Aspistomella Hendel 1909

Genus Aspistomella Hendel, 1909 Aspistomella Hendel 1909b: 265. Type species: Aspistomella lobioptera Hendel, 1909, by original designation. Aspistomella: Hendel 1910: 10, 47; Steyskal 1968: 54.14. Paraphyola Hendel 1909b: 261, syn. nov. Type species: Paraphyola angustifrons Hendel, 1909, by subsequent designation of Hendel (1910: 46). Paraphyola: Hendel 1910: 40, 46; Steyskal 1968: 54.20. Diagnosis. This genus has all the diagnostic characters of the tribe Lipsanini: head and body with silver, greenish or cyan metallic sheen, sparsely whitish microtrichose, ocellar seta strong; phallus bare or covered with fine microtrichia, apically without glans; hypandrium symmetrical, with deep phallic guide, two areas of trichoid sensilla (corresponding to the pregonites and postgonites); female abdominal tergites 4–6 without anteromedial apodemes; only two spermathecae present. Aspistomella species can be easily distinguished from other Lipsanini species by the combination of the following characters: epistome high, at least 2× higher than clypeus; frontal and interfrontal setae well differentiated, longer than fine and short parafrontal setulae; crossvein r-m distal to the apex of vein R 1 or at most very slightly proximal of it. Aspistomella duo, A. heteroptera, A. lobioptera, A. pachitea, A. steyskali, and A. tres also differ by the very narrow pterostigma formed by the approximate, subparallel veins Sc and R 1; costal vein more or less thickened, often strongly arcuate and bearing thickened marginal setulae before the apex of the subcostal vein. Aspistomella duo, A. heteroptera, A. obliqua, A. sachavaca, and A. tres can be distinguished by the presence of setulose vein R 1, which is rarely found in other groups of Lipsanini. From the monotypic genus Polyteloptera, the species here assigned to Aspistomella differ by having an apically rounded postpedicel and a gradually narrowing wing with the long ultimate section of vein M 1 (P. apotropa has an antenna with a dorsally incised and apically pointed postpedicel and an apically broadened wing, with the short ultimate section of vein M 1). The species of Aspistomella are distinguished from the superficially similar, elongate and moderately large metallic greenish flies of the genus Ulivellia, by the crossvein r-m distal to the apex of vein R 1 (at the level of vein Sc or basal to it in Ulivellia). Description Adult. Body mostly dark brown or black, usually with a metallic sheen, sometimes faint greenish or cyan, partly obscured by sparse whitish or silvery white microtrichia (Figs 10 A, B, 14 A, E, 24 A–F, 25 A–C, 34 A–C, 38 D, 44 A–C, and others). Head at most slightly higher than long. Frons narrow (1.05× longer than wide in A. pachitea and 1.1× A. schnusei) to wide (0.65× in A. duo, 0.9× in A. lobioptera), conspicuously narrowed towards vertex, reddish or brownish-yellow with black, often greenish shining vertical plates and ocellar triangle (Figs 10 D, 14 C and others); frontal vitta smooth or with fine longitudinal wrinkles (Fig. 15 G, left), frontal plates with 4–8 short proor lateroclinate parafrontal setulae on each side (Figs 13–18), 2–6 frontal setae and 1–3 interfrontal setae (Figs 10 C, D, 15 A, 22 E, 24 C, 25 D, 27 B, 28 C, 31 C, 32 G, 34 D, E, 36 C, 38 B, C, 39 C, 40 A, 42 F, 44 D); vertex and orbits with dense, proclinate, slightly thickened, short white microtrichia (Fig. 15 G, right). Vertical plates with 1 long orbital seta, and usually with a second vestigial reclinate seta anterior to it; ocellar triangle with ocelli forming an elongated acute triangle and a pair of usually very long ocellar setae, 4–10× longer than frontal setae (Figs 14 B, 22 D, 25 C, and others) or, in A. garleppi, 1–1.5× longer than frontal setae (Fig. 24 D). Face dorsally flat, covered with white or black, dense, inclinate, curled and appressed microtrichia (Figs 15 F, 25 D, 38 C and others), and with ventral portion conspicuously produced antero-ventrally, forming a large, often metallically shining epistome, covered with sparse, thin, erect whitish microtrichia (Figs 14 C, 15 I and others). Parafacial usually brownish-yellow, densely white microtrichose (Fig. 15 H). Gena widened posteriorly, brownish, sparsely white microtrichose, bearing 1–2 strong genal setae and 4–6 moderately or very long, proclinate peristomal setulae (Figs 25 C, 27 B, 28 B, C). Occiput black or dorsomedially and lateroventrally brown to yellow, densely white microtrichose. Scape short, dorsally with 6–8 marginal setulae; pedicel with rectangular incision; one long pedicellar seta and 20–25 setulae, the longest ventral, almost as long as pedicel width (Fig. 15 D and others). Postpedicel oval, 2.0–2.2× longer than wide, rounded at apex, densely microtrichose; arista 3-segmented (Figs 15 D, E). Palp elongate, 4–4.5× longer than wide and almost twice as long as postpedicel, white microtrichose, with 15–25 ventral and ventromedial setae almost as long as palp width and 1–2 apical setae 1.5–2× longer than the rest (Fig. 15 B). Clypeus much lower than epistome, convex, densely microtrichose, almost entirely hidden in oral cavity. Proboscis with prementum and labellum moderately large, with long, often slightly curled, thin setulae (Fig. 15 B). Thorax mostly black or brown, with faint bluish, greenish or golden sheen and moderately dense, thin, semierect white microtrichia not completely hiding shining cuticle. Postpronotal lobe with 1 seta and 5–15 setulae; proepisternum with 1 short proepiesternal seta (sometimes absent or indistinct) and 5–20 fine subequal setulae on proepiesternal ridge. Prosternum higher than wide, with distinct longitudinal suture and shallow ventral incision, sparsely microtrichose, without conspicuous setae. Mesonotum steel shining, with slight green or bluish sheen of cuticle not entirely obscured by sparse or moderately thick white microtrichia (Figs 14 E, 16 A); scutum setulose, except prescutellar area posterior to dorsocentral setae; dorsocentral setulae forming distinct row, with 8–18 poorly ordered rows of setulae between them; 1 postpronotal, 2 notopleural, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 1 intra-alar and 1 postalar, 2 dorsocentral and 1 acrostichal seta present, strong (in A. crucifera, A. lobioptera, A. lunata, A. obliqua, A. quinquincisa, A. sachavaca, A. steyskali, and A. teresensis), weak (in A. schnusei,) or absent (in A. angustifrons, A. duo, A. garleppi, A. heteroptera Hendel, A. pachitea, and A. tres). Anepisternum setulose almost entirely anterior to vertical squama, with one strong seta and 5–12 shorter setae at posterior margin. Katepisternum with one strong posterodorsal seta. Scutellum subtriangular, slightly convex, smooth, with 2 pairs of scutellar setae, no setulae on disc and margins, sparsely microtrichose. Subscutellum matt, microtrichose. Mediotergite smooth, sparsely or densely microtrichose. Wing moderately wide, 2.6–2.8× longer than wide (in A. lobioptera, A. lunata, A. enderleini, and A. steyskali) to strongly elongate, 3.5–3.75× longer than wide (in A. tres), largely dark with hyaline incisions or round spots or hyaline with darker crossbands (Figs 5, 6). Venation modified, pterostigma shorter than wide in A. duo, A. heteroptera, A. lobioptera, A. pachitea, A. steyskali, and A. tres), and costal vein conspicuously bent and thickened before apex of subcostal vein, so that apical portion of costal cell conspicuously lobed with thick setulae on costal vein (Figs 5 B–F, 16 E, F), or, in other species, as long as or longer than wide. Vein R 1 dorsally with 3–10 setulae (A. duo, A. heteroptera, A. obliqua, A. sachavaca, and A. tres) to entirely bare. Crossvein r-m apical to R 1 apex in most species, except in line with R 1 apex in A. lunata, A. sachavaca, and A. schnusei or slightly basal of it in A. garleppi Cell r 4+5 slightly or conspicuously narrowed apically. Vein CuA Z-shaped, cell cua with moderately short (in most species) to long (in A. obliqua and A. sachavaca) posteroapical lobe along vein CuP. Calypters white, with white cilia. Halter creamy white (in most species) to brown with black or brown knob (in A. duo and A. tres). Legs variably coloured; coxae usually yellow to brown, femora yellowish brown to entirely brown or black, tibiae and tarsi yellow to brown. Fore femur with 2 posterodorsal rows of setae; posteroventrally with row of 3–5 setae (in A. duo and A. tres), often conspicuously thickened and spinulose, in A. pachitea without postero-ventral row; fore tibia antero-apically as well as basal fore tarsomere with brush of short pale setulae. Mid femur on anterior and posterior surfaces with row of moderately long, antero- and postero-ventrally directed setulae. Mid tibia apicoventrally with strong spur-like seta 1.5–3× longer than tibia width, in A. duo, A. obliqua and A. tres with additional seta (Fig. 16 N) 0.7–1× longer than longest seta. Hind femur with 2–3 to 4–5 preapical setae dorsally. Abdomen subshining brown to black, in A. heteroptera with syntergite 1+2 broadly yellow (Figs 25 A, B); tergites and sternites with metallic silver, green or yellow sheen, sparsely white microtrichose (Figs 10 G, 16 C, D, 34 B, 36 G, H). Male and female abdomen with 5 visible tergites, of which tergites 3–5 subequal in length; female tergite 6 hidden beneath posterior margin of tergite 5. Sternites 3–5 not modified, subrectangular (Figs 11 A, 12 A, 18 A, 23 A, 35 A, 37 A, 41 G). Male postabdomen. Sternite 8 setulose, with 2 longer setulae. Epandrium moderately setulose. Surstyli of variable shape, often species-specific, fused with epandrium, usually wide basally, narrowed and curved mesally towards apex, often with small, mesoapically directed pimple-like process (Figs 26 E, 35 C, 46 E: pi p), in A. angustifrons, very narrow and curved (Figs 11 C, F), in A. quinquincisa, blunt with smooth margins (Figs 37 B–F), in A. enderleini, blunt with serrate posterior margin (Figs 23 B–D), in A. lobioptera and A. steyskali, bilobate (Figs 29 D–G, 41 A–D). Cerci low, m