Protypusia striata Gibbs 2023

Protypusia striata (Báez, 1982) comb gen. et. nov.

Figs 26, 43

Usia striata Báez, 1982: 254.

Usia arida Báez, 1982: 256 syn. nov.

Etymology

From Latin ‘ striāta ’ meaning ‘striped’ referring to pattern on the mesonotum.

Type material of Pro. striata

Holotype

SPAIN • ♂; “Fuertev., La Asomada, 21-II-80, M. Báez / Holotipo M. Baez / Usia striata Báez, M Báez det.”; PCMB.

Paratypes

SPAIN • 1 ♀; “ Fuertev., Villarerde, 18-II- 80 M. Báez”; PCMB • 1 ♂; “ Vega de Rio Palmas 12-II-77; 20-II-80”; PCMB • 1 ♀; “ Madre del Agua 8-V-74”; PCMB • 1 ♂; “ Betancuria 12-V-74”; PCMB • 1 ♂; “ Fuertev. Tesiuate 22-II- 80 M. Báez / Paratipo M. Báez ”; PCDG.

Type material of Pro. arida

Holotype

SPAIN • ♂; “ Fuertev. La Oliva 18-II- 80 M. Báez / Holotipo M. Báez / Usia arida Báez, M. Báez det.”; PCMB.

Paratype

SPAIN • 1 ♂; “Fuertev. Titr 21-II- 80 M. Báez / Paratipo M. Báez ”; PCDG.

Other material examined

SPAIN • 6 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Teguise 235 m N29°3′44″ W13°32′16″ 24 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD • 5 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Los Valles 515 m N29°6′23″ W13°30′52″ 24 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD • 6 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Los Valles (parque eólico) 450 m N29°5′45″ W13°30′39″ 28 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD • 12 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀, pair in cop.; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Mojon 160 m N29°3′57″ W13°31′19″ 26 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD • 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Haria 350 m N29°8′44″ W13°31′01″ 29 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD • 1 ♂; “ Islas Canarias, Lanzarote, Famara 150 m N29°4′52″ W13°33′56″ 27 February 2000 (leg. J. Dils & J. Faes)”; PCJD.

Redescription

MEASUREMENTS. Body length: 2.5–6.3 mm. Wing length: 2.4–6.2 mm.

Male

HEAD. Gena clearly evident but narrower than other species in the incisa -group, about two thirds width of proboscis at base, broadening out above onto frons, all sparingly grey dusted (not obscuring ground colour) except for a slightly shinier, mouth margin. Frons a little convex, grey dusted, but subshining from some angles, with long, black hairs, the longest equalling the length of the postpedicel. Black hairs, sometimes with a few brown ones, continuing down gena to level of proboscis, but a bare gap separates them from occiput hairs. Separation of eyes variable from slightly less than diameter of front ocellus to a little more, narrowest point near frons, widening rearwards or sometimes almost parallel, this narrow part of the frons blackish, darker than frons, or grey like frons depending on angle of view. Ocellar tubercle dark blackish, shining, undusted to sparsely dusted, the hind ocelli distinctly but narrowly separated from hind corners of eyes; ocelli form an acute triangle. Blackish hairs on ocellar tubercle about as long as scape and pedicel combined, shorter than frons hairs. Eye facets the same size throughout. Occiput dark in ground colour, thinly coated with grey to brown dust subshining, denser below where ground colour largely obscured. Behind eyes an irregular uni- to tri-serial row of long, dark post ocellars extending to a little above middle of eye, smaller individuals with fewer post-ocellars. Remaining hairs on occiput finer and paler, forming a dense beard of white hairs on lower occiput below eye, much less conspicuous in small individuals. Antennae black, the scape slightly more greyish from dust, postpedicel variable but always longer than scape and pedicel together, the sensilla in the apical sulcus often contrastingly white. Scape and pedicel clothed with black hairs, the longest on the scape longer than its diameter; hairs on postpedicel sparser ventrally, postpedicel with series of hairs dorsally, longest just before sulcus. Palps short, claviform, black, thickly clothed with long yellowish hairs. Proboscis moderately long, about equal to the mesonotum, black, laterally with variable hairs along its base.

THORAX. Mesonotum with matt blackish ground-colour obscured by grey or brownish dust on postpronotal lobe, notopleuron, above wing bases, broad dorsocentral line extending back behind wing bases, in some merging with dusting anterior to scutellum. A more or less distinct acrostichal line, narrowing behind and disappearing before middle, often obsolete. Hairs of mesonotum white to faintly yellowish, variable in length and density, tending to be sparser and whiter in smaller males. Scutellum brown dusted, usually concolourous with base of mesonotum, yellowish hairs dorsally as long as those on mesonotum. Pleura concolourous with sides of mesonotum, or rather greyer dusted, anepisternum and pronotum with long, very pale yellow hairs. Katepisternum with pale yellow hairs anteriorly and ventrally.

WING. Membrane with a very faint yellow-brown tinge, the veins yellowish-brown, basally yellower, subcosta yellow. Crossvein r-m variable between basal third and just beyond middle of the discal cell, clearly beyond m-cu. Anal lobe well developed with conspicuously convex margin, a little broader than anal cell.

HALTERE. Yellowish, base of stem infuscated.

LEGS. Coxae concolourous with pleura. Femora and tibia uniformly blackish, thinly dusted subshining, tips of femora undusted, shining. Legs clothed with white hairs, longer on the coxae, fore and midfemora posteriorly, hind femora antero-ventrally. Tibia mainly short-haired, but with variable extent of longer erect hair basally.

ABDOMEN. Tergites matt blackish, grey dusted only laterally, most conspicuously on first tergite, on reflexed margin only on proceeding tergites. Tergites often with variable, sharply delimited yellow posterior margins, narrowing laterally and disappearing ventrally, these yellow margins often obscure or wanting in smaller specimens. All tergites with long pale yellow hairs longer than the length of each tergite, even longer laterally. Sternites densely grey dusted, pale apical margins wider than on tergites, hairs even longer than those on tergites, often whiter.

GENITALIA. Relatively large compared to Pro. grata, especially so in small individuals where it is almost the size of the abdomen, more or less deflected ventrally. Blackish in ground colour, covered in grey dust, very thinly so on gonocoxite which can be quite shiny, clothed with pale yellow to white hairs, longest on gonocoxite.

Female

Differs from the male in its broadly separated eyes, the frons densely grey dusted except on subshining black ocellar tubercle. At its narrowest part frons is a little wider than length of postpedicel, about onefourth head width. Hairs on frons rather shorter, and more brownish, extending back to level of front ocellus and down gena to proboscis. Post ocellar hairs shorter all pale, none as long as hairs on ocellar tubercle. Mesonotum much more densely grey dusted, often only paramedian and antehumeral vittae largely undusted, blackish. Smaller specimens less densely and extensively dusted, pattern more like male but less well defined. Hairs on tergites are conspicuously shorter, especially dorsally.

Remarks

When Marcos Báez described this species in 1982, he described Usia arida in the same paper, also from Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, with both forms often found at the same site. Báez (1982) separated them on size, vestiture colour, yellow apical margins of tergites and relative size of male hypopygium compared to abdomen size. When comparing a very small individual with a large one, these characters seem clear, and the relative size of the genital capsule is particularly convincing. However, when examining a series of mid-sized specimens with wing-lengths from 3–4 mm it becomes less clear and many specimens will not fall comfortably into one form or the other. The relative size of the hypopygium is intermediate and all the other characters variable. Given that I can find no differences in the form of the male or female genitalia, I conclude that Pro. arida is conspecific with Pro. striata and that the characters noted by Báez are a function of the size of the fly.

Distribution

Spain (Canary Islands, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote).

punctipennis – species group

Diagnosis

The 18 species in this species group are less coherent than but most similar to the incisa -group, in having the same type male and female genitalia, but differing from it in a glabrous frons, or if with hairs then these not long and erect or extending down the gena. Gena and oral margin combined narrower, sometimes gena very narrow, linear on lower part. The group includes one species not seen at all (Pro. emeljanovi), four where only photographs of type material has been seen (Pro. deserticola, Pro. inornata, Pro. tewfiki and Pro. xizangensis) and one species where the male is unknown (Pro. modesta). These species are placed here provisionally, as are two species (Pro. flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov. and Pro. grisea), where either the male or female genitalia do not conform closely to the typical form of Protypusia gen. nov.

Included species

Protypusia deserticola (Efflatoun, 1945) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia dimonica (Zaitzev, 1996) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia emeljanovi (Zaitzev, 1975) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia flavipalpis gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia grisea (Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia hyalipennis (Séguy, 1941) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia inornata (Engel, 1934) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia kerkini gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia modesta (Loew, 1873) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia negevi (Zaitzev, 1996) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia ornata (Engel, 1932) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia punctipennis (Loew, 1846) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia raydahensis (El-Hawagry & Al Dhafer, 2016) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia strymonas gen. et sp. nov.

Protypusia tewfiki (Efflatoun, 1945) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia vagans (Becker, 1906) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia xizangensis (Yang & Yang, 1994) gen. et comb. nov.

Protypusia zimini (Paramonov, 1947) gen. et comb. nov.