesta because it has a non-shortened pterostigma, like in all the species he placed in that genus. However, it has an epistome more than twice as long as the height of the clypeus, like all species of Aspistomella, which is the diagnostic character of all the genera considered in this article. It shares a similar wing pattern with A. lobioptera, the type species of the latter genus and some other species. For this reason, we transfer it from Euxesta to Aspistomella.
description: Published as part of Kovac, Damir, Kameneva, Elena P., Korneyev, Severyn V., Araújo, Alexandre Santos, Savaris, Marcoandre, Smit, John T., Schneider, Alexander, Schreiber, Robert & Korneyev, Valery A., 2024, Revision of the Aspistomella group of genera (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Pterocallinae: Lipsanini), pp. 1-117 in Zootaxa 5530 (1) on pages 52-54, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5530.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14023149