Sphegina dentata is a species of hoverfly in the family Syrphidae found in Taiwan.[1]

Sphegina dentata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Syrphidae
Genus: Sphegina
Subgenus: Asiosphegina
Species:
S. dentata
Binomial name
Sphegina dentata
Hippa, Steenis & Mutin, 2018[1]

Etymology

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The name comes from Latin ‘dentata’, meaning ‘dentate’, referring to the dentate male cercus.

Description

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In male specimens, the body length is 7.1–7.9 millimeters. The wings are 5.4–5.9 millimeters, entirely microtrichose and hyaline, with brownish stigma. The face is black, concave, strongly projected antero-ventrally, with a weakly developed frontal prominence and long pilose along the eye-margin. The gena and mouth edge are black, with a large subtriangular non-pollinose shiny area; frons and vertex black; a large trapezoidal area posterior of the lunula non-pollinose and shiny; occiput black, with light yellow pilose; antenna dark brown to black with black setae dorsally on scape and pedicel, basal flagellomere round; arista only basally short and pilose, slightly more than three times as long as the basal flagellomere. The thorax is black; scutellum black, semicircular, black, and shiny; pro- and mesoleg yellow on basal 1/10 of femora and basal ¼–⅓ of tibiae, tarsomeres 1–2 dark yellow; metafemur black with basal 1/5 yellow, slightly incrassate; metatibia black and yellow biannulate, without apicoventral dens; metatarsus entirely black, basal tarsomere rather thin; terga black. The surstyli and superior lobes are only slightly asymmetrical and the cerci are dentate and asymmetrical. No female specimens are known.[1]

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S. dentata is similar to S. nigerrima, though it differs by having the lower epimeron with entirely grey pollinose (anterior half of the lower epimeron non-pollinose and shiny in S. nigerrima) as well as squarish and dentate cerci (cerci non-dentate in S. nigerrima). The male genitalia are similar to S. tricoloripes and S. umbrosa, though it differs from the latter by having a strongly sclerotized subapical tooth on the cercus and from the former by having only one cercal tooth instead of a row of 3–4 teeth. All three species resemble the East-Palaearctic species S. elongata, S. freyana, and S. grunini, but differ by having entirely grey pollinose pleura (instead of having the pleura extensively non-pollinose and shiny).[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Steenis, J. van; Hippa, H.; Mutin, V.A. (2018). "Revision of the Oriental species of the genus Sphegina Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae)". European Journal of Taxonomy (489): 1–198. doi:10.5852/ejt.2018.489. S2CID 165348351. Retrieved 13 November 2021.  Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) license.