Empidideicus (Anomaloptilus) andriambahomananii Evenhuis & Gharali 2022, n. sp.
Creators: name: Evenhuis, Neal L.
name: Gharali, Babak
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Bombyliidae
Empidideicus
Empidideicus andriambahomananii

description: Empidideicus (Anomaloptilus) andriambahomananii Evenhuis & Gharali, n. sp.
(Figs 5, 6, 17, 23, 25, 40, 48–50, 63, 64)
Types. Holotype ♂ (USNMENT 01353650) and 21♂ ♀ paratypes from MADAGASCAR: Tulear Province: Berenty Special Reserve, 20 Apr 1991, A. Freidberg, F. Kaplan (USNM). Other paratypes: MADAGASCAR: Tulear Province: 5♂ ♀, 8 km NW Amboasary, 25°01.26′S, 46°18.33′E, 35 m, 11–23 Jun 2004, Malaise in spiny forest, M.E. Irwin, F. Parker, R. Harin’Hala (CAS); 1♀, same data except: 26 Jan–5 Feb 2002, 25°00.40′S, 46°18.20′E, Malaise in gallery forest, M.E. Irwin, F. Parker, R. Harin’Hala (CAS). Holotype in USNM; paratypes in USNM, CAS, and BPBM.
Diagnosis. Similar to E. (A.) hauseri n. sp. by both having the second antennal flagellomere more than 1/3 the length of the first flagellomere and a closed anal cell, but can be easily separated from it by the scutellum with brown basomedially (scutellum all yellow in E. (A.) hauseri n. sp.) and by the yellow sternites (sternites brown in E. (A.) hauseri n. sp.).
Description:
Male (Fig. 5). Length: 0.98–1.15 mm. Wing: 1.05–1.22 mm. Head (Fig. 17): slightly longer than high; eyes dichoptic, separated at vertex by 1× distance between lateral ocelli; occiput and postgena black; frons short, slightly depressed medially, black along inner eye margin, brown medially; face yellowish brown, tip of oral margin tan to brown; antennae (Fig. 23) black; scape short, subtrapezoidal; pedicel subconical, wider than long; first flagellomere lanceolate, length 2× width; second flagellomere slightly less than one-half length of first flagellomere, with minute transparent apical style; mentum black; clypeus brown, as long as oral margin; proboscis dark brown to black, length 1.5× head length; labrum sclerotized, stiff, pointed apically, length subequal to clypeus; palpus not evident.
Thorax (Fig. 25). Mesonotum subshining black; yellow dorsolaterally from humeral callus to postalar callus; yellow interhumeral marks coalesced with yellow humeral calli; scutellum yellow; mesonotal disc and dorsum of scutellum with short fine black hairs; pleura bare, black, with yellow to on following: anteroventral corner of anepisternum, upper half of katepisternum and anepimeron, laterally on propleuron, posterior half of meron; halter stem grayish brown, knob yellow.
Legs. Yellow except tarsal segments 3–5 brown.
Wing (Fig. 40). Elongate, length 2.5–3.0× width; subhyaline; veins brown; costa ends well beyond end of R 4+5; vein Sc incomplete; Rs faded basally at connection with R 1; R 4+5 slightly bowed at apical one-third; vein M 1 curved toward wing margin; M 2 straight; cell dm closed by apical crossvein between cell dm and cell m1; A 1 thin, straight to wing margin; anal cell closed at wing margin; fringe of hair on posterior margin of wing well shortest at wing tip becoming longer and more sparse toward base.
Abdomen (cf. Fig. 50). Dorsum black, concolorous with mediotergite color; tergites II–VII predominantly black with white band along posterior margin, band becoming successively broader on successive segments; lateral margins broader white than posterior bands; tergites with sparsely scattered minute black hairs; sternites white.
Genitalia (Fig. 63). Hypopygium shiny yellowish white. In ventral view gonocoxites subtrapezoidal, deeply cleft medially, with thin dark sclerotization basally (Fig. 63A); gonostylus with sickle-shaped ventral portion and large, rounded dorsal portion; lateral arms of parameral sheath extending well below gonocoxa, slightly flared apically; aedeagal bulb large, rounded; aedeagal apodeme short, one-third length of lateral arms of parameral sheath, with short lanceolate lateral rami; upper portion of parameral sheath subequal in length to gonocoxa (Fig. 63C); aedeagus not extending beyond parameral sheath; epandrium subrectangular with large rounded apicoventral processes; cerci large (Fig. 63B).
Female (Fig. 6): As in male. Genitalia (Fig. 64): genital fork [= furca] thin, U-shaped, with large rounded, opaque black structures at apex of each arm of the “U”; two spheroid spermathecae, sclerotized brown, slightly longer than wide, with striations, apical invagination shallow; apical spermathecal duct ca. 3× length of spermathecae, thin, transparent; sperm pump 3–4× length of apical duct, slightly sclerotized, without evident valves apically or basally; basal duct extremely short, transparent, confluent with sperm pump, leading to very short sclerotized common duct.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the Malagasy creation myth wherein Andriambahomanana was the first man and chose to die to become a banana plant.
Remarks. There is some variation in the wing venation where the crossvein between cell dm and cell m1 can range from one-half width of crossvein r-m (Fig. 48) to non-existent where veins appear cruciate (cf. Fig. 49). The white band on the posterior margin is lacking on tergite II in some specimens.
description: Published as part of Evenhuis, Neal L. & Gharali, Babak, 2022, The subgenus Empidideicus (Anomaloptilus) (Diptera: Mythicomyiidae) in Madagascar, pp. 401-426 in Zootaxa 5222 (5) on pages 404-407, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5222.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7471736