Merodon rufofemoris Vujic, Radenkovic & Likov 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Vujić, Ante
name: Radenković, Snežana
name: Likov, Laura
name: Tubić, Nataša Kočiš
name: Popov, Grigory
name: Gilasian, Ebrahim
name: Djan, Mihajla
name: Milosavljević, Marina Janković
name: Ačanski, Jelena
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Syrphidae
Merodon
Merodon rufofemoris

description: Merodon rufofemoris Vujić, Radenković & Likov sp. nov.
Figs 2 D, 3 C, 4 E, 5 C, 7 E, 11, 12 D, 13, 20 A, B
Type material examined.
Holotype: IRAN • 1 ♂; Fars prov., Dasht-e Ajran; 29.552, 51.942; 5 May 2015; leg. M. Kafka; in BM collection.
Diagnosis
(only male known). Similar to Merodon vandergooti from which differs by all femora completely reddish yellow (Figs 4 E, 20 B), while in males of M. vandergooti pro- and mesofemora are partly orange-yellowish and metafemur is almost completely black (Figs 4 C, 20 D), a less curved metafemur (Fig. 4 E), and an elongated anterior surstylar lobe in M. rufofemoris sp. nov. (Fig. 11 A: al) (shorter in M. vandergooti; Fig. 10 A: al). It differs from M. aenigmaticus sp. nov. by the reddish yellow femora (Fig. 4 E) (partly black in M. aenigmaticus sp. nov.; Fig. 4 G), and the posterior surstylar lobe angulate ventrally (Fig. 11 A: pl) (rounded in M. aenigmaticus sp. nov.; Fig. 9 A: pl).
Description.
Male. Head. Basoflagellomere orange-yellow (Fig. 2 D), elongated, ~ 2 × longer than wide, and ~ 1.9 × longer than pedicel, convex dorsally; fossette dorsolateral; arista reddish to brown and thickened at basal third; arista ~ 1.5 × longer than basoflagellomere; face and frons black, with whitish pollinosity; face covered with dense whitish pilosity; pile on frons dense, whitish; oral margin small, black, sparsely pollinose; lunula shining black to brown, bare; eye contiguity ~ 10 facets long; vertical triangle isosceles, black, shiny, except grey pollinose anterior corner, covered with greyish white pilosity; ocellar triangle equilateral; occiput with grey-yellow to reddish pile, densely covered with grey pollinosity along eyes; eyes covered with short, whitish grey pile (Fig. 12 D).
Thorax. Scutum and scutellum black with bronze lustre, covered with short, greyish yellow pile; pilosity between wing basis mostly black; scutum with indistinct pollinose vittae; transverse suture with two medial pollinose maculae (Figs 3 C, 20 A); posterior margin of scutellum with very long grey-yellow to whitish pilosity, reduced medially (Fig. 3 C); posterodorsal part of anterior anepisternum, posterior anepisternum (except anteroventral angle), anterior anepimeron, dorsomedial anepimeron, and posterodorsal and anteroventral parts of katepisternum with long, dense greyish white pile; wings mostly covered with microtrichia; wing veins yellowish to brown; calypteres whitish yellow; halteres yellow to white; legs reddish yellow; metafemur broad, ~ 3.5 × longer than wide, covered with long, whitish yellow pilosity (Fig. 4 E).
Abdomen. Elongated (Fig. 5 C), ~ 1.3 × longer than mesonotum; terga black, except lateral sides of tergum 2 with reddish yellow maculae; terga 3 and 4 with a pair of broad, distinct silver-grey pollinose fasciate maculae; pile on terga grey-yellow to whitish; sterna black, covered with whitish grey pile; posterior margin of sternum 4 with characteristic posteromedial incision (Fig. 7 E).
Male genitalia (Fig. 11). Anterior surstylar lobe large, elongated (~ 3.5 × longer than wide) and sickle-like (Fig. 11 A: al); posterior surstylar lobe rectangular (Fig. 11 A: pl, marked with red arrow); cercus rectangular (Fig. 11 A: c); hypandrium sickle-shaped, without lateral projections; lingula short, with tapering but rounded tip (Fig. 11 C: l).
Female. Unknown.
Distribution and biology.
This species is only found in the Fars Province of Iran (Fig. 13). This Iranian locality lies within the Zagros Mountains forest steppe ecoregion (Olson et al. 2001), representing an arid and semi-arid forest ecosystem with Quercus brantii as the dominant vegetation type (Azizi Jalilian et al. 2020). Flight period: May. Developmental stages: undescribed.
Etymology.
The name is derived from the Latin adjective rufus (red, reddish) and inflection of the noun femur in genitive singular (femoris) and refers to the reddish yellow colour of femora. Species epithet to be treated as an adjective.
description: Published as part of Vujić, Ante, Radenković, Snežana, Likov, Laura, Tubić, Nataša Kočiš, Popov, Grigory, Gilasian, Ebrahim, Djan, Mihajla, Milosavljević, Marina Janković & Ačanski, Jelena, 2024, Revisions of the clavipes and pruni species groups of the genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 (Diptera, Syrphidae), pp. 1-69 in ZooKeys 1203 on pages 1-69, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1203.118842