Coenosia fragilis Couri & Pont, 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Couri, Márcia
name: Pont, Adrian C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Muscidae
Coenosia
Coenosia fragilis

description: Coenosia fragilis sp. nov.
Figs 10–12.
Type material. Holotype ♂, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Oriental Prov., Lieki village area at 00°41.117′N, 24°14.362′E, sweeping bush paths & village environs, 25.v–4.vi.2010 (A.H. Kirk-Spriggs), BECE 02922 (ISNB).
Paratype, 1♂. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: same data as holotype, except: BECE 02918 (BMSA).
Diagnosis. Very small species; ground-colour brown with metallic reflexion, including legs; ocellar seta strong; frontal vitta, fronto-orbital plate, face, parafacial and gena densely yellowish silvery pruinose (viewed from certain angles); palpus brown. The new species belongs to the C. niveifrons species-group sensu Emden (1940). In Emden’s (1940) key, it runs to couplet 14 (17), due to the presence of strong ocellars, but is not C. multisetosa Emden or C. fumisquama Stein, which also have dark head pruinosity and long frontal setae.
Description. General colouration. Ground colour brown, with metallic reflexion; frontal vitta, fronto-orbital plate, face, parafacial and gena densely yellowish silvery pruinose (viewed from certain angles); antenna black; palpus brown; notum dark brown, matt; prescutum including postpronotal lobe and notopleuron and anterior ½ of scutum, with silvery reflexion (viewed from certain angles); pleura thinly grey dusted, with metallic reflexion; spiracles dull; wing hyaline; calypters white, lower one yellowish around margin; haltere brown; legs black, femora and tibiae shining; abdomen dark brown, with some grey dust on sides of tergites; epandrium shining black.
♂. Measurements. Body length: 2.2 mm; wing length: 2.2 mm.
Head. Eye bare, frons at vertex a little more than ⅓ of head-width, markedly narrowing to lunule; 3 pairs of fine frontal setae, the second one from lunule short, and 1 fine reclinate orbital; inner vertical seta long; ocellar seta long; antenna inserted above mid-level of eye, with postpedicel about 1.5 the length of pedicel; arista with very fine and short pubescence, hardly as long as width of arista at base; palpus filiform, with apex a little flattened and enlarged.
Thorax. Dorsocentrals 1 + 3; acrostichal setulae short and sparse, in 2 irregular rows, prescutellar slightly longer than others; 1 postpronotal; 2 postsutural intra-alars; 1 postsutural supra-alar; 2 postalars; prealar absent; notopleuron with 2 setae similar in size; anepisternum with series of 6 setae, most long; katepisternals 1 + 1 + 1, arranged in equilateral triangle, dorsal posterior seta very long. Scutellum with 1 basal and 1 long apical pair of setae, the basal ca ⅔ length of the apical.
Legs. Fore femur with row of well-spaced setae on posteroventral and posterodorsal surfaces; fore tibia with long posterior median seta, 1 dorsal and 1 long fine anterodorsal preapical and 1 apical seta on posterior, posteroventral and posterodorsal surfaces; mid femur with ca. 4 fine anterior to anterodorsal setae; anteroventral surface with row of fine setae in basal ⅔, with a few longer sparse posteroventrals, 2 posterior preapicals; mid tibia with 1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal median setae; hind femur with sparse rows of anterodorsal and anteroventral setae, 2 fine posteroventrals in apical ½, 1 preapical posterodorsal seta; hind tibia with 1 anterodorsal and 1 anterior median setae, 1 long dorsal and 1 anterodorsal preapical and 1 apical ventral.
Wing. Veins bare; veins M and R4+5 parallel at wing-tip; lower calypter long, ca. 2.3 × length of upper.
Abdomen. Tergite 5 with 4 marginal setae; sternite 1 bare; sternite 5 as in Fig. 10.
Terminalia. Cercal plate with 5 strong spines (Fig. 11); epandrium, cercal plate, surstylus and aedeagus as in Fig. 12 (lateral view).
♀ Unknown.
Distribution. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Oriental Province).
Etymology. The specific epithet fragilis is a Latin adjective (“fragile”) and refers to the small size of the species.
description: Published as part of Couri, Márcia & Pont, Adrian C., 2014, New species of Afrotropical Muscidae (Diptera: Muscoidea), pp. 301-320 in Zootaxa 3852 (3) on pages 306-307, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3852.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/229938