Atherigona (Atherigona) maraisi Deeming & Kirk-Spriggs 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Deeming, John C.
name: Kirk-Spriggs, Ashley H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Muscidae
Atherigona
Atherigona maraisi

description: Atherigona (Atherigona) maraisi Deeming, sp. nov.
Figs 5–8, 26
Etymology: The specific epithet maraisi is a noun in apposition, named in honour of Eugène Marais, in recognition of his contribution to Namibian entomology.
Description: Male. Body length: ca 5.0 mm; wing length: 4.9 mm.All setae and setulae black, aside from palpal and genal setulae, yellow.
Head: Colouration yellow, somewhat infuscate on central occiput and face white, all sclerites with whitish pruinescence, becoming grey on occiput; frontal vitta clear yellow; antenna yellow with faint, narrow line of infuscation extending from brown arista to apex; palpus yellow, obliquely truncate apex as long as stem; frontofacial angle ca 85°, parafacial at widest point 3 × as wide as level of mouth margin; proboscis black, with very short labella; clypeus and sclerites of proboscis black.
Thorax: Colouration yellow, with dorsum (aside from postpronotal lobe), scutellum, postalar callus, metanotum and anatergite black, dark sclerites with grey pruinescence and yellow parts with yellow pruinescence; 1 long and 1 medium proepisternal setae, plus minute setula; proepimeral setula minute; ventral katepisternal seta extremely weak, with base forming equilateral triangle with 2 dorsal setae. Wing: Membrane yellowish hyaline, slightly brownish at extreme apex, with yellow veins, with equal distribution of microtrichia, absent in basal costal cell (bc); calypters similar, with yellow rims and fringes; haltere yellow. Legs: Colouration yellow; fore femur with strong preapical posteroventral seta and row of 3 moderate posterodorsal setae; fore tarsus with narrow basitarsus, remaining tarsomeres bead-like, tarsomere 1 with conspicuous long, but weak dorsal setae, tarsomere 2 with compact ventral setulae, tarsomere 3 and 4 without pruinescence on anterior surface, forming round mirror, ratio of length of the five tarsomere being 42:15:10:8:9; mid femur with strong preapical posterior seta; mid tibia with strong posterior seta at mid length; hind femur with strong preapical dorsal seta, paired anterior and posterodorsal setae at mid length, slightly surmounted by anterodorsal seta; hind femur with row of 4–6 weaker anterodorsal setae; hind tibia with strong preapical dorsal seta, paired anterior and posterodorsal setae at mid length, surmounted by anterodorsal seta.
Abdomen: Yellow, with yellow pruinescence, tergites 3 and 4 with pair of small, oval brown maculae, tergite 5 bearing some pale setulae; hypopygial prominence in dorsal view (Fig. 7) resembling two spheres with deep apical emargination, in profile (Fig. 8) elongate and apically rounded; trifoliate process (Figs 5, 6), with dorsal surface of part connecting lobes virtually triangular and compactly setulose, lateral lobes flanged on inner sides, dorsally compactly setulose; median lobe greatly broadened apically and emarginate; surstylus shaft in lateral view extremely narrow.
Female: Resembling male, except in sexual and secondary sexual characters, except: postpedicel infuscate throughout; without apical wing smudge; fore leg with all tarsal segments of equal width; fore femur black, except knee; and basal 1 / 4 of tergites 3–5 with paired small black maculae; tergite 8 illustrated in Fig. 26.
Affinities. The new species would run to A. (s. str.) mirabilis Deeming, 1971 in Dike’s (1989a) identification key, but differs from it in the male by the peculiar development of the male fore tarsus, with its mirror surfaces and the hypopygial prominence of such distinctive form.
Type material examined: Holotype ♂, “ Namibia: RUNDU DIST. / Katara: Okavango R. / 17°48'56''S 18°53'38''E / 20–23.i.1998 / [A.H.] Kirk-Spriggs & [E.] Marais / Malaise traps [printed] // Namibian National / Insect Collection / National Museum / P.O. Box 1203 / Windhoek, Namibia [printed; blue card] // HOLOTYPE ♂ / Atherigona (s. str.) / maraisi sp. nov. / J.C. Deeming 2024 [printed; red border]” (NMNW; type series #662). In good condition, micro-pinned and staged; dissected, male terminalia in micro-vial pinned beneath specimen. Paratypes: 2♂, 6♀, same data as holotype, except: // “ PARATYPE ♂ [or ♀] / Atherigona (s. str.) / maraisi sp. nov. / J.C. Deeming 2024 [printed; blue border]” (1♂, 5♀, NMNW; type series #662; 1♂, 1♀, NMWC).
description: Published as part of Deeming, John C. & Kirk-Spriggs, Ashley H., 2024, A contribution to the knowledge of Namibian Atherigona Rondani (Diptera: Muscidae), with the descriptions of four new species and two new subspecies, pp. 501-535 in Zootaxa 5536 (4) on pages 516-517, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5536.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14239209