Pristaciura hancocki Maneesh & Prabhakar 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Singh, Maneesh Pal
name: Prabhakar, Chandra Shekhar
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tephritidae
Pristaciura
Pristaciura hancocki

description: Pristaciura hancocki Maneesh & Prabhakar, sp. nov. (Figures 1–2)
Diagnosis: A small (2.94 mm) black species with greyish metallic hue, 1 orbital seta, the six postocellar, paravertical and uppermost postocular setae coarse white, medial longitudinal black stripe on face, predominantly black wing, narrow yellow speck in cell c, two anterior triangular hyaline indentations in cell r 1 confluent with cell r 2+3, three posterior hyaline indentations, one in cell m and two oblique in cell cu 1, anal lobe dark in both sexes. Abdomen setulose, urn-shaped in females and broadly oval in males. Oviscape shorter than abdomen. Aculeus long and acute but rounded at apex, spermatheca globular pearshaped with projections and glans of phallus with shoe-shaped acrophallus. Preputial cavity apically encircled by acrophallus sclerite.
Head: Reddish brown but black to shiny black beyond ocellar triangle and compound eyes, higher than long, ocellar triangle black, front reddish brown except darker near compound eyes, as long as wide, with coarse white setulae in middle and alongside frontal setae (figs 1B & C). Lunule narrow and slightly raised, reddish brown with black suture, antennae 0.45 mm long, shorter than face, scape and pedicel reddish brown and pedicel with dorsal black setuale. Flagellum 0.3 mm long, reddish brown except apically and dorsally black, dorsoapically rounded, arista lightly plumose basally and reddish brown (fig. 1B). Face reddish brown with a medial longitudinal broad black patch (fig. 1A). Lateral margins of face with black setulae extending beyond genal seta. Genal area reddish brown and postgena black with black setuale. Proboscis and palpi yellowish and latter with apical black setulae. Setae: 3 frontal, 1 orbital, 1 ocellar, 1 inner vertical, 1 genal (all black); postocellar, paravertical and uppermost postocular setae (coarse white), 10–12 black postocular setulae.
Thorax: Entirely shiny black with greyish metallic hue, scutum setulose, scutellum without any setulae and disc slightly sunken. Dorsocentral setae aligned anterior to postsutural supra-alars and prescutellaracrostichals aligned anterior to intra-alars. Setae: 1 postpronotal, 1anterior notopleural, 1 posterior notopleural, 1 presutural supra-alar, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 1 dorsocentral, 1prescutellar acrostichal, 1 intra-alar, 1 postalar, 1 basal scutellar conspicuously long, 2 anepisternal (basal weak), 1anepimeral and 1 katepisternal.
Legs shiny black except apical portion of tibiae and tarsomeres of all legs reddish brown. Fore femora with a dorsolateral row of 5–7 setae. Mid tibiae with short black apical spine.
Wing (3.01 mm) largely black with elongate indentations and oval hyaline spots. Cell bc black, cell c black except narrow transverse yellowish patch near humeral break extending into cell cu 1 posteriorly (fig. 1F). Cell sc black except slight apex near end of vein R 1 hyaline. Cell r 1 with two triangular hyaline indentations extending beyond vein R 2+3 into cell r 2+3. Inner triangular hyaline indentation in cell r 1 longer and broader than the outer and neither reaching vein R 4+5. One oval hyaline spot in cell r 4+5 and one in cell dm, the latter narrower and slightly transverse. Three posterior marginal hyaline indentations, the inner one in middle of cell cu 1 broader, directed towards Sc break, medial one in cell cu 1 below vein Cu 1 shortest and narrowest and directed towards cell c, outer one in cell m oblique, posteriorly broader and apically confluent with dm-cu cross vein (fig. 1F). Haltere dark brownish in female and whitish in male. Both sexes with similarly shaped wing except posterior marginal hyaline indentations in cell cu 1 narrower and shorter in males. Both sexes with dark tinted anal lobe with a pale anterobasal area more extensive in females (fig. 1F & 2A).
Abdomen: Urn-shaped in female, black with greyish metallic hue except tergite VI and oviscape polished black, setulose on each tergite with 3–4 transverse rows of setulae in alternate fashion (fig. 1E) Tergite VI with oviscape (fig. 1E) a little longer than tergites III–VI and posterior margin fringed with black setulae. Male abdomen (fig. 2B) broadly oval, shiny black with greyish metallic hue, setulose as female and tergite V posterior margin fringed with black setulae. Tergite V of male slightly longer than tergite IV.
Female Genitalia: Ovicape (0.96 mm) shorter than abdomen (1.5 mm), tubular but ventrally flat, glossy black and setulose (fig. 1E). Aculeus 1.13 mm long, spear shaped with two apical curves forming spear head shape apically (fig. 2C), tip of aculeus sharp, keel shaped and rounded apically. Eversible membrane 1.03 mm long, with two types of spicules on distal end, broad crescent like and triangular shaped with single blunt projection (fig. 2E) and spicules on mid eversible membrane longer spine shaped (fig. 2F). Spermatheca globular, pear shaped and covered with tubular projections on dark rounded apex (fig. 2G).
Male Genitalia: Epandrium oval shaped in posterior view (fig. 2H), 4–6 setae posterodorsally, higher than proctiger and latter setulose. Lateral surstylus longer than median surstylus, anterior lobe longer and broader than posterior lobe of surstylus. Both anterior and posterior lobes of lateral surstylus setulose, broad and flat apically (fig. 2H). Median surstylus ends in two thick brownish blunt prensisetae. Aedeagus 1.8 mm long excluding glans of phallus (0.14 mm), latter with well developed acrophallus shoe shaped and preputial cavity apically covered by extension of acrophallus (fig. 2J). Vasica longer, broad and rounded apically.
Host: Unknown; swept from Ocimum sp. (Lamiaceae).
Type Material: Holotype ♀, on Ocimum sp., INDIA, Himachal Pradesh, Solan, Nauni, 30°51’47” N 77°10’7” E. 24.vii.2024, Maneesh Leg. In Zoological Survey of India (High Altitude Regional Centre (HARC), Solan, Himachal Pradesh). Paratypes 1♀ & 5♂ same data as holotype (some of the paratypes are with first author).
Etymology: Species named after Dr David Lawrence Hancock (Carlisle, United Kingdom) for his work on Tephritidae.
Remark: Pristaciura hancocki Maneesh & Prabhakar, sp. nov. is similar to P. brunnea Hancock in general appearance and wing pattern but can be differentiated by hyaline indentations in cell cu 1 not confluent with vein Cu 1 anteriorly, anal lobe darker in both male and female and oviscape shorter than abdomen.
It is also similar to P. xanthotricha (Bezzi) in wing pattern and shorter oviscape but can be differentiated by hyaline indentation at middle of cell cu 1 transverse, directed towards cell sc, that in cell m broadly expanded posteriorly, apically not reaching junction of dm-cu cross vein and vein M and anal lobe dark.
description: Published as part of Singh, Maneesh Pal & Prabhakar, Chandra Shekhar, 2025, A new species of Pristaciura Hendel (Diptera: Tephritidae: Tephritinae: Tephrellini) and new distribution record of Procecidochares utilis Stone from Himalayas, pp. 588-594 in Zootaxa 5604 (4) on pages 589-593, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5604.4.10, http://zenodo.org/record/15213953