Mallota hirsuta Hull 1941

Mallota hirsuta Hull, 1941 Figs 1, 11, 25, 37, 47 Mallota hirsuta Hull, 1941: 327. Differential diagnosis One of the two Madagascan species. It can be differentiated from the other Madagascan species (M. meromacrimima) by the orange face (more yellow in meromacrimima), the posterior anepisternum with yellow-orange pile (pale yellow in meromacrimima), the darker abdomen, and the absence of white pollinose fasciae on abdominal terga (present in meromacrimima) but see comments under meromacrimima. Both can be differentiated from the only other Afrotropical species with bare eyes (M. aperta) by the absence of a distinct medial dark brown macula in the wing (present in aperta), and the unmarginated, rounded apical margin of the scutellum (distinctly marginated in aperta). Type material Holotype MADAGASCAR • ♀; Tananarive Dist., Moramanga, Oriental Forest; May–Sep. 1938; C. Lamberton leg.; ANSP, ANSP ENT 142915 (6591). Description Body length: 15.0 mm. Wing length: 11.5 mm. Female HEAD (Fig. 11). Eye bare; dichoptic, ommatidia equal in size. Frons strongly protruding, in lateral view slightly beyond facial tubercle; ground colour dark orange, in upper third black; with medium long, yellow pile, along lateral margins and in dorsal third pile more yellow-orange. Ocellar triangle medium long black pilose. Face ground colour orange to dark orange, genae black; with whitish pollinosity, facial tubercle non-pollinose; with dispersed long yellow pile along dorsolateral margins, otherwise bare; facial tubercle distinctly pronounced. Antennal segments orange; arista bare, orange at base, darker distally; postpedicel wider than long. THORAX (Fig. 1). Scutum subshining black; anterior third with medium long yellow to yellow-orange pile intermixed with shorter black pile, posterior two-thirds with short black pile (probably large part rubbed off in holotype); postalar callus with longer yellow-orange pile. Scutellum dark orange, anterior margin narrowly darker; with long pale yellow pile (probably large part rubbed off in holotype); unmarginated. Pleura ground colour black; posterior anepisternum with long and dense yellow-orange pile, katepisternum with dispersed long pale yellow-orange pile, anterior and dorsomedial parts of anepimeron with dispersed long black pile; otherwise pleura bare. LEGS. Femora black; with short dense black pile; profemur posteriorly at base with longer pale yellow pile; mesofemur posteriorly along basal two-thirds with longer pale yellow pile continued distally by longer black pile; metafemur (Fig. 25) thickened, anterodorsally along basal two-thirds with row of longer pale yellow pile continued anteriorly as shorter pile; ventrally with few dispersed longer black pile. Tibia and tarsal segments dark orange; with short pale yellow pile; metatibia curved (Fig. 25). WING (Fig. 37). Slightly fumose; most areas microtrichose, slightly more densely microtrichose at anterior half of cell sc and adjacent area of cell r 1. Stigmal cross-vein present between distal end of vein Sc and middle of vein R 1. Vein R 4+5 sinuate, without appendix. ABDOMEN (Fig. 47). Subshining black to dark brown; with short black pile (large parts rubbed off in holotype) except tergum 1 with longer yellow-orange pilosity; tergum 2 anterolaterally with short whitish pile; anterior margin of tergum 3 with whitish pile; other terga laterally with longer whitish pile. Sterna black to red-brown; sterna 1–3 with very long, dispersed whitish pile intermixed with few shorter black pile, sterna 4–5 with dispersed black pile. Male Unknown. Distribution Madagascar. Comments See under M. meromacrimima. No DNA barcodes were obtained.