Acnephalum olivierii : Macquart 1838
Creators: name: Londt, Jason G. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Asilidae
Acnephalum
Acnephalum olivierii

description: Acnephalum olivierii Macquart, 1838
Figs 6, 12, 13, 19
Acnephalum olivierii: Macquart 1838: 51; Lehr 1988: 232 (catalogue).
Acnecephalum Olivieri: Röder 1882: 245 (misspelling of generic name).
Acnephalum Olivierii: Becker et al. 1903: 128 (catalogue); Kertesz 1909: 88 (catalogue) (variant spelling).
Acnephalum Olivieri: Engel 1929: 277–279 (fig. 215 head and antenna (Note: fig. 216 tar – not olivierii )).
Macquart’s (1838) description is brief and here replicated in full as a matter of convenience.
1. ACNEPHALUM OLIVIERII, Nob.
Atrum, albido hirsutum. Alis cellula submarginali secunda inappendiculata; postica quarta clausa.
Long. 4½ l.
Moustache, barbe et poils des palpes blanchatres. Pieds moirs, à poils blancs Ailes jaunàtres; quatrieème cellule postérieure fermée au bord intérieur.
De l’ile de Naxos. Olivier. Muséum.
Redescription (Based on holotype. Condition: Poor; mounted on a short pin (I have double mounted the specimen in order to prevent further damage caused by handling). Tip of left antennal style missing, right prothoracic leg broken off beyond halfway down tib, left prothoracic leg broken off from end of tib, right mesothoracic leg broken off beyond trochanter, left mesothoracic leg broken off halfway down fem, right metathoracic leg broken off near tip of fem, left metathoracic leg broken off beyond trochanter. There is a single, complete, but rather dirty, amputated tar, complete with claws and pulvilli, adhering to base of damaged abdomen, that I assume belongs to this specimen. Mesonotum is damaged where pin was inserted. Wings intact, but left wing is dirty (right one is clean and may have been cleaned in relatively recent times). Left haltere is broken off at mid length. Abdomen broken off beyond first segment. None of the missing parts have been preserved):
Head (Fig. 12): Mainly dark red-brown to black, white setose. Antenna (Fig. 14): Dark red-brown, tip of style yellowish. Segmental ratios 1.0:0.9:2.5:0.2:1.0 – scape and pedicel subequal in length, white setose, major setae of pedicel as long as postpedicel; postpedicel only a little longer than scape and pedicel combined; style 2-segmented, spine-tipped, equal in length to scape. Face dark red-brown to black, mystax white, covering entire face. Frons, vertex and postocular region dark red-brown to black, long white setose; angle subtended by eye margins at level of frons/vertex c. 25°. Proboscis dark red-brown, white setose. Palpus 2-segmented, dark red-brown, white setose.
Thorax: Dark red-brown to black, white setose. Pronotum and mesonotum longish white setose. Lateral macrosetae moderately well developed (some broken), partly hidden among general body setae (difficult to count). Pleura with long katatergals, metepisternals and dorsally situated anepisternals. Katepisternals short, sparse. Scutellum shiny black, apruinose, without transverse, subapical groove. 12 moderately developed translucent apical macrosetae; disc asetose. Legs: Dark red-brown, major setae pale yellowish, minor setae longish white. Ventral parts of tar partly black setose. Claws black, shorter than tarsomere 5; empodium yellow (tip missing); pulvillus well-developed (almost as long as claw) (Fig. 19). Haltere dark red-brown. Wing (Fig. 6): 8.8× 3.6 mm. Veins orange-brown, membrane lacking microtrichiae. Membrane transparent, unstained. Vein R 4 lacking basal stump-vein.
Abdomen: Segment 1 dark red-brown to black. T1 with group of pale yellowish macrosetae laterally and tiny dark red-brown setulae medially. Genitalia missing.
Holotype:Sex unknown as terminalia are missing. GREECE: ‘701’, ‘ Acnephalum / olivierii ’ (NMHN). Note: According to Macquart (1838), the type locality is the Greek Island of Naxos (37°05'N: 25°30'E).
Distribution: I have not seen any other material identified as olivierii. In cataloguing the species, Lehr (1988) reported it from Greece (presumably the type material) with queries for the then USSR and North Africa.
Remarks:Although the rather badly preserved type specimen strongly resembles Afrotropical species currently assigned to Acnephalum, it demonstrates features that clearly separate it from these species and align it with Pycnopogon. Features that I believe distinguish it (and other specimens of Pycnopogon, identified by Milan Hradsky listed above) from Afrotropical species covered by this review (i.e. those assigned to the new genus – see below) are shown in Table 1. Although a modern revision of Acnephalum is required before the value of these characters will be known for certain, I believe they serve well to support the taxonomic decisions made here.
description: Published as part of Londt, Jason G. H., 2010, A review of Afrotropical Acnephalum Macquart, 1838, including the reinstatement of Sporadothrix Hermann, 1907 and descriptions of two new genera (Diptera: Asilidae: Stenopogoninae), pp. 431-482 in African Invertebrates 51 (2) on pages 436-437, DOI: 10.5733/afin.051.0212, http://zenodo.org/record/7913777