Physiphora kirki Kameneva & Kroneyev, 2016, sp. n.
Creators: name: Elena P. Kameneva
name: Valery A. Kroneyev
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ulidiidae
Physiphora
Physiphora kirki

description: Physiphora kirki sp. n.
Figures 194–205.
Material. Type. Holotype ♂: Namibia: Lüderitz, Klingharts Mt. at: 27º20′ 04″S 15º46′00″E, Malaise trap sampling, 27.viii–3.ix.1998 (Marais & Kirk-Spriggs) (NICW). Paratypes: Namibia: 2♂, 5♀: Lüderitz, Klingharts Mt. at: 27º20′ 04″S 15º46′00″E, Malaise trap sampling, 27.viii–3.ix.1998; 1♀: 27º21′ 13″S 15º42′54″E, Malaise trap sampling, 27.viii–4.ix.1998; 1♀: Obib waters at 28º00′ 08″S 16º38′48″E, Malaise trap sampling, 25–26.viii.1998 (Marais & Kirk-Spriggs) (NICW; SIZK); 1♂ (dissected): Naukluft Park, Tsams Ost spring, 24º14′ 45″S 16º06′17″E, Malaise trap, 26–27.xi.1997 (Marais & Kirk-Spriggs); 1♀: Brandberg, Mason Shelter, 21º04′ 42″S 14º35′33″E, 1750m, light trap sample, 5–11.iii.2002 (Kirk-Spriggs) (NICW); 1♂: Matthoche Dist.: De Valle 226 at: 24º08′S 16º05′E, 10–12.x.1984; 1♀: Namib-Naukluft Park, Ubussis 3, 24 º22′S 16º04′E, 11–13.i.1985 (J. Irish) (NICW); 3♀, Namuskluft 88, SE 2716Dd, 7–15.x.1970; Luderitz, Plateau 338, St 2616 Cb, 4–5.iii.1972 (NICW); 2♀: Keetmans-hoop, Kokerboom Forest, 31.i.2012, light trap (W. Mey); Fishriver, Karios, light trap, 3♂, 1♀ (head missing), 16.iv.2008, (W. Mey) (MNKB; SIZK); South Africa: 1♂: “02-304 CA” 6–7.iv.2002 (MNKB).
Diagnosis. This species can be recognized from the head large, with matt, entirely shagreened orange frons, brownish yellow genae, black vertical plates, epistome, clypeus and most of occiput; fore leg entirely black and mid and hind legs with at most 2 basal tarsomeres yellow;scutum matt green to bronze; cell r4+5 narrowly open.
This species is similar to P. igniceps sp. n., sharing widely yellow frons and face, wide and sharply limited facial ridge (in P. igniceps sp. n .. vertical plates and face yellow and frons sybshining), as well as densely rugulose (almost matt) mesonotum, clearly differing by entirely black femora, tibiae and fore metatarsus (in P. igniceps sp. n., widely yellow femora, tibiae and fore metatarsus) and preglans smooth and glans with narrow claw-like lobes (in P. igniceps sp. n., preglans and glans widely lobate).
Description. Head (Figs. 195–196) brownish yellow, with vestical plates, epistome, clypeus and most of occiput black. Frons 1.15–1.25 times as long as wide, brownish yellow, with short round parafrontal microtichose spot not reaching anterior margin; densely shagreened, matt, pitted, mostly smooth, with deep medial impression and poorly differentiated calluses posterior to its middle (Fig. 196), conspicuously setulose in anterolateral twothirds except narrow frontal vitta devoid of setulae anterior to ocellar triangle and between medial and lateral calluses in posterior half. Vertical plates and ocellar triangle black; 2 pairs of black orbital setae; ocellar setae lateroclinate, as long as orbital setae.
Face entirely yellow, only bottom of antennal groove microtrichose. Facial carina wide (1.1–1.3 time as wide as flagellomere 1), with sharply abrupted margins at antennal grooves; in profile, slightly produced in dorsal ¼, concave in medial part; entirely brownish yellow with transverse microtrichose crossband; epistome usually black with greenish sheen, rarely brown or yellow; lateral corners of face very high. Gena 0.3 times as high as eye; parafacial and gena yellow; parafacial with narrow white microtrichose stripe, facial ridge sparsely white microtrichose, with whitish setulae; gena without microtrichose mark; postgena yellow anterolaterally (Fig. 195). Occiput black transverse mark; vertex posterior to ocellar triangle brownish yellow; orbits at posterior margin of eye with white microtrichose lines: at vertex and at postgena. Compound eye green with 5 purple bands, without widenings or constrictions. Medial vertical seta 0.4 times as long as frons width, as long as lateral vertical and 3 times as long as ocellar, orbital and 1.3 times as long as postocellar setae. Antenna yellow to brownish yellow; flagellomere 1 rounded apically, laterally yellowish to brown, twice as long as wide, white microtrichose; arista bare, brown in basal 1/5, remainder black. Clypeus black. Palp black, grey microtrichose and black setose. Mouthparts black.
Thorax (Fig. 197). Scutum and scutellum black, densely rugulose, almost matt, with faint golden-green to reddish tinge; antepronotum, postpronotal lobe, posterior surface of notopleural triangle, transverse suture, prescutellar groove, supra-alar and postalar parts of scutum, anterior half of anepisternum and katepisternum, and whole anepimeron shining black; posterodorsal parts of anepisternum and katepisternum shagreened; supra-alar area and tympanal fossa black, postscutellum black, gray microtrichose; postero-ventral margin of scutellum without microtrichose area; anatergite, katatergite and lateroventral parts of mediotergite sparsely grey microtrichose. Mesonotal scutum with poorly distinguishable acrostichal row of setulae and clearly expressed dorsocentral rows of setulae; acrostichal seta lacking; dorsocentral setae hair-like; other setae moderately long, black: one postprononal, 2 postsutural supra-alar, one intra-alar and one postalar.
Scutellum almost flat, densely rugulose, with golden green or reddish reflection, with sparse and fine setulae and 2 pairs of black scutellar setae.
Wing. Entirely hyaline, with yellow or partly brownish veins; cell r4+5 narrowly opened, apical section of M arcuate (Fig. 199). Postero-apical extension of cell cup 1.5 times as long as vein A1+CuA2, and 2–2.5 times as long as transverse section of vein CuA2. Calypters with white fringe. Length: 3.5–4.7 mm.
Legs. Coxae, femora, tibiae and fore tarsus entirely black; mid and hind tarsi brownish yellow with 2–3 apical tarsomeres brown or black; all setae black; fore femur postero-ventrally with 4–5 stout setae in apical two-thirds.
Abdomen. Both tergites and sternites shining black, with golden-green reflection; all setulae black; abdominal tergite 1 basally grey microtrichose, tergite 2 with relatively strong black setae laterally; female abdominal tergite 2 with pair of large dimple-like structures laterally.
Male postabdomen brown to black; epandrium as on Figs. 202–203, cerci with moderately narrow nipple-like structures, phallus with stipe widened, longer than preglans and glans; preglans smooth, glans with 4–5 long clawlike lobes (Figs. 200–201). Hypandrium (Fig. 204) asymmetric.
Female terminalia not dissected.
Distribution. Namibia; South Africa.
Biology unknown. Adults attracted at light.
Etymology. The species is named in honour of its collector, South African dipterist Ashley Kirk-Spriggs, in recognition of his contribution into taxonomy of Physiphora.
description: Published as part of Elena P. Kameneva & Valery A. Kroneyev, 2016, Revision of the Genus Physiphora Fallén 1810 (Diptera: Ulidiidae: Ulidiinae), pp. 1-88 in Zootaxa 4087 (1) on pages 45-48, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4087.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/399511