Pycnomerinx gweta Oldroyd 1974
Creators: name: Londt, Jason G. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1990
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Asilidae
Pycnomerinx
Pycnomerinx gweta

description: <i>Pycnomerinx gweta</i> Oldroyd, 1974 Figs 14-17 <i>Pycnomerinx gweta</i> Oldroyd, 1974:65; 1980:367. As in the case of <i>cogani,</i> Oldroyd (1974) described <i>gweta</i> in a key. The full description, drawn from three couplets, reads as follows-'Legs at least partly red or reddish'; 'Femora not entirely red'; 'Femora and tibiae both with black anterodorsal streak. Male abdomen entirely red; female abdomen completely covered with yellow grey tomentum, except for shining black terminalia. Wings clear.' Again the material which was available at the time of description was not fully itemised and we must accept that only one specimen, the 'type', has any type status. Redescription: Based on holotype male unless otherwise stated. Similar to <i>P. rhodesii</i> except for the following features. <i>Head:</i> Antennae with macrosetae dark red-brown, other setae white. Head width: face width ratio 4,8:1. Mystax white. <i>Thorax:</i> Mesonotal setae mixed short yellow and longer dark red-brown. Macrosetae: 2-3 yellow npl, <i>ca</i> 8 yellow and dark red-brown spal, <i>ca</i> 5 yellow pal; acr absent and dc weak anteriorly; these setae weakly developed and forming part of a cluster of setae postsuturally. Scutellum with <i>ca</i> 14 yellow-white macrosetae and many paler setae marginally; disc lacking setae except for a few moderately developed ones adjacent to hind margin. Pleura uniformly gold-silver pruinose (black spot occupying most of anterior half of anepst and upper part of prpl absentalthough type has a 'greasy' mark corresponding to this area; other specimens lack this greasy mark and are uniformly pruinose). Wing: 6,5 x 2,1 mm. Venation dark brown. Legs: Femora dark red-brown dorsally, brown-yellow ventrally; tibiae brown-yellow except for dark red-brown parts ventrodistally; all setae pale yellow-white except for a single row of black ones ventrally on tarsomeres. Length of tarsus <i>ca</i> 60-65 % that of tibia. <i>Abdomen:</i> Orange except for first two segments which are at least partly dark red-brown to black; segments uniformly fine silver-gold pruinose. Genitalia orange-brown (Lake Ngami <i>cJ</i> illustrated-Figs 14- 16). Female: Similar to male but abdomen uniformly dark red-brown; uniformly strongly gold-silver pruinose except for shiny black terminal segments. Genitalia similar to <i>rhodesii.</i> Variation: There is a small degree of individual variation within populations. The colour and number of setae may differ slightly, especially on antennae and mesonotum. Colour of abdominal terga is variable, smaller males may have orange parts reduced to the hind margins of terga (26 km N Windhoek <i>cJ)</i> or terga may be entirely dark red-brown (Gobiswater <i>cJ).</i> A female (Angola/Namibia border) has yellow-brown margins to otherwise dark red-brown terga. Smaller specimens may also have more extensively darkly coloured legs. Material examined: BOTSWANA: 1 <i>&amp;male;,</i> Moremi Reserve, 19 °23'S, 22°33' E (B11), 18-20.iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 <i>&amp;male;,</i> L. Ngami, 2 mls NE Sehithwa [= Sehitwa 20023'S:22°45'E] (B8), 15-16.iv. 1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 &amp;female;, L. Ngami, 12 mls NE Sehithwa [= Sehitwa 20 °23'S: 22 °45'E] (B9), 16-17.iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 &amp;female;, Maun [20 000'S: 23 °25'E] (B 16), 21. iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 &amp;female;, 25 mls W Gweta (B 18), 20017 'S, 24°54'E, 21-22.iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 <i>&amp;male;</i> (holotype <i>P.</i> <i>gweta</i> Oldroyd), 2 mls N Gweta (BI9), 20011'S, 25°15'E, 22.iv. 1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 <i>&amp;male;</i> 1 &amp;female;, 18 mls NE Kalkfontein [22 °08'S:20053'E] (B3), 12-13.iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972- 1 (BM); 1 &amp;female;, Farmers Brigade, 5 kms SE Serowe, 2226BD, v.1986, P. Forchhammer, Malaise trap 2 (NM). NAMIBIA: 1 <i>&amp;male;</i> 1&amp;female; Angola-S. W. Afr Border Beacon 39, Ovamboland, 18. iv.1970, H. D. Brown (NM); 1 <i>&amp;male;,</i> 38 km SE Ondangua, Ovamboland, 1715DD, 9.v.1971, H 2486 (SMW); 1 <i>&amp;male;,</i> Gobiswater Fm., 12 mls N. Grootfontein [19 °32'S: 18 °05'E] (W50), 5.iv.1972, Sth Afr Exp BM 1972-1 (BM); 1 <i>&amp;male;,</i> Waterberg Nat. Park Entrance, Road 2512, 20 °32'S: 17 °20'E, 20.iii. 1984, Stuckenberg &amp; Londt, <i>Acacia</i> thornveld (NM); 1 <i>&amp;male;</i> 2 &amp;female;, Okahandja, 2116DD, 24.iv. 1983, Londt &amp; Stuckenberg, Riverine vegetation (NM); 1 <i>&amp;male;, 26 km N Windhoek</i>, Road 116, 22°20 'S: 17 °04'E, 29.iii.1984, Londt &amp; Stuckenberg, Dry stream bed <i>Acacia</i> riparian woodland (NM). Distribution: Apparently limited to southern Africa. Known from eight localities in Botswana and six in Namibia (Fig. 17). Ecology: The limited label data and field experience suggest that, like the other species in the genus, it is associated with <i>Acacia</i> woodland. The species has been collected sympatrically with <i>cogani</i> and at the same locality (but slightly later in the year) as <i>rhodesii</i> (Serowe). Records indicate that adults, like <i>rhodesii,</i> fly during late summer (March to May) (Table 2).
description: Published as part of <i>Londt, Jason G. H., 1990, Afrotropical Asilidae (Diptera) 20. The genus Pycnomerinx Hull, 1962 (Stenopogoninae), pp. 19-32 in ANNALS OF THE NATAL MUSEUM 31</i> on pages 28-30, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8383759
description: {"references": ["-- 1974. An introduction to the Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of Southern Africa. Annals of the Natal Museum 22 (1): 1 - 171.", "-- 1980. Family Asilidae. In: Crosskey, R. W. ed. Catalogue of the Diptera of the Afrotropical Region. London: British Museum (Natural History), pp. 334 - 373."]}