Suragina malavaensis Muller 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Muller, Burgert S.
name: Swart, Vaughn R.
name: Snyman, Louwrens P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Athericidae
Suragina
Suragina malavaensis

description: Suragina malavaensis Muller sp. nov.
Figs 6, 23, 24, 47, 64, 68, 82
Type material examined.
Holotype: Kenya • 1 ♂; Western Province; Malava Forest; 00°27.8232'N, 34°51.4362'E; 1619 masl; 4–18 May 2017; R. Copeland leg.; Indigenous forest; Malaise trap; (ICIPE 3863-72).
Paratypes: • 1 ♂; same data as holotype; (ICIPE) • 1 ♂; same data as holotype; 20 Apr. – 4 May 2017; (ICIPE) • 1 ♀; same data as holotype; 1–15 Jun. 2017; (ICIPE).
Holotype and paratypes deposited at ICIPE.
Diagnosis.
A species with well-developed subtriangular upper occipital markings (Fig. 6). The wing with a hyaline band between brown suffused apical third of wing and substigmal markings (Fig. 47). The species is most similar to S. freidbergi Muller, sp. nov., however the latter has the upper occipital marking more rectangular (Fig. 8) than triangular, and the mid femur entirely yellow compared to that of S. malavaensis Muller, sp. nov. that has its mid femur yellow with the base dark. Additionally, S. malavaensis Muller, sp. nov. has tergites 4 and onwards orange-yellow compared to that of S. freidbergi Muller, sp. nov. that has tergites 3–5 with posterior grey pruinose bands.
Description.
Measurements (♂ n = 2, ♀ n = 1): Wing span: ♂ 7.1–7.6 mm (avg. 7.3 mm); ♀ 8.4 mm; body length: ♂ 8.2–8.4 mm (avg. 8.3 mm); ♀ 8.9 mm; wing span to body length ratio (avg.): ♂ 0.88; ♀ 0.94.
Male (Fig. 23).
Head: Black ground colour, with bluish-grey pruinosity on majority of head; eye bare; holoptic, eyes touching; ommatidia of similar size; lateral edge of eye with indentation; ocellar tubercle elevated, visible in profile, pale setulose (rubbed bare in ♀), black in colour; vertex bluish-grey pruinose, with only pale setulae; anterior ocellus similar in size to posterior pair; ocellar tubercle in front of dorsal margin of eye, not placed as deeply towards middle of head as in ♀; dorsal inner edge of eye abutting ocellar tubercle; occiput with same bluish-grey pruinosity as rest of head; paired black markings with dark setulae on upper occiput widening towards lateral margin of head, abutting posterior margin of eyes, flanking vertex; upper occiput with similar dark setulae; lower occiput with long pale setulae, only genal area with dark setulae, these continue ventrally on head to mouthparts that have mix of pale and dark ventral setulae; frons bluish-grey pruinose, velvety-black from ocellar tubercle to lower half of eye; frons widening from velvety-black patch towards antennal base; frons bare; face and gena bluish-grey, face with pale setulae; clypeus black with bluish-grey pruinosity, bare; face separated anteriorly from clypeus by a deep transverse suture, similar to lateral sutures; face not appearing to bulge laterally when viewed in profile; clypeus visible in profile, face not; antennal bases separated ca 0.5 × width of scape, with slight longitudinal groove running between; scape, pedicel same dark brown to blackish colour as rest of head, with white pruinosity; 1 st flagellomere darker orange with similar pruinosity as other segments, 2 nd flagellomere brown; scape and pedicel of similar size; 1 st flagellomere reniform, ca 1.5 × size of pedicel; 2 nd flagellomere arista-like; pedicel with dark dorsal and ventral setulae, similar in size, scape with only dark dorsal setulae; palpus black on apical half with scattered white pruinosity, orange-yellow on basal half, with dark setulae throughout; palpus ca 0.5 × length of proboscis; proboscis ca same length as head height; proboscis mostly orange-yellow, with some infuscation on labellum, entire structure interspersed with some long pale and dark setulae.
Thorax: Scutum shining black with two feint dorsocentral bluish-grey pruinose vittae running from pronotum to before scutellum; pronotum bluish-grey pruinose with long pale setulae; postpronotal lobe dark brown, slight bluish-grey pruinose with long pale setulae, anterolateral margin of lobe lighter yellowish- to orange-brown (♀ colouring more apparent); notopleuron bluish-grey pruinose with long dark setulae and some pale setulae anteriorly; postalar wall and postalar callus dark brown with slight bluish-grey pruinosity, anterior of postalar callus orange-yellow; scutellum dark brown with bluish-grey pruinosity, entire margin orange-yellow from base to apex; scutum generally with short dark setulae with postsutural setulae longer than presutural setulae, especially prescutellar setulae; majority of pleura bluish-grey pruinose, except for anatergite, posterior of anepimeron, part of meron shiny blackish-brown; all pleura that are bluish-grey pruinose have long pale setulae; anepimeron with long pale setulae, anatergite and meron bare; proepisternum and proepimeron with long pale setulae; anterior and posterior spiracles and surroundings brownish-yellow, bare; postspiracular scale dark brown.
Legs: Fore coxa entirely yellow with only some scattered white pruinosity, mid and hind coxae blackish-brown, with bluish-grey pruinosity on surface; fore coxa with mostly pale setulae except for some dark setulae apically; mid coxa with long pale setulae on anterior surface, sparsely setulose along posterior margin; hind coxa with a mix of long pale and dark setulae on anterior edge surrounding well-developed anterior apical point, lateral apical edges with long pale setulae; fore and hind trochanters mostly dirty yellow with edges brown, mid trochanter dark brown with yellow edges, all trochanters with short pale setulae; fore femur entirely yellow; mid femur yellow with extreme base in some specimens shiny dark brown, otherwise yellow; hind femur dark brown except for yellow basal and apical sections; fore tibia and tarsi dark brown almost black; mid tibia and basitarsus yellow, apical tarsal segments appearing darker; hind tibia blackish-brown, with apex dark yellow; hind tarsi dark brown except for dark yellow basal part of basitarsus; fore tarsal claws asymmetrical, outer claw much larger than inner claw, foreleg empodium ca 2 × size of inner pulvillus, outer pulvillus ca 2 × length of inner, approaching size of outer claw; fore tarsi with long, somewhat curved sensory setulae along antero- and posteroventral surfaces, sensory setulae ca 2 × as long as tarsal segment is wide; fore femur with 2–3 long pale setulae grouped together on ventral surface, similar in appearance as rest of setulae; all femora with a mix of short pale and dark and long pale setulae on dorsal surfaces; fore femur with long pale setulae on apical ventral and posteroventral surfaces; mid femur with long pale setulae on ventral surface, without dark setulae dorso-apically (present in ♀); hind femur with setulae throughout, longer pale setulae dorsally, darker surface areas with dark setulae; fore and mid tibiae with short dark setulae; hind tibia with dark setulae that are at least as long as segment is wide; hind leg overall stouter than remaining legs; combined length of hind tarsal segments subequal to hind tibia; tibial spur formula 0: 2: 2.
Wing (Fig. 47): Brown suffused on apical half except for middle of discal cell, base of cells r 2 + 3 and r 5 that appears lighter; dark brown stigma over cell r 1; darker suffused substigmal marking running down from stigma over crossvein r – m, bases of discal cell, cell m 3 and apex of cell br; cells bm and cua hyaline; veins dark brown, with additional brown suffusion around vein CuA; costa without distinct downward flexure over stigma; cell cua closed a short distance from wing margin; cell m 3 open, veins M 1, M 2, M 3 present; haltere stalk dirty yellow, knob darker yellowish-brown, with a few short and dark setulae.
Abdomen: Tergite 1 orange-yellow with anterior and posterior margins dark brown, lateral margins orange-yellow; tergites 2 and 3 mostly orange-yellow, lateral margins also dark brown; a dark median vitta runs from anterior of tergite 1 to posterior of tergite 3; rest of tergites orange-brown without darker colouring; tergites covered in short dark setulae with longer pale setulae on lateral margins; tergite 1 medially with a longitudinal suture; sternites all orange-yellow.
Terminalia (Fig. 64, 68): Epandrium and cercus dark brown with dark setulae; gonocoxite, hypoproct and hypandrium with pale setulae; gonostylus tapering to a point, outer edge of gonostylus with some scattered short setulae, inner edge with protrusion with some short setulae, apical third of gonostylus sparsely covered in microtrichia; gonocoxite widening and appearing more rounded on apical half, apex somewhat flattened, gonocoxite outer and ventral medial surface densely covered with long setulae, inner surface of upper half bare except for a patch of short setulae on upper marginal area, lower ventral surface similarly setulose as rest of gonocoxite; gonocoxite with microtrichia between setulae; parameral apodeme with pointed apex, not reaching base of gonocoxite in ventral view, parameral sheath including parameral apodeme ca 0.9 × length of gonocoxite; gonocoxal apodeme 0.8 × length of gonocoxite and of similar length as ejaculatory apodeme; aedeagal tine curvature barely extending down past gonocoxites, apex of tines not extending out past parameral sheath; endoaedeagal process ending widely bilobed apically.
Female (Fig. 24).
Head (Fig. 6): Black ground colour, with bluish-grey pruinosity on majority of head; eye bare; dichoptic; ommatidia of similar size; lateral edge of eye without any indentation; ocellar tubercle elevated, visible in profile, rubbed bare in ♀ (♂ pale setulose), bluish-grey pruinose medially when viewed dorsally, otherwise appearing black; vertex bluish-grey pruinose, with only pale setulae; anterior ocellus similar in size to posterior pair; ocellar tubercle in front of dorsal margin of eye; dorsal inner edge of eye without discernible paired dark markings, same bluish-grey pruinose as rest of head; occiput similarly bluish-grey pruinose; paired black markings with dark setulae on upper occiput widening towards lateral margin of head, abutting posterior margin of eyes, flanking vertex; upper occiput with similar dark setulae; lower occiput with long pale setulae, only genal area with dark setulae, these continue ventrally on head to mouthparts that have mix of pale and dark ventral setulae; frons bluish-grey pruinose, velvety-black from ocellar tubercle to lower half of eye; frons running almost parallel, widening only slightly towards antennal base; frons with dark setulae on velvety-black upper half and pale setulae on lower half; face bluish-grey with pale setulae; clypeus black with bluish-grey pruinosity, bare; face separated anteriorly from clypeus by shallow transverse emargination, with deeper sutures laterally; face not appearing to bulge laterally when viewed in profile; clypeus visible in profile, face not; antennal bases separated ca 0.5 × width of scape, with slight longitudinal groove running between; scape, pedicel same dark brown to blackish colour as rest of head, with white pruinosity; 1 st flagellomere darker orange with similar pruinosity as other segments, 2 nd flagellomere brown; scape ca 2 × size of pedicel; 1 st flagellomere reniform, 2 × size of pedicel; 2 nd flagellomere arista-like; pedicel with dark dorsal and ventral setulae, similar in size, scape with only dark dorsal setulae; palpus black on apical half with scattered white pruinosity, orange-yellow on basal half, with dark setulae throughout; palpus ca 0.5 × length of proboscis; proboscis approximately same length as head height; proboscis mostly orange-yellow, with some infuscation on labellum, entire structure interspersed with some long pale and dark setulae.
Thorax (Fig. 6): Scutum shining black with two feint dorsocentral bluish-grey pruinose vittae running from pronotum to before scutellum; pronotum bluish-grey pruinose with long pale setulae; postpronotal lobe dark brown, slight bluish-grey pruinose with long pale setulae, anterolateral margin of lobe a lighter yellowish- to orange-brown; notopleuron bluish-grey pruinose with long dark setulae and some pale setulae anteriorly; postalar wall and postalar callus dark brown with slight bluish-grey pruinosity, anterior of postalar callus orange-yellow; scutellum dark brown with bluish-grey pruinosity, apical margin orange-yellow, with laterobasal section appearing to have orange-yellow spot; scutum generally with short dark setulae with postsutural setulae longer than presutural setulae, especially prescutellar setulae; majority of pleura bluish-grey pruinose, except for anatergite, posterior of anepimeron, part of meron shiny blackish-brown; all pleura that are bluish-grey pruinose have long pale setulae; anepimeron with long pale setulae, anatergite and meron bare; proepisternum and proepimeron with long pale setulae; anterior and posterior spiracles and surroundings brownish-yellow, bare; postspiracular scale dark brown.
Legs: Fore coxa entirely yellow with only some scattered white pruinosity, mid and hind coxae blackish-brown, with bluish-grey pruinosity on surface; fore coxa with mostly pale setulae except for some dark setulae apically; mid coxa with long pale setulae on anterior surface, sparsely setulose along posterior margin; hind coxa with a mix of long pale and dark setulae on anterior edge surrounding well-developed anterior apical point, lateral apical edges with long pale setulae; fore and hind trochanters mostly dirty yellow with edges brown, mid trochanter dark brown with yellow edges, all trochanters with short pale setulae; fore femur entirely yellow; mid femur yellow with anteroventral basal quarter a shiny dark brown; hind femur dark brown except for yellow basal and apical sections; fore tibia and tarsi dark brown almost black; mid tibia and basitarsus yellow, apical tarsal segments appearing darker; hind tibia blackish-brown, with apex dark yellow; hind tarsi dark brown except for dark yellow basal part of basitarsus; fore tarsal claws and pulvilli symmetrical, pulvilus and empodium of similar size; fore tarsi with long, somewhat curved sensory setulae along antero- and posteroventral surfaces, sensory setulae ca 2 × as long as tarsal segment is wide; fore femur with 2–3 long pale setulae grouped together on ventral surface, similar in appearance as rest of setulae; all femora with a mix of short pale and dark setulae on dorsal surfaces; fore femur with long pale setulae on apical ventral and posteroventral surfaces; mid femur with long pale setulae on ventral surface, some dark setulae dorso-apically; hind femur with short setulae throughout except for longer pale setulae towards apex; all tibiae with short dark setulae; hind leg overall stouter than remaining legs; hind tarsal segments 0.9 × (♀) as long as hind tibia; tibial spur formula 0: 2: 2.
Wing: Brown suffused on apical half except for middle of discal cell, base of cells r 2 + 3 and r 5 that is hyaline; dark brown stigma over cell r 1; darker suffused substigmal marking running down from stigma over crossvein r – m, bases of discal cell, cell m 3 and apex of cell br; cells bm and cua hyaline; veins dark brown, with additional brown suffusion around vein CuA; costa without distinct downward flexure over stigma; cell cua closed a short distance from wing margin; cell m 3 open, veins M 1, M 2, M 3 present; haltere stalk dirty yellow, knob brown, with a few short and dark setulae.
Abdomen: Tergite 1 dark brown to black, basal margin produced anteriorly, orange-yellow with slight grey pruinosity and black edge; tergite 2 mostly orange-yellow with a dark brown median vitta running towards a narrow brown posterior margin, lateral margins also dark brown; tergites 3 and 4 dark brown, tergite 4 orange-brown along posterior margin except for dark brown median vitta which runs down tergite 5 as well; tergites 5–7 orange-yellow for most part with lateral margins same colour; abdomen covered in short dark setulae with longer pale setulae on lateral margins; pale setulae on orange-yellow sections of tergite 2; tergite 1 medially with a longitudinal suture; sternites with long pale setulae similar to those on tergites; sternites 1 and 2 pale yellow, sternite 3 brown, and rest of sternites darker orange ending in black terminalia.
Terminalia (Fig. 82): Cercus dark brown with pale setulae; sternite 8 blackish-brown; genital fork with distal apodeme narrow, ending broadly, but shallowly bifurcated; median lobe with narrow emargination; paired apical lobes with somewhat slender appearance, inner surface with clustered microtrichia at apex; arms gradually rounded; three oval and sclerotized spermathecae.
Etymology.
Named after the type locality, Malava Forest, Kenya. Feminine adjective in the nominative singular case.
Distribution.
Kenya.
description: Published as part of Muller, Burgert S., Swart, Vaughn R. & Snyman, Louwrens P., 2024, Revision of Afrotropical Suragina Walker, 1859 (Diptera, Athericidae), pp. 247-327 in African Invertebrates 65 (2) on pages 247-327, DOI: 10.3897/afrinvertebr.65.140524