Mythenteles andalusica Gibbs, 2007, sp.n.
Creators: name: Gibbs, David
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Bombyliidae
Mythenteles
Mythenteles andalusica

description: Mythenteles andalusica sp.n.
Diagnosis. Using the key in Evenhuis (2003) this species will run to couplet 7 with M. indica (Brunetti), and M. coptopheles Evenhuis. M. andalusica differs from M. indica in its shorter proboscis, shorter than head height (1.5 times head height in M. indica) and entirely dark tibia (yellow apically in M. indica). It is rather closer to M. coptopheles but has a longer proboscis about two thirds the height of the head (barely reaching beyond the mouth margin in M. coptopheles), basal tergites with narrow, often obscure, yellowish apical margins laterally (without yellow fasciae in M. coptopheles), female with differently shaped furca and three approximately equal spermathecae (only two spermathecae in M. coptopheles). The closely related M. deemingi from Cyprus has crossvein dm-cu present and a shorter proboscis, barely exceeding the mouth margin.
Description. Male (Fig 1). Wing Length: 1.4-1.8 mm. Head. Black; eyes dichoptic, separated at vertex by distance between lateral ocelli; frons depressed, yellow to yellow-white often with a brown spot or streak in front of the front ocellus; face yellow becoming more brown towards the slightly protuberant oral margin; antennae black; first flagellomere similar to M. deemingi (see Fig. 8 in Evenhuis 2003) ovoid, length about 1.5 x greatest width; style variable about one third to a little over half length of first flagellomere, with apical sensillum; occiput and mentum subshining black, with some thin grey dusting behind the eyes; proboscis black to dark brown, relatively thin, distinctly produced beyond oral margin; labrum sclerotized, stiff, pointed apically; palpus not evident.
Thorax. Mesonotum and scutellum subshining to black dulled by thin brownish dust, with scattered dark hairs; post pronotal lobe, thin notopleural line to wing base, postalar callus, propleuron, posterior portion of anepimeron, posterodorsal corner of katepisternum, and upper half of meron yellow; coxae and legs dark brown to black, only tips of femora (especially fore femora) yellow; halter stem yellowbrown, knob whitish yellow.
Wing. Hyaline; veins blackish brown; costa ends slightly more than one-third way between end of R4+5 and M1; vein Sc incomplete, ending at about two fifths the way between origin of Rs and end of vein R2+3; Rs connected to R1; R4+5 straight to wing margin; vein M1 gently curved, straight only for apical quarter; M2 slightly sinuous to wing margin; cell dm open apically; CuA1 well developed to wing margin; A1 straight, curving slightly to wing margin at its tip; fringe of hair on posterior margin of wing normal in length.
Abdomen. Black to dark brown, with scattered brownish hairs; tergites I –III entirely dark dorsally but with narrow (sometimes obscure) yellow apical margins laterally on reflexed part; tergites IV–VII with yellow apical margins dorsally becoming progressively wider; sternites similar, blackish brown with all except stergite I with a yellow apical margin.
Genitalia. Genitalia. Dark brown to black with, in situ, the two paramedian processes (Fig 4 - A) of the gonocoxite contrastingly yellow-white. Dissected genitalia Figs 2-7.
Female. As male except that there is a tendency for the yellow apical margins of the tergites to be more conspicuous. Female genitalia (Fig. 8) very similar to that of M. deemingi with vaginal furca U-shaped, rather well sclerotized, with inwardly pointing medial processes. Two well developed lateral spermathecae (only one shown in illustration), middle duct reduced, simple with merely a swollen ‘sleeve’ basally. Spermathecal reservoirs ovoid, sclerotized brown, each with a circular clear ‘window’ at rather more than 90° from the duct insertion.
Types. Holotype ɗ SPAIN, Andalucia, Cortija del Alcazar, 990-1200 m, N36°55'15" W4°5'18", 9.vi.2006; Paratypes 3ɗ 5Ψ data as holotype; Mirador de las Vibodes, 1527 m N37°8'23" W3°27'23" 6 June 2006 1Ψ (leg. D.J. Gibbs). Holotype in National Museum of Wales Cardiff (NMWC), Paratypes in NMWC 2Ψ, Bishop Museum Honolulu 1ɗ 1Ψ, Oxford University Museum 1ɗ 1Ψ, private collection D.J. Gibbs 1ɗ 2Ψ.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to Andalusia, the region of southern Spain where all known specimens were collected.
Distribution. So far only known from two localities in Andalusia, Southern Spain, the Sierra de Tejeda, Málaga Province and the Sierra Nevada, Granada Province.
Discussion. Although this species lacks crossvein dm-cu, so runs to M. coptopheles in the key by Evenhuis (2003), the structure of both male and female genitalia confirm a close relationship with M. deeming i in which crossvein dm-cu is clearly evident. The female genitalia in particular are close to those of M. deemingi with three spherical spermathecae of similar size but with the duct from the middle one much simplified and shortened.
description: Published as part of Gibbs, David, 2007, Mythenteles andalusica sp. n. (Diptera, Mythicomyiidae) from Southern Spain and the first description of the male of M. infrequens Evenhuis & Blasco-Zumeta, 2003, pp. 63-68 in Zootaxa 1533 on pages 64-66, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.177754