ASILIDAE (DIPTERA) FROM RAJASTHAN, INDIA

INTRODUCTION From 8th September to 7th October 1986 we had surveyed robberflies of Rajasthan in collaboration with the Desert Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur. The present paper deals with collections made during this survey, and two specimens of Phi/odieus sharmai n. sp. from Gujarat present in the Desert Regional Station. The arrangement of genera followed is based on' A Review of the AsiIidae (Diptera) flom the Oriental Region' by Joseph and Parui (1983).

Legs bl,ack and yellowish.~brown;,fore coxa black, trochanter yellowish-brown, femur black with its apex narrowly yellowish-brown, tibia yellowish-brown and dark browD,tarsus dark brown, mid leg similar except coxa being yellowish-brown, bind coxa, trochanter and femur similarly coloured like that of mid leg, tibia basally yellowish-brown ~nd rest black, tarsus black; vestiture and bristles pale yellow.

28
Wing pale yellow, but medially and along hind border hyaline; R 6 and M 1 united close to the border.
Using the key to the species of Nusa Walker from India and adjoining countries.(Joseph & Parui 1987a), it keys to N. albibarbis Ricardo from which it differs in the thorax being without stripe, black and yellowish-brown legs, hind border of scutellum without bristles, abdomen predominantly yellowish-brown and the differences in the shape of epandrium and gonocoxite. 5. Nusa setosa n. sp.(Fig. 2) A small, pilose, yellowish-brown or orange species marked with dark brown or black to varying extent, legs pale yellow or yellowish-brown with dark brown or black, and wings hyaline.Male: length 9 rom, wing 5-6 mm; female: length 8-9 mm, wing 6 mm.

Male
Head as broad as thorax, yellowish-brown and black with dense grey tomentum; mystax golden yellow, fronto-orbital setae and ocellar bristles white.Antenna with scape and pedicel pale yellow, first fiagellomere basally pale yellow and relnaindtr dark brown, scape with white setae and 1 or 2 white bristles, pedicel slightly shorter than or nearly equal to scape, first fiagellonlere elongate.Palpus yellowish-brown, proboscis yellowish-brown and black, both with white setae.
Thorax yellowish-brown with dark brown or black to varying extent so much so in some examples mostly dark brown or b18c14 short white or golden yellow pollinose; pronotum ,vith white setae; scutum in holotype with a broad mediolongitudinal, black stripe extending from anterior border to midway between transverse suture and hind border, laterally with the black spots united, in one paratype the stripe faint and in the other absent, in both paratypes lateral black spots much smaller and faint; chaetotaxy: 1 notopleural, 2 postalars, a few bristles postero-laterally; scutellum with dense pile, but in hofotype comparatively less, border without bristles; katatergite with long, white, bristly setae.Haltere pale yellow, with or without dark brown on head.
Legs pale yellow or yellowish-brown with dorsal dark brown or black marking on femur, the intensity and area of dark brown or black increases from fore to bind tibia so much so in the latter in some examples it occupies the whole of upper side, apex of hind tibia also dark brown or black : vestiture and bristles white.
Wing hyaline with the veins pale yellow basally.
Abdomen yellowish-brown or orange brown with short, white or golden yellow pilose, holotype with faint median and lateral black markings on terga and with sparse setae, tergum 2 laterally with three bristles, terga 3 and 4 and in some examples tergum 5 also with 1 or 2 bristles.Male genitalia (Fig. 2A) with gonocoxite bearing a row of bristles apically.
Females: Similar but with the following differences: comparatively darker specimens; scutum with the mediolongitudinal stripe and lateral spots larger and distinctly marked; haltere yellowish-brown; abdomen mostly black with much less yellowish-brown or orange-brown.Female genitalia (Fig. 2B The male genitalia of Nusa selosa n.Spa is distinctive and this species can be readily distinguished by the presence of an apical row of bristles on gonocoxite.
Males: Head narrower than thorax, black with dense greyish-white tomentum; mystax white, fronto-orbital bristles and ocellar bristles and medially with white setae.Antenna black or scape and pedicel yellowish-brown and remainder black, scape and pedicel with white bristles, scape slightly longer than half to much longer than half of pedicel, first fiagellomere longer than the combined length of scape and pedicel, style about half to less than half the length of first flagellomere.Palpus and proboscis black, both with white setae.
Thorax black, with or without grey tomentum; pronotum with white or pale yellow, dense bristles and a few setae; scutum with the humeri sometimes brown, usually with a faintly black mediolongitudinal stripe present extending from anterior border to beyond the transverse suture, the stripe faintly divided by a narrow grey stripe, in most of the cases the stripes black and indistinct to varying extent; chaetotaxy; a number of white bristles present laterally and posteriorly, of which postalars (7 or more) and dorsocentrals distinct; vestiture and bristles white; scutellum with a row of white bristles apically and sparse white setae laterally.Haltere pale yellow, yellowish-brown or yellowish-orange.
Legs black and pale yellow or yellowish-brown, coxa and trochanter black .. fore fetnur "black basally for half or more and remainder pale yellow or yellowishbrown, mid femur similar but black more extensive and occupies two-thirds or more, hind femur wholly black, fore tibia and tarsus pale yellow or yellowish-brown, mid tibia and tarsus similar but tibia apically black, hind tibia wholly black or basally pale yellow upto one-fourth and the remainder black, tarsus pale yellow with basitarsus sometimes black; fore femur with antero-ventral and posteroventral rows of bristles but in one paratype the latter row absent, mid femur with anterodorsal, anteroventral, ventral (weak) and posteroventral rows of bristles, hind femur with anterior and anteroventral rows of bristles; vestiture and bristles white.
Wing anteriorly brownish and the remainder infuscated; first posterior cell closed.
Abdomen black, with or without grey tomentum, tergum 1 posterolaterally with a few whi te bristles, tergum 2 laterally with a few, white, bristly setae, vestiture white or white and yellow.Male genitalia (Fig. 3) black with white and black setae, gonocoxite long.

Females
Similar but with the following differences bristles on upper side of postcranium white or pale yellow; scutum with humeri in most cases yellowishorange, in a few paratypes mediolongitudinal stripe bordered by a narrow, yellowishorange line; ventral row of bristles on mid femur lesser in number; abdomen orange or yellowish-brown medially and black laterally, tergum 1, tergum 2 anteriorly, tergum 6 mostly, and terga 7 and 8 completely black, in some examples orange or yellowish-brown more extensive so much so terga 2 and 7 almost wholly orange or yellowish-brown.Genitalia with tergum 9 bearing teD, blunt, spines.7. SticbopogoD basiti n. sp.(Fig. 4) A tiny, densely grey or greyish-yellow tomentose species with paJe yellow legs with dark brown or black markings, wings with two brown spots, and abdomen with a broken, mediolongitudinal, black or dark brown stripe; lamella of female without hair tuft.
Females: Head broader than thorax, densely greyish-white or greyish-yellow tomentose; mystax white, fronto-orbital plate with white bristles and setae, ocellar setae white, postcranium with white setae, postocular bristles white and confined to above, postgena with white setae.Antennal scape and pedicel pale yellow, remainder black, pedicel bearing a few white bristles, scape very short, about one-fourth the length of pedicel, first flagellomere long, longer than one and-a-half times the combined length of scape and pedicel.Palpus and proboscis black with sparse, white setae.
Thorax black, greyish-yellow and grey tomentose; pronotum with a mediaD transverse row of white, bristly hairs; scutum without mediolongitudinal stripe and lateral spots in holotype but with a faint, black mediolongitudinal stripe extending from anterior border to transverse suture in paratype; chaetotaxy: 1 notopleural, 1 post alar, 1 supra-alar, 1 dorsocentral; vestiture and bristles white; scutellar disc bare, hind border with a few, long, white setae and 8 white bristles; katatergite with a row of elongate bristly setae.Haltere yellowish-brown or pale yellow.
Legs pale yellow with dark brown or black marking, fore and mid femora pale yellow or pale yellow with dark infuscation medially for about one-third length, hind tibia basally pale yellow and distally black or dark brown for about half or lesser than that, tarsal segments yellowish-brown with apical 1 or 2 segments black, vestiture and bristles white.
Wing Jightly infuscated with two brown spots: one at the ongln of R 4 ) and the other at the junction betvveen discal, 2nd posterior and 3rd posterior cells.
Abdomen black or dark brown with grey and greyish-yellow tomentum, medially with a broken, black or dark brown stripe from terga 1 to 6, tergum 7 with the stripe faint, and succeeding tergum without it, tergum 7 mostly and tergum 8 wholly tomentose, hind border of terga with a narow grey or yellowish-brown border, tergum 1 posterolaterally with a few, long, white setae.Female genitalia (Fig. 4) with tergunl 8 bearing a circlet of ten spines; lamella without hair tuft.Of all the known regional species of Stichopogon, S. basiti n. sp. is closer to S. ramakrishnai Joseph and Parui (1988) from which it can be separated by the presence of marginal row of white bristles on scutel1um, wing with only two brown spots, and in the difference in the shape of lamella.It is named in honour of Mr. Abdul Basit, our colleague in Jodhpur, who has taken some excellent photographs of insects.

Females
Head broader than thorax, black, grey tomentose, specimens with dense grey tomentum with a mediolongitudinal black line extending from ocellar triangle to occipital foramen; mystax white except' in one paratype it being pale yellow, fronto-orbi tal setae and ocenar bristles white, postcrani urn with white setae, postocular bristles white and confined to above, postgena with white setae.Antennal scape and pedicel pale yellow to yellowish-brown with sparse white setae, remainder black, scape less than half to slightly more than half of pedicel, first flagellomere long, about one and-a-half times the length of scape and pedicel combined.Palpus and proboscis black, latter with sparse white setae.
Thorax black with grey and greyish-yellow pollinose; pronotum with sparse white setae; scutum with a narrow mediolongitudinal stripe extending from anterior border to transverse suture, the length and breadth of which quite variable, laterally with or without 2 black spots; chaetotaxy: 1 notopleural, 1 postalar, 1 supra-alar; vestiture sparse, white, bristles white or pale yellow; scutellar disc bare, border with a few elongate setae, 2 or 4 of which may form bristly setae; katatergite with a few, elongate, white bristly setae.Haltere pale yellow in most of the cases, but in one example yellowish-brown and in the other white.
Legs black and yellowish-orange or pale yellow, coxa, trochanter and femur black, tibia yellow with black apex, the black colouration increases from fore to hind tibiae so mucb so in the latter one-third or more black, vestiture and bristles w bite.

Wing faintly infuscated.
Abdomen black, greyish-white pollinose, in typical case as in holotype tergum 1 greyish-white pollinose with a median black mark, terga 2 .. 6 black, on anterior border with a medially incomplete greyish-white stripe and laterally greyish-white, tergum 7 similar but hind border also greyish-white so much so the black area much reduced, tergum 8 completely greyish-white, the extent of black and greyishwhite areas quite variable from specimen to specimen.Female genitalia (Fig. 5A) figured, tergum 8 with a circlet of ten spines, lamella with closely matted setae in spindle-like tuft.

Male
Similar except the border of scutellum with 6 bristly hairs; abdomen with much less greyish-white pollinose so much so terga 4-6 almost wholly black, tergum 7 with greyish-white restricted to hind border, terga 8 and 9 almost wholly greyish-white.Male genitalia (Fig. 58) illustrated.Female of Stichopogon biharilali n. sp. is similar to S. meridionalis Oldroyd (1948) in the spindle-shaped tuft of setae on lamella, otherwise a quite distinct species with black fore and mid femora and in the shape of lamella.It is named in honour of our colleague Mr Biharilal, who had helped us in several ways to make our Rajasthan colJection trip successful.

Remarks:
The species was described from Orissa and subsequently reported from South India.This is the first report from Rajasthan.17. Ommatius siogbi n. sp.(Fig. 6) A very small black species with black and yellowish-brown legs, and distally infuscated wings.Male: length 4.0-5.6 mm, wing 4.0 mm; female: 6.00 mm, wing 5.00 mm.
Males: Head black, grey tomentose; mystax white with 2-3 to the whole of upper half with black bristles, fronto-orbital setae black and white or wholly black, ocellar bristles white or black, postocular bristles black above and white below, postcranium bare above and with a few white setae below.Antenna black, scape and pedicel with black bristles, scape subequal to pedicel, first flagellomere and pedicel nearly equal in length.Pal pus and proboscis black with white setae.
Thorax black with grey tomentum; pronotum with white setae and with or without 1 or 2 pairs of pale yellow bristly setae in a transverse row; scutum with the mediolongitudinal stripe black, faintly marked, and extending from anterior border to beyod transverse suture; cbaetotaxy: 1 notopleural, 1 postalar, 2 supraalars, 1 or 2 dorso-centrals; vestiture white, bristles white with one or more pairs black; scutellum with a pair of white or black bristles on border, disc with a few white setae; katatergite with a few, long, bristly white setae, meron also with a pair of similar setae.Haltere pale yellow or white.
Legs black and yellowish-brown, coxa, trochanter and femur black, tibia yellowish-brown with black apex or wholly yellowish-brown, remainder of tarsus black, hind femur with anteroventral and postero-ventral row of weak bristles, vestiture predominantly white with some black setae, bristles white and black.
Wing more than half infuscated distally, the remainder hyaline.
Abdomen club-shaped, black, tergum 1 posterolaterally with a few, white bristles and setae, tergum 2 laterally with a few, long, white setae, vestiture white.Male genitalia (Fig. 6) black with black setae and bristles, epandrium ventrally with a nearly rectangular projection.
Female: Similar to the males.Female genitalia black with black and white setae, sternum 8 depressed medially, shallowly concave apically, and with a pair of long bristles laterally, proctiger narrow at apex.It is typical of the genus Ommatius with black colouration and club-shaped abdomen, which can be separated from all the other known Indian species by the distinctive male genitalia.It is named in honour of Sri R. K. Singh, our colleague at Jabalpur, who collected some interesting robberfiies for us.A medium, b1ack species with sparse grey tom~ntum, black and yellowish-brown or pale yellow legs, and distally infuscated wing.Male: length 13-16 mm, wing 9-10 mm; female: length 16-18 mm, wing 11-13 mm.
Males: Head slightly broader than thorax, black with or without grey tomentum; mystax white, fronto-orbital setae wholly white or black and white, ocellar bristles wholly black or rarely black and white, postocular bristles pale yellow or white, a few, and confined to above, postgena with white setae.Antenna black with first flagellomere to varying extent yellowish-brown or dark brown, scape and pedicel with black and white setae and bristles, pedicel more than two-thirds to slightly shorter than scape, first ffagellomere shorter to longer than the combined length of scape and pedicel.Palpus and proboscis black with white setae.
Legs black, except tibia being mainly yellowish-brown or pale yellow with apically black to varying extent, fore and mid tibiae with black apex, hind tibia distally black for about half or more; vestiture white and black, bristles black.24.Philodicus sharmai n. sp.(Fig. 8) A large black species with dense grey or-greyish-yellow tomentum, black legs and light 'brown wings with yellowish-brown veins.Male: length 26-28 mm, wing 19 mm ; female: length 28-29 mm, wing 19 mm.Males: Head narrower.than .thorax,black, greyish-yellow tomentose; mystax white, fronto-orbital plate with.w4ite.and one or more black setae, ocellar bristles .black, postocular bristles white or" pale yellow wi~h one or more of' them being 61ack~ postcranium with white --: setae; postgena with dense white setae.Antenna wholly black or scape bt'ack and remainder dark brown or yellowish-brown, scape and pedicel with black bristles, scape about one-third longer than pedicel, first fiagellomere nearly equal in length to scape.Palpus and proboscis black with white setae.Thorax black with dense greyish-yellow or grey tomentum; pronotum with a transverse row of white or pale yellow bristles, and with dense white setae, scutum with a mediolongitudinal stripe extending from anterior border to midway between transverse suture and hind border, the stripes divided by a greyish-yellow stripe, posterior to the longitudinal stripe with three, longitudinal, grey marks, lateral three black spots faintly marked or distinct; chaetotaxy: 1 notopJeural, 2 postalars, 2 supra-alars, 1 intra-alar, 1-5 dorsocentrals: vestiture black with some white setae laterally, bristles black; scutellar disc with white setae, border with 2, and in one para type 3, black bristles; katatergite and meron with white or pale yellow, long, bristly setae.Haltere pale yellow or stalk pale yellow with orange or dark brown head.

SA
Legs black, hind femur with an anteroventral row of black bristles, vestiture white, bristles black, fore tibia and tarsus anteriorly with mat of golden yellow setae, in hind tibia and tarsus similar setae present posteriorly.
Wing light brown with cells along hind border still lighter coloured, veins yellowish-brown.
Abdomen black, grey tomentose to varying extent, in typical case as in holotype tergum 1 completely grey, terga 2-6 anteromedially black, and laterally and posteriorly grey tomentose, terga 7 and 8 medially black and laterally grey tomentose, terga posterolaterally with a few white or pale yellow bristles which decrease in number and size in succeeding terga, tergum 2 mediolateral1y with 2 additional bristles, vestiture predominantly white.Genitalia (Fig. 8A, B) black.
Females: Similar but with the following differences: chaetotaxy: 2 para types with 1 supernumerary seta outer to the posterior postalar; bristles on abdomen confined to terga 1 and 2, tergum I similar to that of male, tergum 2 with 2-4 mediolateral bristles (which in one paratype black) but without posterolateral bristles.Genitalia (Fig. 8C) black, tergum 9 with 8 or 10 spines.Joseph & Parui (in press b) froln both of these it can be recognised by the larger size together with the shape of female genitalia.The new species is affectionately dedicated in honour of our long time friend and colleague, Dr. R. C. Sharma, Scientist 'SE', without whose generous help it could not have been possible to undertake the Rajasthan Survey of Asilidae successfully.

1 .
Lateral view of male genitalia of Nasa rajasthanensis n. sp.

3 .
Lateral view of male genitalia of Stenopogon roonwali n. sp.4.Lateral view of male genitalia of Stichopogon hasiti n. sp.
It is quite similar to Slenopogon cinchonaensis Joseph and Parui (1981 b) from which it differs in the white mystax, white bristles on the hind border of scutellum and in the shape of gonocoxite.It is named in honour of Dr. M. L. Roonwal, ex-director, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, who recently passed away.StichopogOD Loew1847.Stichopogon Loew, Linn.Enl. 2 : 499.

5 .
Stichopogon biharilali n. sp .• A. lateral view of female genitalia; Bf lateral view of male genitalia.

8 .
Phi/odieus sharmai n. sp., A, lateral view of male genitalia; B, ventral view of male genitalia: C, ventral view of female eighth sternum: