Psilota fuscifrons Young & Skevington & Steenis 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Young, Andrew D.
name: Skevington, Jeffrey H.
name: Steenis, Wouter Van
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Syrphidae
Psilota
Psilota fuscifrons

description: Psilota fuscifrons Young sp. nov.
(Species plate: Fig. 21; Genitalia: 43C–D, Map: Fig. 57B)
Diagnosis: Metallic blue species with frons extensively dark pilose. Antenna entirely dark. Pleuron shiny and mostly pale pilose, with some dark pile on posterior anepimeron. Hind femur with a distinct rounded apicoventral setulose carina. Hind tibia simple. Calypter entirely brown, with pile on rim of upper and lower calypter entirely pale. Sternite 1 pollinose. Body Length: 7.9–10.1 mm.
Description: MALE: Head: Head black, face densely pale pollinose. Face pale pilose, frons entirely dark pilose, vertex dark pilose. Antenna entirely dark brown. Eye densely yellow pilose. Thorax: Thorax dark, faintly metallic greenish-blue. Legs mostly dark brown, with basal half of fore tibia and entire mid tibia dull brownish-orange. Hind femur with a distinct rounded apicoventral setulose carina. Hind tibia simple, with no basoventral spur. Pleuron shining, pollinosity free. Pile on pleuron mostly pale, with some dark pile intermixed on posterior anepisternum; pile on scutum and scutellum almost entirely black, with some pale pile intermixed near anterior edge of scutum, transverse suture, and anterior edge of scutellum. Wing colourless, with cells c, r, bm, cua, and the anal lobe mostly bare. Cells r 4+5, r 2+3, and dm with bare areas basally. Alula completely microtrichose. Halter yellow. Calypter brown, pile on rim of upper and lower calypter pale. Abdomen: Abdomen metallic blueish-green. Tergite 2 almost entirely white pilose with only apical rim black pilose, tergite 3 with white pile on basal three-quarters and black pile on apical one-quarter, tergite 4 with white pile on basal half and black pile on apical half. Sternite 1 pollinose, other sternites shining, white pilose. Genitalia: Epandrium compact, about as long as tall. Cercus approximately triangular. Outer lobe of surstylus inserted at mid-height of inner lobe, curved downwards on apical half, with apex of lobe thickened into a triangular shape and curved backwards towards base of surstylus. Inner lobe of surstylus ventrally swollen at base and narrowest at one-third its length, otherwise broadening gradually over entire length, rounded at apex. Phallapodeme smooth. Gonostylus slightly darkened.
FEMALE: Identical except for normal sexual dimorphism.
Etymology: The specific epithet ‘ fuscifrons ’ consists of fusci-, derived from the Latin for “dark, dusky” (‘fuscus’), and -frons, the Latin for frons (‘frons, -ntis’). This is in reference to the entrensive dark pilosity of the frons.
Specimens examined: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 1km E. Forbes Creek, SE NSW on flowering heath. 11.xi. 2012, 874m. -35.429478 149.5028, D.J. Ferguson, CNC Diptera 255051. (1♂, ANIC). PARA- TYPES: Northern Territory: Gregory National Park, Humbert Track 11.1 km S BullitaCamp Ground; nr. Weeping Boab tree, malaise, 5–12.xii.2001, -16.463056 130.419722, M.E. Irwin, F.D. Parker, C. Lambkin, ANIC Database No. 29 035773, CNC Diptera 255042 (2♀, ANIC).
Discussion: This species is known from only three specimens, with a wide disjunct between the New South Wales and Northern Territory collection localities. It is possible more than one species is represented by the name Psilota fuscifrons, however, COI sequences from all three specimens displayed very little divergence from each other.
description: Published as part of Young, Andrew D., Skevington, Jeffrey H. & Steenis, Wouter Van, 2020, Revision of the Psilota Meigen, 1822 flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Australia, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 4737 (1) on pages 53-55, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4737.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3669490