Ulivellia Speiser 1929

Ulivellia Speiser, 1929 Ulivellia Speiser 1929: 28. Type species: Ulivellia inversa Speiser, 1929 (by original designation). Ulivellia: Steyskal 1968: 54.22. Diagnosis. The genus possesses all the diagnostic characters of the tribe Lipsanini and the Amethysa lineage: head and body with greenish or bluish metallic sheen, sparsely whitish microtrichose, ocellar setae strong; phallus bare or covered with fine microtrichia, shortened or sometimes bar-like, apically without glans; female abdominal tergites 4–6 without anteromedial apodemes, only two spermathecae present. Frons with short parafrontal setulae near orbits, and clearly differentiated from them strong frontal and interfrontal setae. Species of Ulivellia are easily distinguished from most genera of the Lipsanini / Amethysa lineage by the presence of crossveins r-m and dm-m, which are strongly displaced basally, so that r-m is at the level of the Sc apex and dmm is slightly distal to R 1 apex level. All known species have an elongate and narrow pterostigma and setulose vein R 1. The other lipsaniine species with the crossvein r-m at the level of the Sc apex assigned to the genera Axiologina Hendel, 1909 and Euxesta Loew, 1868 (Figs 4 I–K) have subequal, low epistome and high clypeus (Fig. 3 D). Halter either entirely black, or with a black knob, sometimes entirely yellow. The species of Ulivellia can be distinguished from the closely related and superficially similar, elongate and moderately large metallic greenish flies of the Aspistomella group of genera, which also often have black halteres, by the combination of the wing discal crossband uniformly narrow or not reaching posterior half of the wing (in other genera, strongly widened posteriorly) and crossvein r-m at the level of vein Sc or basal of it (in other genera, distal to the apex of the vein R 1, except in Aspistomella garleppi, where the crossvein r-m is proximal to the apex of the vein R 1, but still distal to the apex of vein Sc, as in Fig. 6 D, as well as surstyli bearing numerous prensisetae in the species examined (in other genera, only non-thickened or 2–3 moderately thickened setulae are present on the inner surstylus as in Aspistomella steyskali, which are believed to appear independently). Description. Body mostly dark brown or black, usually with metallic sheen, often faint bluish or greenish, partly hidden by sparse whitish or silvery white microtrichia (Figs 50, 51, 53, 55, 57). Head generally as described for Aspistomella. Frons smooth (Figs 50 B, 51 E, 53 D, 55 C, 57 C), with fine wrinkles, reddish or brownish yellow with black, often greenish shining vertical plates and ocellar triangle to entirely black towards vertex; frontal plates with 4–9 short parafrontal setulae and 4–10 frontal setae; frontal vitta finely and sparsely microtrichose, usually with 3–10 interfrontal setae on each side; vertex and orbits with dense, thickened, short white microtrichia. Vertical plates with 1 long and 1 vestigial reclinate orbital setae anterior of it; ocellar triangle with ocelli forming elongate acute triangle and a pair of very long ocellar setae. Face in dorsal portion flat, covered with white microtrichia (Figs 50 B, 53 D, 55 C, 57 C), and with ventral portion strongly produced anteroventrally, forming large epistome 2–3× higher than clypeus, often metallic shining, covered with sparse, thin whitish microtrichia. Parafacial usually brownish yellow, densely white microtrichose. Gena widened posteriorly, brownish, sparsely white microtrichose, bearing 1–2 strong genal setae and 4–6 moderately long, proclinate peristomal setulae. Occiput densely white microtrichose. Scape short, dorsally with 6–8 black marginal setulae. Pedicel with rectangular incision; one long pedicellar seta and 20–25 setulae, of them ventral longest. Postpedicel oval, 1.8–2× longer than wide, rounded at apex, densely microtrichose; arista 2-segmented (Figs 50 C, 53 C, D). Palp elongate, 4–4.5× longer than wide and almost twice as long as postpedicel, white microtrichose, with numerous ventral and ventromedial setae almost as long as palp width and 2–3 apical setae 1.5–2× longer than the rest. Clypeus at least half lower than epistome, convex, microtrichose, almost hidden in oral cavity. Proboscis with prementum and labellum moderately large, bearing long thin setulae. Thorax mostly shining black or brown, with faint bluish, greenish or golden sheen and moderately dense, thin, semierect white microtrichia not hiding entirely 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 hidden by sparse or moderately thick white microtrichia (Figs 50 E, 51 F, 53 E, 55 E, 57 E); scutum setulose, except prescutellar area posterior of dorsocentral setae; dorsocentral setulae forming clear row, with 8–18 12 poorly ordered rows of setulae between them; 1 postpronotal, 2 notopleural, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 1 intra-alar and 1 postalar, 2 dorsocentral and setae present; acrostichal seta present in U. amnoni, U. laetitiae and U. pseudinsolita, but absent in U. arcuata and U. tenoris. Anepisternum setulose almost entirely anterior to vertical squama, with strong seta and 5–12 shorter setae at posterior margin. Katepisternum with one, occasionally two 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 from moderately elongate, 2.0–2.8× longer than wide to strongly elongate, 3.5× longer than wide (in U. tenoris), with dark banded wing pattern (or extensive dark pattern in males of U. arcuata); venation modified, with the crossvein r-m displaced basally to the level of Sc apex and dm-m closer to the level of R 1 apex than to R 2+3 apex (Figs 4 A–G). Vein R 1 dorsally with 7–15 setulae (not known in U. inversa). Pterostigma longer than wide, costal vein straight before apex of subcostal vein or very slightly bent in U. pseudinsolita; in U. arcuata, costal vein conspicuously curved distally of apex of subcostal vein. Cell r 4+5 slightly or conspicuously narrowed apically. Vein CuA Z-shaped, cell cua with moderately short posteroapical lobe along vein CuP (in U. amnoni, U. laetitiae, and U. arcuata) or moderately long (in U. pseudinsolita and U. tenoris). Calypters white, with white cilia. Halter creamy white (in U. amnoni, U. laetitiae, and U. tenoris) to brown with black or brown knob (in U. arcuata, U. inversa, and U. pseudinsolita). Legs variable in coloration; coxae yellow to brown, femora usually entirely brown or black, tibiae and tarsi yellow to brown. Fore femur with 2 posterodorsal rows of setae, posteroventrally with row of 2–10 setae. Mid femur on anterior and posterior surface with row of moderately long, antero- and postero-ventrally directed setulae. Mid tibia apicoventrally with strong spur-like seta 1.5× longer than tibia width. Hind femur with 2–3 subapical setae dorsally. Abdomen subshining brown to black, tergites and sternites with metallic green or yellow sheen, sparsely white microtrichose (Figs 50 F, 51 C, 53 B, 55 A, B, 57 F). Male and female abdomen with 5 visible tergites, of them tergites 3–5 subequal in length; female tergite 6 hidden underneath posterior margin of tergite 5. Sternites 3–5 unmodified, subrectangular, sternite 5 trapezoid (Fig. 52 A). Male postabdomen. Sternite 8 setulose, with 2 longer setae. Cerci wide oval, moderately developed, partly fused at bases; in U. arcuata, flat and joined by subtriangular proctiger; in U. laetitiae, short oval, in U. pseudinsolita longer, sack-like; setulose (Figs 52 D, E; 54 A, B; 56 A–D). Epandrium ovoid, dorsally short, moderately setulose (Figs 52 C, 54 A, B, D, 56 A–D). Surstyli basally wide, in U. laetitiae, outer surstylus simple with narrow, elongated, mesally directed ventral lobe apically bearing dorsally directed pimple-like process, but without distinct antero-ventral and postero-ventral lobes; inner surstylus with 12–15 thickened prensisetae (Figs 54 B, D, E); in U. arcuata, mesally directed ventral lobe short and without pimple-like process, but with single sclerotised prensiseta at base (Figs 52 B, C); inner surstylus with row of 6–8 gradually enlarging prensisetae; in U. pseudinsolita, outer surstylus flattened, posteroventrally directed, apically oval with single trichoid sensillum; inner surstylus with 4 very strong claw-like mesally directed prensisetae (Figs 56 A, C). Pregonites symmetrical, with 3–5 setulae ventro-mesally, conspicuously anterior of postgonites. Postgonites on laterobasal part of the phallic guide lobes, with 5–6 small trichoid sensilla (Figs 52 F, 54 E, 56 E). Phallus in U. laetitiae and U. pseudinsolita moderately short and narrow, about 3–4 times as long as epandrium high, almost bare, in rest coiled at right side of abdomen (Figs 56 A–D); in U. arcuata, phallus short and wide, bowed to the right side of abdomen, but neither coiled, nor hidden in the rest, apically with pair of denticles at both sides of gonopore (Figs 52 B–E). Ejaculatory apodeme short, bar-like, with relatively small sperm pump (Figs 52 D, 56 B). Female terminalia: not dissected. Preimaginal stages. Egg unknown. Third instar larvae. The third instar larvae of Ulivellia are known from Ulivellia arcuata and U. tenoris. The morphology and the cephalopharyngeal skeleton of Ulivellia larvae were basically the same as in Aspistomella (Table 2). Aspistomella and Ulivellia could be distinguished mainly by the structure of the posterior spiracles and the locomotory creeping welts. Aspistomella la