The Canacidae of the Arabian Peninsula (Diptera: Brachycera: Carnoidea) Author Munari, Lorenzo text Zootaxa 2016 4092 4 489 517 journal article 51564 10.11646/zootaxa.4092.4.2 eb2da56d-dd6b-4acb-a9fe-8d1addb01cb9 1175-5326 264498 E6C06D83-2B9C-44DE-A085-490E3240258A Tethina shalom Freidberg and Beschovski, 1996 (figs. 34‒35) Tethina shalom Freidberg and Beschovski, 1996: 109 [ Israel . Elat; HT ♂, TAU ]. Distribution. Palaearctic : Israel (Red Sea coast), Qatar . Diagnosis. Body length 1.9‒2.3 mm ; species with dark grey thorax and piceous black abdomen, with tergites bordered by pale yellow stripes; apical half of the scutellum with a remarkably dark spot (fig. 34); setal vestiture yellow; wings with pale yellow to whitish membrane; radial and medial veins distinctly brown. Head higher than long; ventral face slightly prominent; eye oblique, markedly oblong, its longest diameter 1.9‒2.5 times as long as the height of the gena; gena whitish, with obvious, translucent, longitudinal stripe; mouth parts with labella shorter than the length of the buccal cavity; palpus long and narrow; thorax dark grey; mesonotum with darker, longitudinal stripes; 2 rows of acrostichal setulae; prescutellar acrostichals lacking; both proepisternal and proepimeral setae present; legs yellow, with apical tarsomere of mid and hind legs infuscated; crossveins of wing with no trace of white halo; surstylus in lateral view as in figure 35. Remarks. Munari (2005a) noticed that the specimens from Qatar differ from the types from Elat ( Israel , Red Sea coast) mainly by the slightly broader and darker scutellar spot, and the epiproct of the female postabdomen bearing a pair of moderately long, thin setae, instead of stout setae. Otherwise, all the external features, including the chaetotactic pattern of the female cerci, perfectly match those of the types . As for the external features of this species, Munari (2005a) compared the type series ( TAU ) with the Arabian specimens, finding a strong similarity between the specimens from the Red Sea coast of Israel and those from Qatar . In addition, the morphological traits of the male terminalia, as figured by Freidberg and Beschovski (1996), agree rather well with the lateral profile of those of the specimens from Qatar . Indeed, Munari (2005a) deliberately avoided dissecting the holotype of this species, it being the only specimen of the type series in good condition and with intact abdomen.