Dacus (Didacus) insolitus White & Goodger, 2009, sp.n.
Creators: name: White, Ian M.
name: Goodger, Kim F. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Lauxaniidae
Dacus
Dacus insolitus

description: Dacus (Didacus) insolitus sp.n.
Figures 20 – 26.
Diagnosis. Differs from all other known African Dacus spp. in its lack of a facial spot (fig. 23), combined with an extensive covering of microtrichia in cell bc.
Description. Size. Very small, wing length, 2.8 – 3.8 mm. Head (fig. 23). Pedicel+1st flagellomere not longer than ptilinal suture. Face, antennal furrow without a dark spot. Frons, frontal setae 1, orbital setae 0. Thorax (figs 20, 24). Scutum red-brown; postpronotal lobe and notopleural callus concolorous with scutum; notopleural xanthine absent; lateral and medial postsutural vittae absent. Scutellum concolorous with scutum. Anepisternum without a yellow stripe. Katepisternum with a trace of a xanthine. Laterotergal xanthine absent. Setae. Anterior notopleural seta absent; anterior supra-alar seta absent. Wing (fig. 26). Basal cells bc and c with an almost complete covering of microtrichia; cell bm without microtrichia. Narrow subbasal raised section of cell br with extensive covering of microtrichia. Crossvein R-M beyond middle of cell dm. Costal band pale (but distinct) in cell r1; reduced to a very narrow and pale band in cell r2+3 (barely discernable); apically expanded into a distinctly coloured oblique spot, reaching vein M. Anal streak present (colour extending beyond cell bcu). Cells bc and c hyaline. Crossbanding; at most with a trace of a crossband on the anterior portion of R-M. Legs (fig. 25). Femora brown. Abdomen (fig. 21). Predominantly red-brown, with distinct black pear-drop shaped spots on each of terga III, IV and V, but not coalesced into a strip. Tergites I – V all fused. Male. Tergite III with pecten, dense microtrichia adjacent end A1+Cu2, and hindtibia preapical pad. Female (fig. 22). Aculeus blunt and with preapical "shoulder"; complete torsion.
Etymology. Named for its unusual (insolitus) combination of character states.
Material. Holotype female (NMKE), KENYA: Nyanza, Nyamarandi Village, 1251m., 0o30.535’S, 34 o11.206’E, 6 – 20.vi.2006, malaise trap, R.S. Copeland. Paratypes: 1 female (NMKE), KENYA: Nyanza, Rusinga Island, 1206m., 0o23.430’S, 34o10.995’E, 15. – 21.xi.2004, malaise trap, R.S. Copeland; 1 female (MRAC), same data except, 28.xi. – 5.xii.2004; 1 male (BMNH), same data except, 29.xii.2004 – 4.i.2005; 1 female (BMNH), same data except, 21.iv. – 12.v.2005.
Remarks. The combination of aculeus torsion and lack of an anterior notopleural seta indicates an affinity to the Mulgens group; the abdomen pattern is similar to D. (Lophodacus) nairobensis but the dense covering of microtrichia in the narrowed portion of cell br rules out membership of sg. Lophodacus; the complete lack of vittae (save for a trace on the katepisternum) is unusual in specimens that show no trace of postmortem staining; an almost complete coverage of microtrichia in cell bc is otherwise only known in four other African species, namely D. (D.) bequaerti Collart, 1935, D. (Leptoxyda) arabicus White, 2006, D. (Neodacus) melanaspis (Munro, 1984) and D. (N.) xanthaspis (Munro, 1984).
description: Published as part of White, Ian M. & Goodger, Kim F. M., 2009, African Dacus (Diptera: Tephritidae); New Species and Data, with Particular Reference to the Tel Aviv University Collection, pp. 1-49 in Zootaxa 2127 on page 14, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.274925