Rossimyiops whiteheadi Mesnil
Creators: name: Cerretti, Pierfilippo
name: Biase, Alessio De
name: Freidberg, Amnon
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tachinidae
Rossimyiops
Rossimyiops whiteheadi

description: Rossimyiops whiteheadi Mesnil
(Figs. 42–47)
Rossimyiops whiteheadi Mesnil, 1953: 145. Type locality: Grahamstown (South Africa).
Material examined. SOUTH AFRICA – 1 ɗ, Cape, 2km S of Grahamstown, 33°20'S: 26°31'E 800m, 20.xi.1990, Londt & Whittington, Dassie Krantz Forest, NMSA-DIP / 12617 [NMSA]. 1 Ψ, Ex larva of Dictyoploca sp. n. [= Apterembia Ross] (Embioptera), Grahamstown, Em. 1.viii.1951, E. McC. Callan, c.i.e. coll. / no. 15689, Pres by, Com Inst Ent, B. M. 1957 – 6, Rossimyiops whiteheadi Mesn., E. McC. Callan det. [BMNH].
Diagnosis. Lateral vertical seta well developed and strongly differentiated from the postocular row. Face slightly visible in lateral view. Ventral facial margin well visible in lateral view, anterior to vibrissal angle (Fig. 42). Prementum 6–9 times as long as wide. Presutural area of scutum with three longitudinal dark vittae, the lateral pair broad. Scutellum with 3 pairs of marginal setae. Cell r4+5 closed at wing margin or very shortpetiolate. Vein R4+5 entirely bare. Abdominal tergites 3–5 with a narrow basal band of reflecting microtrichia (Fig. 43). Male terminalia as in Figs. 44–47. Female: vertex shiny black; lateral vertical seta well differentiated from postocular row.
Description. Male. External morphology, see original description: Mesnil (1953: 145–146).
Male terminalia [described for the first time] (Figs. 44–47). Tergite 6 narrow, fused to segment 7+8 and bare. Epandrium short and convex. Hypandrial arms not joined, sub-parallel. Pregonite (Fig. 46) pointed distally and strongly bent anteriorly, posterior margin with 2 or 3 stout, long setae. Postgonite (Fig. 46) slightly bent anteriorly, apically rounded, bare. Basiphallus without basal keel. Epiphallus (Fig. 47) in para-basal position, well developed; weakly sclerotized. Dorso-lateral lobes of distiphallus well developed and “shifted” anteriorly (Fig. 47). Acrophallus not tubular. Cerci (Figs. 44, 45) unfused and divided apically, sub-triangular in posterior view, apically pointed; short setae present at or near base of cerci, the longest of these reaching about half length of entire cerci. Surstylus slightly longer than cerci, basal two-thirds sub-rectangular, distal third bent postero-medially and slightly twisted (Fig. 45).
Female [described for the first time]. Body length: 5.13 mm.
Colour. Head black, mainly covered with light-grey reflecting microtrichia; vertex shiny black; frontoorbital plate mainly shiny black, with narrow stripe of reflecting microtrichia from parafacial near the medial margin of compound eye. Frontal vitta brown. Scape and pedicel reddish-brown; postpedicel mainly blackishbrown, yellow at base. Palpus yellow, at most basally brown. Thorax entirely black; pre- and postsutural areas of scutum with three longitudinal dark vittae. Ventral and dorsal calypteres white. Wing membrane mainly hyaline, only slightly brownish anteriorly. Tegula reddish, basicosta yellow. Halter yellow. Legs black. Abdomen entirely black in ground colour; tergites 3–5 with narrow basal bands of reflecting microtrichia (Fig. 43).
Head (Fig. 42). Arista thickened on basal third or less. First and second aristomeres not longer than wide. Postpedicel about 1.7 times as long as pedicel. Vertex at its narrowest point 1.14 times as wide as compound eye in dorsal view. Ocellar seta well developed, proclinate. Ocelli in form of isosceles triangle (distance between posterior ocelli is smaller than distance between posterior and anterior ocelli). Medial vertical setae strong, reclinate, sub-parallel. Lateral vertical seta strong, about twice as long as postocular setae. One dorsal orbital seta; 2 proclinate orbital setae (with one short proclinate setula between them). Six frontal setae descending to level of base of scape or slightly more ventrally. Parafacial at its narrowest point about 1.25 times as wide as postpedicel. Face at most slightly visible in lateral view. Ventral facial margin well visible in lateral view, anterior to vibrissal angle. Vibrissa not much differentiated from subvibrissal setae, arising at level of ventral facial margin. Facial ridge with few decumbent setulae above vibrissa. Gena in profile about 0.3 times as high as compound eye. Postocular setae short. Occiput flat, without white hair-like setulae. Prementum about 9 times as long as wide. Posterior extensions of labella well developed. Palpus sub-cylindrical, about 0.5–0.6 times as long as prementum.
Thorax. Postpronotum with 2 setae. Scutum with 2 + 1 acrostichal, 2 + 3 dorsocentral, 0 + 2 intra-alar, 1 posthumeral, 1 presutural, 2 notopleural and 2 postsutural supra-alar setae; postalar callus with 1 seta. Anatergite with a small patch of short, black, erect setulae. Katepisternum with 2 setae. One short anepimeral seta, no more than 0.3 times as long as katepisternal setae. Scutellum with 3 pairs of marginal setae (basal, lateral and apical) of about equal length; apical pair crossed and horizontal.
Legs. Fore tibia with 1 posterior seta; preapical anterodorsal seta of fore tibia as long and robust as preapical dorsal seta; fore claws shorter than tarsomere 5. Mid tibia with 2 anterodorsal setae, 2 posterior setae, 1 ventral seta. Hind tibia with 3–4 anterodorsal setae.
Cell. Vein R4+5 entirely bare. Bend of M rounded, obtuse. Crossvein dm-cu not oblique (nearly at a right angle). Wing cell r4+5 very short petiolate.
Abdomen (Fig. 43). Tergites not fused. Syntergite 1+2 with 1 pair of well developed median marginal setae. Tergite 3 with 1 pair of median marginal setae. Tergite 4 with row of 9 erect marginal setae. Tergite 5 with row of 6 marginal setae. “Marginal” setae of abdomen displaced anteriorly in discal or sub-discal position.
Hosts. Apterembia sp. (Embioptera: Embiidae) (Mesnil 1953, as Dictyoploca).
Distribution. South Africa (Eastern Cape).
Remarks. The male holotype is preserved in the NMSA; its terminalia were dissected by an unknown person and, at present, are apparently lost (Mostovski, pers. comm. 2008). Since the original description of R. whiteheadi is detailed and the drawing of the head of the holotype is well done, there is no doubt that the male specimen examined by us is conspecific. Thus, we have relied on the male specimen available to us for the description of this species rather than examine the holotype, which in any case is missing its terminalia. Examination of the male terminalia of R. whiteheadi was fundamental to determining the correct systematic position of Rossimyiops.
description: Published as part of Cerretti, Pierfilippo, Biase, Alessio De & Freidberg, Amnon, 2009, Systematic study of the genus Rossimyiops Mesnil (Diptera: Tachinidae), pp. 31-56 in Zootaxa 1984 on pages 50-53, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.185371