Iteaphila zontaki Sinclair & Shamshev 2021, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Sinclair, Bradley J.
name: Shamshev, Igor V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Iteaphilidae
Iteaphila
Iteaphila zontaki

description: Iteaphila zontaki (Nowicki) comb. nov.
(Figs 34, 75, 76)
Microphorus zontaki Nowicki, 1871: 73. Type locality: “Tatra” [= Tatra Mts, 49°10′N 20°08′E].
Microphorus zontaki: Loew, 1871: 249 (redescription); Bezzi, 1903: 258 [catalogue]; Kertész, 1909: 103 [catalogue]. Anthepiscopus zontaki: Melander, 1928: 108 [catalogue]; Engel, 1941: 201 [redescription, German translation].
Type material. The type specimens could not be located (J. Wajtusiak pers. comm. 2006).
Additional material examined. CZECH REPUBLIC. Šumava Mts., 1100 m, Rokytecká slat’., peat bog, 49°00′59″N 13°25′05″E, MT, 18.v.–16.vi.1999, Barták & Kubík (2 ♂, 1 ♀, CULSP); Krkonoše, Pančava, MT, dwarf pine + peat bog 1300 m, 50°46′15.8″N 15°32′19.0″E, 10–24.vi.2005, Vaněk (1 ♀, CULSP); Krkonoše, Labská and Pančavská louka, 1340 m, 50°46′07″N 15°32′31″E, 16–17.vi.2005, M. Barták (1 ♀, CULSP); Šumava, Malá Niva, spruce forest, 750 m, MT, 48°54′47″N 13°49′08″E, 29.iv.–19.v.1999, Barták (1 ♀, CULSP).
Recognition. This species is recognized by dark legs and halteres, yellow phallus with expanded hooked apex and dorsally projecting hook-shaped surstylus (Fig. 75).
Redescription. Wing length 3.4–3.7 mm. Male. Head black in ground-colour, with brown to black setation, occiput densely brownish pollinose. Eyes holoptic, with upper ommatidia enlarged, border between larger and smaller ommatidia distinct. Frons represented by small triangular space just above antennae, bare, brownish pollinose. Ocellar triangle prominent, with 2 pairs of subequally moderately long hair-like setae. Postvertical and postocular setae moderately long, thin; additionally, occiput covered with numerous similar setae in lower part. Antenna brown; scape short, subequal to globular pedicel, both with short setulae; postpedicel rather narrow, 4.0– 4.5 times longer than wide, smoothly tapered; stylus very short, sensillum-tipped; segment 9 tubular, nearly as long as wide, apical sensillum longer than stylus. Proboscis long, projected obliquely; labium nearly as long as head is high; palpus projected, long, somewhat expanded apically, parallel to labrum, somewhat shorter than labrum.
Thorax black in ground-colour, with brown to black setation, with posterior part of postpronotal lobe and postalar tubercle often paler; scutum viewed dorsally entirely black brown, slightly matt, with 2 indistinct paler vittae between acrostichal and dorsocentral sete; viewed anteriorly velvety brown, with 2 indistinct paler vittae; mesopleuron uniformly greyish brown pollinose. Proepisternum with a few hair-like setae. Postpronotal lobe with 1–2 long thin and several short setae. Mesonotal setae hardly prominent, varying in number and position; acr moderately long, biserial, lacking on prescutellar depression, distance between paired rows much shorter than length of acr; dc uniserial (with some additional setulae in anterior part), offset from row anteriorly, mostly subequal to acr, 2–3 prescutellar pairs of dc longer; 1 presut spal (with several additional setulae), 4–5 npl (with 2 additional shorter setae), several psut spal of different lengths, 1 long and 1 short pal, 6 pairs of sctl.
Legs, including coxae, almost entirely brownish; knees of fore and mid legs brownish yellow. Coxae and trochanters with unmodified hair-like setae. Fore femur with row of short anteroventral hair-like setae and moderately long hair-like setae on posteroventral, dorsal and posterior faces. Mid femur with moderately long posteroventral bristly hairs along entire length (somewhat longer and stronger on apical half), covered with moderately long setae on dorsal and posterior faces. Hind femur with long anteroventral and dorsal setae along whole length. Tibiae with somewhat prominent posterodorsal setae. Tarsomere 1 of mid and hindlegs with pair of rows of stiff ventral setae; tarsomere 5 on all legs somewhat flattened; pulvilli broad, shorter than tarsal claw.
Wing uniformly brown infuscate; basal costal seta absent; pterostigma distinct brown, elliptical, overlapping apex of R 1; anal lobe very prominent, acute. Sc complete; vein R 2+3 straight in apical part; R 4+5 unbranched; cell dm broad, longer than basal cells, hardly produced apically, almost truncate; base of M 2 (crossvein) nearly one-fourth length of dm-m, M branches widely separated; dm-cu crossvein straight. Apex of cell cua recurved, CuA+CuP long, ending just short of wing margin. Halter entirely brown.
Abdomen brown, subshiny, finely brownish pollinose (velvety brown viewed posteriorly), covered with moderately long bristly hairs. Terminalia (Fig. 75) concolorous with abdomen, small. Hypandrium with numerous long setae, rounded, upcurved apically, apex with pair of rounded lobes; gonocoxal apodeme narrow and short; inner apodeme narrow and flattened, one-half length of gonocoxal apodeme; postgonite broad at base, arched, produced into pair of slender lobes. Phallic guide not extended beyond epandrium, apex enclosed in apex of hypandrium. Epandrium not inflated laterally; dorsal bridge narrowed medially; produced distally into shiny, dorsally projecting, hook-shaped surstylus; apex of surstylus projecting posteriorly. Phallus yellow, arched beyond epandrium, broadly expanded apically (Fig. 76), bent nearly at right angles subapically; apical section broad, curved, with expanded membranous hook-like extension; ejaculatory apodeme plate-like, rounded, shorter than gonocoxal apodeme. Cercus long, narrow, two-thirds length of epandrium; apex rounded, extended free from epandrium; hypoproct produced into pair of long, slender processes, projecting beyond epandrium.
Female. Similar to male, except as follows: Eyes dichoptic; ommatidia equally small. Frons very broad, somewhat widened toward ocellar tubercle, subshiny, finely brownish grey pollinose, with marginal setulae. Scutellum with 4–5 pairs of setae. Fore and mid legs almost lacking prominent setation, femora with some short posteroventral subapical bristly hairs. Abdomen brownish yellow, subshiny, finely greyish pollinose; covered with short setulae somewhat longer posteriorly. Cercus brownish, long, slender, covered with minute setulae.
Distribution. Palaearctic: Czech Republic. This species was described from the Tatra Mountains and specimens have been confirmed from Czech Republic (Fig. 74).
Remarks. Although the type material was not found, species identification was confirmed through the description and illustration of Engel (1941: 204, fig. 111e, labelled A. ribesii) (see also under I. ribesii). Engel used Loew’s description (Loew 1871), to place Microphorus zontaki into Anthepiscopus following Melander (1928). However, Loew did not indicate which material he studied. Engel received from E.M. Hering (Berlin-Dahlem) four males found in Loew’s collection.
The base of the surstylus, with a deep cleft is similar in both I. zontaki and I. miranda sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Sinclair, Bradley J. & Shamshev, Igor V., 2021, World revision of Iteaphila with unbranched radial vein (Diptera: Empidoidea: Iteaphilidae), pp. 1-89 in Zootaxa 4968 (1) on pages 74-76, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4968.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4745566