Taxonomic revision of the fruit fly genus Neoceratitis Hendel (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Author
Meyer, Marc De
Author
Freidberg, Amnon
text
Zootaxa
2012
2012-03-06
3223
24
39
journal article
45296
10.11646/zootaxa.3223.1.2
5d0783f4-d489-459b-8f24-eda1ba7dcec5
1175-5326
209664
Neoceratitis flavoscutellata
Merz & Dawah
Figs 1
b, 2d, 3e, 4d, 5f, 6e.
Neoceratitis flavoscutellata
Merz & Dawah, 2005
: 988
.
Type
material.
Holotype
,
♂
,
SAUDI ARABIA
,
Abha
,
Madenate Ameer Sultan
,
25.II-25.V.2002
,
H.A. Dawah
(
MHNG
).
Paratypes
: same date and locality as holotype, 13
2Ƥ
(
MHNG
); 13
1Ƥ
(
RMCA
); 33
3Ƥ
(
TAUI
).
Male
. Body length: 3.87 (3.70−4.00) mm; wing length: 3.92 (3.60−4.20) mm.
Head. Antenna yellow, first flagellomere more brownish and about three times as long as wide; arista pubescent with hairs at most equal to basal width. Frons dorsal half reddish to brown, ventral half white; setae black. Face yellow-white, ventral to antennal implant with brown spots in antennal grooves, sometimes extended into reddish transverse band; ventral eye margin with darker yellow to brown spot; occiput dorsal third yellow-brown, ventral half yellow-white.
Thorax. Postpronotal lobe white, anterior margin narrowly brown. Scutum ratio 1−1.10; shining black-brown, silver microtrichia in typical pattern except not extending to scutellar margin or scapular setae medially (
Fig. 1
b); dark pilosity except where silver microtrichia with silvery setulae. Pleura brown, anepisternum with white band occupying posterodorsal part, extending to postpronotal lobe, its ventral margin extending to posteroventral corner; katatergite and anatergite whitish, posteroventral margin of laterotergite narrowly brown; one black anepisternal seta. Scutellum (
Fig. 2
d) swollen with straight margin near basal seta and apically partially flattened; white, laterally at base brown ventrally.
Legs. Yellow, femora largely brownish.
Wing. With discal, subapical, anterior apical and posterior apical brown bands (
Fig. 3
e), all well developed. Basal brownish part forming distinct band and largely separated from discal band. Subapical band isolated. R-M ratio 0.60−0.75.
Abdomen. Shining orange-brown to brown. Tergite 2 and 4 largely yellow-white, except anterolateral corners, anterior margin of tergite 2, and anterior third of tergite 4 more extensively brown; tergite 5 yellow medially.
Male
terminalia (
Fig. 4
d) with surstyli short. Phallus glans as illustrated by
Merz & Dawah (2005:
Fig. 6
)
.
Female.
Body length: 4.12 (3.90−4.40) mm; wing length: 4.02 (3.60−4.40) mm.
As
male except for the following characters: oviscape about 3/5 the length of tergites 1-5 jointly, shining orange to brownish. Aculeus (
Fig. 5
f) brown; at least ten times as long as wide; apically (
Fig. 6
e) evenly tapered, simply pointed.
Distribution.
Saudi Arabia
.
Hosts.
Unknown.
Comments.
Neoceratitis flavoscutellata
fits the general description of
Neoceratitis
except for the following character states: the shape of the scutellum (more flattened, as in
Perilampsis
and
Carpophthoromyia
species), the face in lateral view slightly more concave, and the microtrichia pattern on the scutum that is restricted to near the scapular setae and the scutellum. In all other aspects it resembles the other species within this genus and inclusion in this genus seems justified.