Tephritis arsenii S. Korneyev, Khaghaninia, Mohamadzade et Zarghani 2015

Tephritis arsenii S. Korneyev, Khaghaninia, Mohamadzade et Zarghani 2015

(Figs 3c, 3d, 4 a–g)

Tephritis arsenii Korneyev et al. 2015b: 208; Evstigneev & Korneyev 2018: 7.

Type material: Holotype ♀: Iran: East Azerbaijan Province, Sahand Mts, Kendovan Valley, 37°45.02′ N 46°18.51′ E [= 37.75°N, 46.31°E], h= 2400 m, swept from Doronicum dolichotrichum, 28.06.2014 (S. & V. Korneyev) (SIZK).

Paratypes. Armenia: Lichk; alpine meadow, [39.09°N, 46.29°E], h = 2200–2400 m, 8.06.1982, 7♂, 6♀ (Ermolenko) (SIZK); Iran: West Azerbaijan Province: 15km W Ziveh, on Doronicum dolichotrichum, h= 2630 m, 37.14°N, 44.87°E, 17.06.2014; 12♂, 20♀; same collection data, reared from flowerheads of D. dolichotrichum, collected: 17.06.2014, em. 23– 26.06.2014, 2♂, 6♀ (Mohamadzade) (JAZM, SMNC); East Azerbaijan Province: Sahand Mts., Kendovan Valley, 37.75°N, 46.31°E, h= 2400 m, swept from Doronicum dolichotrichum, 28.06.2014, 43♂, 19♀ (S. & V. Korneyev) (SIZK); 34.4 km to Tabriz, Kendovan Valley, 37.77°N, 46.25°E, h= 2341 m, 28.06.2014, 3♂, 2♀ (E. Zarghani & S. Khaganinia) (HMMPC).

Non-type material: Armenia: Tsaghkadzor [40.53°N, 44.71°E], 19.06.1982, 1♀ (V. Ermolenko) (SIZK).

Diagnosis. Tephritis arsenii can be easily separated from other Tephritis species by following combination of characters: wing with extensive dark pattern, including the anal lobe, 2 dark spots at the apices of veins R 4+5 and M isolated from the remaining wing pattern, and abdominal tergites with black discal setulae. It is similar to T. arnicae (Linnaeus 1758) and T. ruralis (Loew 1844) in having both the wing pattern widely extended into the anal cell and anal lobe and the abdominal tergites black setulose on the disc but bearing white marginal setae, most specimens differ from those 2 species by having the apical dark spots isolated from the remaining dark pattern; in the case of 3% of T. arsenii specimens having one or both of these spots fused to the dark wing pattern, and 5% of T. ruralis specimens with the anterior spot (on R 4+5) isolated, T. arsenii (Figs 3 c–d, 4a–b) also can be differentiated by having crossvein r-m surrounded by large hyaline bars fused to the hyaline spots anterior and posterior to them, whereas in T. ruralis r-m is surrounded by 4 isolated hyaline spots (at most 2 of them fused with each other (Fig. 3e); in addition, T. arsenii is associated with plants of the tribe Senecioneae (Doronicum), whereas T. ruralis uses various species of Hieracium (Cichorieae) as host plants. Tephritis arsenii is closely related to T. arnicae (Linnaeus, 1758) according to DNA sequences (S. Korneyev et al., unpublished data), as well as in having host plants of the tribe Senecioneae (larvae of both species feed in Doronicum); T. arsenii can be differentiated from T. arnicae by having white posterior orbital and posterior notopleural setae (brown to black in T. arnicae) and the apical dark spots separated (widely fused to each other and remaining black pattern in T. arnicae). The other species with black setulae on abdominal tergites differ either by having the wing pattern not extending into anal lobe and anal cell (T. fallax Loew, T. neesii Meigen), or by having both the long marginal setae also black and last abdominal tergites shining black (T. corolla Richter, T. sauterina, T. heringinella S. Korneyev, Heringina guttata (Meigen), H. arezoana Mohamadzade & S. Korneyev)

Description. Head: yellow to brownish yellow, with black ocellar triangle and very wide U-shaped mark on occiput, whitish microtrichose; arista dark brown. Length: height: width ratio = 1:1.1:1.54. Frons subquadrate, twice as wide as eye. Eye 1.3 × as high as long. Flagellomere 1 dark yellow, 1.6 × as long as wide. Gena 0.55 × as high as length of flagellomere 1. Ocellar, medial vertical, anterior orbital and frontal setae dark brown and acuminate; genal seta pale brown, acuminate; other setae including posterior orbital seta lanceolate, whitish or yellowish. Postocular row with 4 longer setae white, setulae among them black. Genal setulae whitish yellow, brownish on anterior part. setulae on pedicel and on distal part of palpus black.

Thorax: Ground colour predominantly black; postpronotal lobe, dorsal part of anepisternum and scutellum laterally dark yellow; mesonotum densely grey to ochreous yellow microtrichose, without noticeable darker vittae; mediotergite entirely black and sparsely grey microtrichose without shining areas. Setae black; posterior notopleural seta white. Apical scutellar seta half as long as basal scutellar seta. Setulae white; scutellum with 5–6 white marginal setulae on each side. Calypteres white. Halter yellow.

Legs: Dark yellow; fore femur with 2 rows of white posterodorsal and 1 row of brown posteroventral setae; mid and hind legs with brown setae and setulae.

Wing: Pattern brown, with 2 large spots at apices of veins R 4+5 and M isolated from remaining dark pattern or, in less than 3% of examined specimens, connected to the remaining dark pattern (Figs 3c, 3d). Basal cells bc, bm and bcu hyaline or yellowish; cell c with dark base and narrow dark bar at middle. Pterostigma brown, with single hyaline or yellowish spot. Cell r 1 posterior to pterostigma brown with hyaline dot, at middle with 2 trapeziform hyaline spots separated by narrow brown bar and usually with third narrow hyaline spot at apex. Cell r 2+3 hyaline at base, with dark area posterior to pterostigma; 3 hyaline spots posterior to spots of r 1 separated by narrow dark bars or partly merged, medial one twice as wide as proximal and 3 × as wide as distal spot; preapical brown area (posterior to cell r 1 apex) with 2–7 smaller hyaline spots. Cell br hyaline in basal half and dark in apical half, usually with 2 small round hyaline spots. Crossvein r-m surrounded by 2 hyaline bars (4 merged spots) usually touching veins R 2+3 and M and fused with hyaline spots anterior and posterior of crossvein r-m. Cell r 4+5 with basal one-third anterior of crossvein dm-cu with 2 hyaline spots, either fused or separated, posterior spot 3 to 4 × larger than anterior one; middle third of cell r 4+5 brown, with 3–5 rounded hyaline spots mosttly in posterior half; subapically with T-shaped hyaline area with arms extending into cells r 2+3 and m separating 2 dark apical spots; dark spot on apex of R 4+5 smaller than that on apex of M. Cell dm mostly dark, with extreme base hyaline, 5–8 smaller hyaline spots and 1 large hyaline spot at r-m level. Cell m with highly variable dark pattern split by 4–5 partly merged large hyaline areas. Cell cua dark with 10–14 round hyaline spots of various sizes, often closed on posterior margin. Anal cell dark with 4–5 round hyaline spots. Anal lobe dark with 4–5 hyaline spots. Alula hyaline.

Abdomen: Black, tergites sparsely, but uniformly grey microtrichose, with black and white discal setulae and white marginal setae. Sternites black, white setulose, moderately wide, male sternite 5 posteriorly incised. Female sternite 6 with anteromedial apodeme. Abdominal pleura matt black or grey.

Terminalia: Male. Epandrium wide oval, as in most other species of Tephritini. Glans of phallus moderately short, mostly membranous, with apical gonopore, without dorsal tail-like process (Fig. 4c). Preglans without spines. Female. Oviscape shining black, black and white setulose on dorsal and ventral sides, as long as abdominal tergites 4–6 combined. Eversible membrane with 2 pairs of taeniae 0.3 × as long as membrane itself, ventral side of membrane with scales of different size, medial ones larger than lateral ones and moderately pointed (Fig. 4g). Spermathecae moderately long, 5.5 × as long as wide (Fig. 4f). Aculeus brown, 5 × as long as wide, evenly tapered to apex, apically narrowly truncated and insignificantly incised (Figs 4 d–4e).

Measurements. Female. BL= 4.5–5.2 mm; WL=4.0– 4.7 mm, C2=0.8–0.9; AL= 1.05–1.20 mm; AL/C2=1.33– 1.43. Male. BL= 3.25–4.25 mm; WL= 3.9–4.4 mm.

Host plant. Doronicum dolichotrichum Cavill. (syn. Doronicum hakkiaricum J. R. Edm., D. hyrcanum Widder & Rech. f.). 1 to 4 larvae or pupae were found in each flower head. Number of generations per year unknown.

Distribution. Armenia, Iran (Korneyev et al. 2015b), Russian North Caucasus: Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Evstigneev & Korneyev 2018).

Remarks. This species occurs in subalpine and alpine meadows in the mountains of Armenia and Iran and is expected to be present in Azerbaijan and Turkey, where its host plant is also widespread. Doronicum dolichotrichum usually grows in undisturbed places along mountain streams and rivers.