Afroestricus abyssinia Scarbrough Table Of Contents 2005, sp. n.
Creators: name: Scarbrough Table Of Contents, Aubrey G.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Asilidae
Afroestricus
Afroestricus abyssinia

description: Afroestricus abyssinia, sp. n.   
Figs. 5–14, 193  
Male. Body 12.4 mm; wing 8.0– 8.7 mm. Head: Face yellow tomentose with abundant black vestiture dorsally, yellow, denser vestiture ventrally; FHWR 1.0:3.9–1.0:4.0. Antenna black, setae below scape as long as scape+ pedicel; flagellum absent. Frons yellow to brownish­yellow tomentose; setae as long as scape and pedicel combined. Occiput gray tomentose, mostly yellow and white setose; row of 12 to 14 black postocular bristles dorsally, extending to or near midlateral margin of eye; postocular bristles long, thin, and strongly proclinate, longest just before or above ocellar tubercle.  
 Thorax: Pronotum brownish­yellow tomentose with black bristles. Mesonotum with mostly dull yellow to yellowish­gray tomentum, two median stripes and two lateral spots brown; vestiture black, anterior setae longer than scape; row of long, stout, dorsocentral bristles extend forward to postpronotum, anterior dorsocentral setae about 2/3 as long as first notopleural bristle; four lateral bristles present. Scutellum yellow tomentose with yellow setae. Pleuron yellow to yellowish­gray tomentose; setae pale yellow, anepimeral bristle pale yellow or black. Halter yellow, knob slightly brownish­yellow.   
 Wing: As Fig. 3a except as follows. Cell m 3 basally with short m­cu crossvein. Cell m 1 WR 1.0:2.6:2.9–1.0:2.8:2.9.   
 Leg: Coxae black, yellowish­gray tomentose, vestiture yellowish. Trochanter black. Femora mostly yellow with black bristles; narrow apex of middle and hind femora brown; hind femur with anterior most basal bristle yellow; fore and middle femora with mostly, long, thin yellow setae ventrally, sparse black setae present. Middle femur with preapical, posteroventral bristle. Hind femur with posteroventral bristles arched posteriorly; HFWLR 1.0:3.6–1.0:3.7. Tibiae mostly yellow, narrow apex of fore and middle tibiae and apical 1/ 2 of hind tibia anteriorly brown to black; bristles mostly black, one to three yellow bristles present. Tarsi dark brown with black bristles, narrow base of most tarsomeres yellow; basal tarsomere of fore and middle tarsi yellow with narrow brown apex; fore and middle tarsi with five or six yellow bristles.   
 Abdomen: Gray tomentose with mostly pale yellow to white setae; terga 6 to 8 slightly brown tomentose medially with abundant black setae; sparse black setae present on tergum 5 medially.   
 Terminalia (Fig. 5–10). Black, apical margin brownish­yellow or red. Epandrium wide apically, apex three to four times base; apex broadly emarginated; ventral corner narrow and pointed in lateral view, wide and rounded in ventral view, forming asymmetrical clubbed; shallow, preapical, dorsoapical notch present. Gonostylus distinctive. Gonocoxite short, apex before apical margin of epandrium. Distiphallus horizontal, slightly flared apically; epiphallus narrow, constricted medially, wide triangular sides anterolateriorly; ejaculatory apodeme slightly thick medially with narrow lateral flange. Hypandrium rounded apically.   
 Female. Differs as follows: Body 10.1–10.7 mm; wing 7.9 mm; FHWR 1.0:3.6– 1.0:3.8; FWLR 1.0:1.6–1.0:1.9; m 1 WR 1.0:2.8:3.0; HFWLR 1.0:4.5–1.0:4.8. Face: Dorsal 1/2 of face with black vestiture. Flagellum as long as scape. Leg: Femora slender. Abdomen: Narrow middle of terga 2 to 4 black setose, terga beyond mostly to entirely black setose; apical two to three terga with only thin, black bristles, those of sterna yellow and thicker. Terminalia (Figs. 11–14) Reddish­brown. Tergum 9 entirely sclerotized dorsally, about 1/2 as long as cercus. Sternum 8 with abundant thin setae laterally. Spermatheca smooth, swollen apically. Genital fork with very slender arms and base.   
 Type material. Holotype M, ETHIOPIA [= C. Abyssinia]: Maraquo, 2.vi.1914, O. Kovacs, (BMNH). Paratypes: 1 F, same data as holotype (BMNH); 1 M [terminalia slide S.56], 4 F, same data as holotype (BMNH).   
 Etymology. The species name, abyssinia, a noun in apposition, refers to the ancient empire of the Sabean kingdoms, which includes present day Ethiopia.   
Distribution (Tables 1, 2; Fig. 193). Known from the type locality; collected in June.  
 Remarks. Afroestricus abyssinia is distinguished from congeners by characters in the key and terminalia (Figs. 5–14). Although similar to A. macroscelis, it differs in the yellow femur, a dorsoapical notch on the epandrium, and in the distinctive shapes of the aedeagus and genital fork.
description: Published as part of Scarbrough Table Of Contents, Aubrey G., 2005, Afroestricus, a new Afrotropical Ommatine (Diptera: Asilidae) genus with twenty species and two species groups, pp. 1-76 in Zootaxa 1041 (1) on pages 14-16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1041.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5050609