Mallota dasyops
Creators: name: Meyer, Marc De
name: Goergen, Georg
name: Midgley, John
name: Jordaens, Kurt
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Syrphidae
Mallota
Mallota dasyops

description: Mallota dasyops (Wiedemann, 1819)
Figs 4, 14, 28, 35, 40, 50
Eristalis dasyops Wiedemann, 1819: 18.
Merodon edentulus Macquart, 1855: 110 (90). Syn. nov.
Mallota pachymera Bezzi, 1915: 99. Syn. by Curran (1929).
Differential diagnosis
This species belongs to a group differentiated from other Afrotropical species of Mallota by the distinctly long pilose eyes and dichoptic eyes in both sexes. It can be differentiated from M. aenigma and M. hircus sp. nov. by the bare clypeus (with a tuft of long pile in M. aenigma and M. hircus). It resembles most closely M. glabra sp. nov. but can be differentiated from this by the sharply pointed apex of the metatibia (with blunt apex in M. glabra) and the distal half of the metafemur which ventrally is densely short black pilose (bare in M. glabra).
Type material
Lectotype of Eristalis dasyops
SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; “Cap”; Winthem leg.; NHMW. This specimen is hereby designated as lectotype.
Paralectotypes of Eristalis dasyops
SOUTH AFRICA • 2 ♂♂ (examination of images only); Cape Good Hope; Dec. 1816; Westermann leg.; ZMUC, ZMUC 00024913, ZMUC 00024914.
Comments
The original publication by Wiedemann (1819) indicates that the description is based on a female and gives no indication of male specimens. Yet, one of the ZMUC specimens bears a label with a date corresponding with the month (December) as indicated in the original description and another label with reference to Westermann (“Mus Westerm.”). It is, therefore, unclear whether the male specimens should be considered as part of the syntype series but we have included them here. The female specimen of the Winthem collection in NHMW is hereby designated as lectotype. For further discussion on the origin of this specimen see Denner (2017).
Lectotype of Merodon edentulus
SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; Cape of Good Hope; ex Bigot Collection; NHMUK, NHMUK 013933222. This specimen is hereby designated as lectotype.
Lectotype of Mallota pachymera
SOUTH AFRICA • ♂; Cape of Good Hope; ex coll. Saunders 54.13; NHMUK. This specimen is hereby designated as lectotype.
Paralectotype of Mallota pachymera
SOUTH AFRICA • 1 ♀; Cape of Good Hope; ex coll. Saunders 54.13; NHMUK, BMNH (E) #914365.
Other material examined
ETHIOPIA • 1 ♂; Holeta, Holeta Station; Oct. 2012; A. Zewdu and A. Pauly leg.; RMCA.
KENYA • 1 ♀; Coast Province, Kasigau Mt; 5–19 Oct. 2011; R. Copeland leg.; ICIPE, ICIPE 9528.
RWANDA • 1 ♂; Nyansa; May 1946; A. Lestrade leg.; RMCA, RMCA ENT 000039630.
SOUTH AFRICA – Eastern Cape • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Bidstone Cottages Garden; 8–11 Oct. 2019; J. Midgley leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 175980, NMSA DIP 175981 • 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀; same data as for preceding; 9–10 Oct. 2019; K. Jordaens leg.; RMCA, RMCA ENT 000040707, RMCA ENT 000040716, RMCA ENT 000040719, RMCA ENT 000040720, RMCA ENT 000040715 • 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀; Fennel at Junction of DR03217 and DR03220; 8 Feb. 2022; Bellingan, Jordaens and Midgley leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 212418 to 212420 • 1 ♀; Katberg; Dec. 1932; R.E. Turner leg.; NHMUK • 1 ♂; Maclear, Fairbairn; 11 Feb. 2022; Bellingan, Jordaens and Midgley leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 212559. – Gauteng • 1 ♀; Pretoria; 21 Jan. 1920; H.K. Munro leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 14087. – KwaZulu-Natal • 1 ♀; Empangeni; 18 Dec. 1992; P.E. Reavell leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 49017 • 1 ♀; iSimangaliso wetland park; 11 Oct. 2021; Bellingan, Jordaens and Midgley leg.; AMGS, AMGS 101657 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 14 Oct. 2021; NMSA, NMSA DIP 211695 • 1 ♀; Karkloof Falls; 3 Dec. 1961; T. Schofield leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 48512 • 1 ♀; Mtunzini; 8 Oct. 2021; Bellingan, Jordaens and Midgley leg.; AMGS, AMGS 101658 • 1 ♀; Saint Lucia, Ingwenya Lodge; 10 Oct. 2021; Bellingan, Jordaens and Midgley leg.; RMCA, RMCA ENT 000044379 • 1 ♂; Kloof; Sep. 1926; R.E. Turner leg.; NHMUK, BMNH 914237 (labeled as holotype of Mallota pygmaea Hull. Unavailable name, cf. below under comments). – Western Cape • 1 ♂; Cape Town; J.C. Bridwell leg.; AMNH • 2 ♀♀; Cape, Ceres; Feb. 1932; J. Ogilvie leg.; NHMUK • 1 ♂; Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve; 3 Dec. 2023; J.M. Midgley and G.L. Theron leg.; NMSA, NMSA DIP 222553. – Unknown locality • 2 ♀♀; ex coll. Bigot, presented by G.H. Verrall, B.M. 1901- 14; NHMUK.
Description
Body length: 9.5–14.5 mm. Wing length: 8.0– 10.5 mm.
Male
HEAD (Fig. 14). Eye with medium long to long whitish pile; dichoptic, separated for distance at least equal to ocellus of ocellar triangle, ommatidia equal in size. Frons protruding, in lateral view at most equal to facial tubercle; ground colour black, narrowly yellow along ventral margin; dorsal of antennae shining, otherwise dark grey pollinosity, along eye margins denser silvery pollinosity; with long intermixed black and pale brown pile. Ocellar triangle black, anterior of ocellar triangle area with macula of grey pollinosity; long black pilose. Face ground colour black, sometimes sublateral band from eye margin to oral margin more yellow-brown; with dense whitish pollinosity, facial tubercle and medial part ventral of tubercle less dense pollinose; with dispersed long yellow pile along dorsolateral margins, otherwise bare; facial tubercle weakly pronounced. Antennal segments black-brown, postpedicel black; arista bare, black-brown; postpedicel longer than wide.
THORAX (Fig. 4). Scutum subshining black; with grey pollinosity, with long pale brown pile; anteriorly and medially fasciae with more brownish pollinosity and pile intermixed with black hairs. Scutellum yellow-brown, paler than scutum; with long pale yellow pile; anteromedially rarely with slightly darker yellow pile. Pleura ground colour black; posterior anepisternum, katepisternum and anterior anepimeron with long pale brown pile, otherwise bare.
LEGS. Femora mainly yellow-orange with black maculae; with short to long dense pale yellow pile except ventrally where short black pile. Metafemur (Fig. 28) greatly thickened, in anterior view medial part at least three times as broad as apex; ventrally dense black pilose in distal half (Fig. 35). Pro- and mesotibia predominantly orange-red with few black maculae; with short pale yellow pile; metatibia curved, with apex distinctly pointed (Fig. 28); entirely dark brown to black; with short black pile especially along dorsal margin, anteriorly more dispersed pale yellow pile. Tarsal segments orange-red; with short black pile.
WING (Fig. 40). Largely hyaline; most areas microtrichose. Stigmal cross-vein present between distal end of vein Sc and middle of vein R 1. Vein R 4+5 sinuate, without appendix.
ABDOMEN (Fig. 50). Mainly shining black; tergum 1 orange ground colour; white pollinose; with long white pile. Tergum 2 with pair of orange maculae touching broadly along medial line; predominantly short whitish pile, along lateral margins longer, especially anteriorly; posterior margin with black pile; tergum 3 anterior margin narrowly yellow-orange and with grey pollinosity, with medial interruption; with short pale whitish except in posterior fourth where black and slightly longer; tergum 4 anterior margin with grey pollinosity; with short whitish pile in anterior half, posteriorly slightly longer black pile; posterior margin sometimes distinctly yellow-orange. Sterna black to red-brown; sterna 1–3 with very long, dispersed whitish pile.
Female
As male except eyes wide dichoptic, frons subshining black; grey pollinose except dorsal third where brown. Pilosity scutum less dark brown. Femora ventrally with less long dense pilosity, only metafemur with dispersed black pile. Abdominal terga orange-red maculae and fasciae more extensive.
Distribution
Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa. Also reported from Tanzania (De Meyer et al. 1995) and Zimbabwe (Curran 1939b). Records from Equatorial Guinea (Bezzi 1912) and Ghana (Bezzi 1915) are based on misidentifications (see Comments below). A record from the Democratic Republic of Congo (in Curran 1927) could not be confirmed.
Comments
Bezzi (1912, 1915) followed Wiedemann in placing dasyops under Eristalis. He based this on material identified by him from Bioko Island (as Fernando Poo), Equatorial Guinea (Bezzi 1912; one female from Bahia de S. Carlos, Mar. 1902, in MCSNG) and from Ghana (Bezzi 1915; one female from Obuasi, Ashanti, 31 Jul. 1907, W.M. Graham, in NHMUK), but both specimens were studied and belong to Eristalis apis Curran, 1939. Bezzi (1915) differentiated the genus Eristalis from Mallota by the long and petiolate wing cell r 1 in the former, and described a new species with open wing cell r 1 based on material from South Africa as Mallota pachymera. Curran (1939b) recognized the synonymy with dasyops, and examination by the authors of the type material of pachymera and comparison with images of the types of dasyops confirmed this synonymy. Curran (1939a) also questioned the position of edentulus under Merodon because of the absence of a “spur” (= dens or lamina sensu Vujić et al. 2021) on the metafemur. Contrary to what is stated in Vujić et al. (2021), the type is not lost but present in the NHMUK collections and could be examined. Although it is in a poor condition and missing the metalegs, other characteristics correspond to those of M. dasyops and are unlike any of the other species recognized in this group, or under Mallota. Additionally, it does not fit the generic concept of Merodon. We, therefore, propose to also place Merodon edentulus as a junior synonym of Eristalis dasyops. Furthermore, in the collections of the NHMUK, there is a specimen labelled as the type of Mallota pygmaea Hull. We did not find any trace of a publication of this name and consider it unavailable. This specimen also corresponds to dasyops. Mallota dasyops is morphologically most similar to M. glabra sp. nov. but apart from the morphological differences, both species show a strong interspecific differentiation in their DNA barcodes (mean interspecific p-distance of 7%; range of interspecific p-distances: 6.8–7.3% (Fig. 57; Table 2). The range of intraspecific p-distances in both species is much narrower (0–0.3%).
description: Published as part of Meyer, Marc De, Goergen, Georg, Midgley, John & Jordaens, Kurt, 2024, On the identity of the Afrotropical species of Mallota Meigen (Diptera: Syrphidae), pp. 242-290 in European Journal of Taxonomy 958 (1) on pages 256-259, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.958.2675, http://zenodo.org/record/13914492