Dacus Hendel
Creators: name: David, K. J.
name: Sachin, K.
name: Hancock, D. L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Lauxaniidae
Dacus

description: Key to species of Dacus Hendel from India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka
1. Wing with costal band expanded into a broad apical patch that includes most of cell m; abdomen without a black medial vitta on tergites II–IV.......................................................... D. (Neodacus) sphaeroidalis (Bezzi)
- Wing with apical expansion smaller, if broadly rounded and entering cell m anteriorly then abdomen with a broad black medial vitta on tergites II–IV...................................................................................2
2. Combined length of antennal segments shorter than height of head; costal cells bc and c colourless; if scutum black then either a postsutural medial yellow scutal vitta present or costal band narrow and interrupted subapically; abdomen with tergite I (basal part of combined syntergite I+II) distinctly broader than long....................................................3
- Combined length of antennal segments longer than height of head; costal cells bc and c often fuscous, if colourless then scutum black, postsutural medial yellow scutal vitta absent and costal band not interrupted subapically; abdomen with tergite I (basal part of combined syntergite I+II) quadrate or petiolate......................................................... 5
3. Scutum black with a postsutural medial yellow vitta, costal band pale and indistinct; male without a pecten of cilia on tergite III; female with oviscape much longer than tergite V and bulbous..................... .. D. (Leptoxyda) persicus Hendel
- Scutum reddish brown to black without a postsutural medial yellow vitta, costal band narrow but fuscous and distinct; male with a pecten of cilia on posterolateral margin of tergite III; female with oviscape much shorter than tergite V and dorsoventrally flattened........................................................................................4
4. Scutum black with red-brown markings; costal band interrupted subapically; abdomen largely black and with a medial black vitta [Sri Lanka]................................................................ D. (Didacus) kaiseri (Hering)
- Scutum reddish brown; costal band not interrupted subapically; abdomen red-brown with at most a pair of submedial fuscous spots on tergite III................................................................ D. (Didacus) ciliatus Loew
5. Wing with pale anal streak in cell bcu extension; scutum and abdomen red-brown without black abdominal medial vitta; breeds on plants belonging to Cucurbitaceae ..................................... D. (Callantra) longicornis (Wiedemann)
- Wing without anal streak; scutum and abdomen red-brown to black with or without black abdominal medial vitta; breeds on plants belonging to Asclepiadaceae .........................................................................6
6. Costal cells bc and c fuscous; scutum red-brown or mostly black; face largely black or fulvous to fuscous with black spots either separate or united to form an inverted U-shaped pattern....................................................... 7
- Costal cells bc and c colourless; scutum black, face largely black or with two large black spots connected by a broad band above oral margin......................................................................................... 17
7. Scutum with medial and lateral postsutural yellow vittae........................ D. (Mellesis) icariiformis (Enderlein)
- Scutum without lateral postsutural yellow vittae, medial vitta present or absent.....................................8
8. Medial postsutural yellow vitta often present; wing with a broad costal band confluent with vein R 4+5, expanded into a large apical spot that enters cell m..................................................... D. (M.) discophorus (Hering)
- Medial postsutural yellow vitta absent; wing with a broad costal band overlapping vein R 4+5, often expanded slightly towards apex but not entering cell m..............................................................................9
9. Fore femur with 2–3 subapical ventral black spines; costal band with apical patch distinctly darker than remainder; abdomen strongly petiolate, tergite I about twice as long as wide; postsutural supra-alar seta absent................................................................................................... D. (M.) polistiformis (Senior-White)
- Fore femur without subapical spines; costal band with apical patch not distinctly darker than remainder; abdomen often not strongly petiolate; postsutural supra-alar seta usually present.................................................. 10
10. Postpronotal lobe yellow to reddish brown; scutum reddish brown, with or without fuscous markings...................11
- Postpronotal lobe dark fuscous to black; scutum black with or without red-brown patches posteriorly...................15
11. Wing cell br entirely hyaline in basal three-quarters beyond level of DM-Cu crossvein; abdomen with a narrow medial black vitta on tergites III–V [Bhutan].......................................................... D. (M.) feijeni White
- Wing cell br fuscous in at least anterior half; abdomen without a narrow medial black vitta.......................... 12
12. Abdomen with tergite I quadrate; cell br almost entirely fuscous........... D. (M.) viraktamathi David & Hancock, sp. n.
- Abdomen petiolate with tergite I distinctly longer than broad; cell br fuscous only on anterior half.................... 13
13. Postpronotal lobe yellow; scutum and abdomen without fuscous markings; anatergite almost entirely yellow [Andaman Is]......................................................................... D. (M.) insulosus Drew & Hancock
- Postpronotal lobe dark fulvous or reddish brown; scutum and abdomen with fuscous markings; anatergite yellow at most on ventral quarter...................................................................................... 14
14. Postpronotal lobe dark fulvous; anatergite dark fulvous with ventral quarter yellow; scutellum with a narrow dark basal band; fore, mid and most of hind femora orange-brown [Sri Lanka]................ D. (M.) ancoralis Leblanc & Doorenweerd
- Postpronotal lobe reddish brown; anatergite entirely dark brown; scutellum with a broad dark basal band; all femora fuscous with orange-brown apices................................................. D. (M.) jacobi David & Sachin, sp. n.
15. Wing cell br entirely fuscous; abdominal tergites II and III with large posteromedial orange-brown patches [Bhutan]......................................................................................... D. (M.) fletcheri Drew
- Wing cell br fuscous only in anterior half; abdominal tergites II and III without large posteromedial orange-brown patches..16
16. Abdomen petiolate with tergite I distinctly longer than broad and tergites III–IV entirely black [Bhutan]....................................................................................... .. D. (M.) siamensis Drew & Hancock
- Abdomen with tergite I quadrate and tergites III-IV with large posteromedial patches [Bhutan]......................... ............................................................................. D. (M.) dorji Drew & Romig
17. Wing with a broad costal band that expands over R-M crossvein, anepisternal stripe broad, reaching postpronotal lobe.............................................................................. D. (M.) ramanii Drew & Hancock
- Wing with broad costal band confluent with vein R 4+5, overlapping towards apex but without an extension over R-M crossvein; anepisternal stripe narrow, barely wider than notopleural lobe...................................................18
18. Abdomen entirely black; anatergite wholly black.................................... D. (M.) crabroniformis (Bezzi)
- Abdominal tergites IV–V with submedial reddish brown patches separated by a medial black vitta; anatergite partly yellow................................................................................ D. (M.) maculipterus White
description: Published as part of David, K. J., Sachin, K. & Hancock, D. L., 2020, Two New Species And A New Record Of Dacus Fabricius (Diptera: Tephritidae) From India, pp. 553-560 in Zootaxa 4743 (4) on pages 554-555, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4743.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/3690637