Merodon spinolobus Vujic, Radenkovic & Likov 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Likov, Laura
name: Vujić, Ante
name: Radenković, Snežana
name: Zorić, Ljiljana Šašić
name: Djan, Mihajla
name: Jordaens, Kurt
name: Mudri-Stojnić, Sonja
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Syrphidae
Merodon
Merodon spinolobus

description: Merodon spinolobus Vujić, Radenković & Likov, sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 15A66BE1-CD1A-4802-A354-12A4F87C8FA3
Figs 4A–C, 5, 7A, C, 8
Diagnosis
Mesoscutum with fascia of black pile between wing bases (Fig. 4A), usually non-pollinose. Terga black; transversal pollinose fasciate maculae on terga 2–4 broad, about ⅕ of their length (Fig. 4B). Tibiae and tarsi partly yellow brown. Thecal ridge of hypandrium of male genitalia folded (Fig. 5C: vr).
Etymology
Latin noun ‘ spina ’ meaning ‘thorn’, ‘spine’, or ‘prickle’; latin noun ‘ lobus ’ meaning ‘lobe’, which indicates the distinct morphological character of this species: long and strong medial spinal prolongation on surstylus medially.
Type material
Holotype
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; Free State, Mapaya Mt Groenhoek Farm, ca 15 km E of Zastron; 30°15ʹ59.976ʺ S 27°12ʹ59.997ʺ E; 1750 m a.s.l.; 13–16 Mar. 2009; J. and A. Londt leg.; montane grass and woodland, Rhus, Diospyros, Celtis, etc.; FSUNS 68231, AU1709, NMSA-DIP 65232; NMSA.
Paratype
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; Free State, Mapaya Mt Groenhoek Farm, ca 15 km E of Zastron; 30°15ʹ59.976ʺ S 27°12ʹ59.997ʺ E; 1750 m a.s.l.; 13–16 Mar. 2009; J. and A. Londt leg.; montane grass and woodland, Rhus, Diospyros, Celtis, etc.; FSUNS 68232, AU1921, DNA-RMCA K. Jordaens 2014 111E06, NMSA-DIP 65242; NMSA.
Description
Body pile generally branched (as in Fig. 7B).
Male (Fig. 4C)
HEAD (Fig. 7A). Antenna dark brown; basoflagellomere about two times as long as wide (Fig. 7A), concave dorsally; arista dark brown, thickened basally, covered with dense brown microtrichia. Face shiny black, with narrow white pollinose stripe along eye margin (missing in lower third), long white pilose, except on median bare stripe that occupies ⅓ to ¼ width of face. Oral margin shiny black, well protruded (Fig. 7A). Frons black, with gray microtrichia. Vertical triangle black, shiny, except for anterior end where microtrichose; predominantly long, black, thick pilose, pale yellow pilose at posterior end; ocellar triangle isosceles. Eye pile dense, as long as length of scape, predominantly grayish, darker dorsally. Occiput whitish pilose; dorsally with metallic, bluish-bronze lustre; gray microtrichia start from upper eye corner as a narrow line dorsally, becoming dense and wide laterally and ventrally, occupying lower ⅔ of occiput.
THORAX. Mesoscutum and scutellum black with bronze lustre, without microtrichia; relatively long (as long as, or a little longer than length of basoflagellomere), dense, erect, more or less branched, yellow to reddish pilose, except between wing bases where black pilose (Fig. 4A). Pleurae shiny; the following parts long yellow pilose: anterior part of proepimeron, posterior part of anterior anepisternum, most of the posterior anepisternum except for anterior end, anteroventral and posterodorsal part of katepisternum, anepimeron, metasternum; katatergite dense, erect, short, yellowish pilose. Wing hyaline, with dense microtrichia and dark brown veins. Calypter yellow. Haltere with brown pedicel and yellow to brown capitulum. Legs dark brown to black, except yellowish apex of femora, and base and apex of tibiae; tarsi brown ventrally. Metatrochanter without process, covered with brush of yellow, dense, strong pile (Fig. 7C). Metafemur moderately broad and straight ventrally, long yellowish pilose (Fig. 7C). Metatibia with apical, inconspicuous anteroventral spur and with indication of posteroventral spur. Legs predominantly yellow pilose, except dorsally on tarsi where short, black pilose, and a few black pile on apical part of femora.
ABDOMEN. Black with bronze reflections, slightly tapering, as long as mesonotum. Terga 2–4 black, with more or less distinct white pollinose fasciate maculae interrupted in the middle of terga 2–3, connected on tergum 4; lateral sides of terga long, erect and whitish pilose, but adpressed on medial parts; pollinose fasciate maculae white pilose, posterior ⅔ of tergite 4 and posterior margin of terga 2–3 of most specimens white pilose, otherwise black pilose. Sternites shiny, dark brown, long whitish pilose.
GENITALIA. Posterior lobe of surstyle triangular, pointed apically and curved outwards (Fig. 5A: pl); anterior lobe of surstyle bent inwards (Fig. 5B: al); median part of surstyle with one very long inner thorn (Fig. 5B); cercus elongated (Fig. 5A: c). Hypandrium with broad theca, ventral margin folded (Fig. 5C). Lateral sclerite of aedeagus narrow, gradually tapering, with the tip curved downwards (Fig. 5C: s).
Female
Unknown.
Distribution and biology
Republic of South Africa (Fig. 8). Collected in montane grass and woodland, with Rhus sp., Diospyros sp., Celtis sp., etc.
Differential diagnosis
The most closely related species is M. capensis, from which it can be distinguished by the presence of a large inner thorn on the surstyle medially (Fig. 5B: it) (small in M. capensis (Fig. 6B: it)), and the broader pollinose fasciate maculae on terga 2–4 (Fig. 4B) (less than ⅛ of their length in M. capensis (Fig. 4D)). It differs from M. commutabilis by the dark brown to black legs with yellowish apex of the femora, base and apex of tibiae and the ventrally brown tarsi (entirely black in M. commutabilis), the broad posterior lobe of the surstyle of the male genitalia (Fig. 5A: pl) (narrow in M. commutabilis) (Fig. 6D: pl), and the folded theca without additional structures of the hypandrium in M. spinolobus sp. nov. (Fig. 5C: vr) (theca unfolded (Fig. 19C), and with distinct subapical lamellas and lateral wings in M. commutabilis).
description: Published as part of Likov, Laura, Vujić, Ante, Radenković, Snežana, Zorić, Ljiljana Šašić, Djan, Mihajla, Jordaens, Kurt & Mudri-Stojnić, Sonja, 2025, Two new hoverfly species of the Merodon desuturinus lineage (Diptera: Syrphidae: Merodontini), pp. 26-60 in European Journal of Taxonomy 987 on pages 29-33, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2025.987.2857, http://zenodo.org/record/15212240