Sarcophaga ( Heteronychia ) helenae ( Trofimov, 1948 )

Sarcophaga ( Heteronychia) helenae ( Trofimov, 1948) View in CoL , revived stat.

Pierretia ( Boettcherella) helenae Trofimov, 1948: 835 View in CoL .

Heteronychia ( Spatulapica) fraterna Lehrer, 1977b: 27 View in CoL , syn. nov. Spatulapica delicata Lehrer, 2000: 33 View in CoL , syn. nov.

Type material examined. Heteronychia ( Spatulapica) fraterna : Holotype 3 [three slides with just the terminalia; rest of holotype not found in SOFM (A. Popov, pers. comm. 2007)]: [first slide] Heteronychia / ( Spatulapica ) / fraterna n. sp. / LEHRER // Holotypus / Sternite V / Haskovo – 1906; [second slide] Heteronychia / ( Spatulapica ) / fraterna n. sp. / LEHRER // Holotypus / Cerci / Haskovo – 1906; [third slide] Heteronychia / ( Spatulapica ) / fraterna n. sp. / LEHRER // Holotypus / Phallosome / Haskovo – 1906 ( SOFM).

Spatulapica delicata : Holotype 3: Israel / N. Amud / 24.VI.1981 / M. Kaplan // Spatlapica [sic!] 3 / delicata sp. n. / HOLOTYPUS / Det. Dr. A.Z. Lehrer / 1998 // Spatulapica 3 / delicata sp. n. / HOLOTYPUS / Det. Dr. A.Z. LEHRER / 1998 ( TAU) and corresponding slides: [first slide] Spatulapica 3 / delicata n. sp. / Det. Dr. A. Z. LEHRER // 3 HOLOTYPUS / Sternite V; [second slide] Spatulapica 3 / delicata n. sp. / Det. Dr. A. Z. LEHRER / / 3 HOLOTYPUS / Cerci & paralobi; [third slide] Spatulapica 3 / delicata n. sp. / Det. Dr. A. Z. LEHRER // 3 HOLOTYPUS / Phallosome ( TAU). Paratypes: 2 3: Israel, N. Amud, 24.VI.1981, M. Kaplan leg. ( TAU) [one with terminalia dissected and glued to a slip of card pinned with source specimen].

Additional material examined. Armenia: Kot’i, 11.VI.1974, A. Pomarenko leg., 1 3 ( YVC). Georgia: Zekari crossing, subalpine forest, 27.VIII.1967, Gudjabidze leg., 1 3 (CNBFVR, ex IZGAS, as “ Het. kobachidzei det. Gudjabidze”). Greece: Makhedonia/Thessalia, Olympos, 21–26.V.1990, 1 3 ( ZMUC); Meteora, 2.VI.1992, D. Povolný leg., 5 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); Panteleimon, 20.VI.1993, D. Povolný leg., 6 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); Platamon, 1992–1993 [various dates], D. Povolný leg., 76 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); Skotina, 28.V.1992, D. Povolný leg., 1 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); same locality, 28.VIII.1992, D. Povolný leg., 1 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); same locality, 20.VI.1003, D. Povolný leg., 1 3 ( MMBC, as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”); Thessalia, Larissa prov., Mt. Ossa, Ambelakia, 27.V.2002, P. Cerretti et al. leg., 2 3 (CNBFVR). Turkey: Izmir, Bergama-Kozak road, 700m, 10– 12.V.1993, V. Michelsen leg., 1 3 ( ZMUC). Turkmenistan: Kopet Dag, Ak-Depe, 2.VII.1981, A. Ozerov leg., 1 3 ( ZMUC).

Remarks. Trofimov (1948) described Pierretia ( Boettcherella) helenae on more than one specimen, as can be deduced from the range “ 9–12 mm ” given for the body length of the species; however, he did not designate a holotype and did not mention a depository for the type series. Trofimov compared his new species with “ Pierretia setinervis Rohd. ” [= Sarcophaga ( Heteronychia) setinervis Rondani, 1860 ] and Verves (1978a), presumably based solely on the original description, later proposed its synonymy with S. ( H.) setinervis (as “ Heteronychia setinervis ”), under which it was subsequently listed also by Verves (1986) and Pape (1996). Based on my knowledge of S. ( H.) setinervis (of which I have also examined the lectotype ɗ, preserved in MZUF) ( cf. Pape 1988), Trofimov’s original illustrations (p. 834, figs 5–6), and details of his original description such as the large body size and the possession of apical scutellar setae, I consider Pierretia helenae as a senior synonym of Heteronychia fraterna and Spatulapica delicata , and a valid species of Heteronychia . It can be distinguished from S. ( H.) setinervis by the generally larger size (although variability allows for some overlap), the presence of apical setae on the scutellum and the absence of a dorsal excavation on the cercus, as well as by details of the distiphallus such as the presence of short apical processes of harpes and a membranous, wrinkled tip of juxta.

Verves (1986) synonymized Heteronychia fraterna with H. boettcheriana (= S. ( H.) bulgarica ); this synonymy was accepted by Povolný (1987), who later synonymized Spatulapica delicata with H. setinervis ( Povolný 2002a) . My examination of the holotypes of both these species allowed me to verify that they are both junior synonyms of Sarcophaga ( H.) helenae .

Gudjabidze (1965: 184) described Heteronychia kobachidzei on two males from Gurshevi (collected 12.IX.1956) and Ketrisi (collected 4.VIII.1955), two localities in Georgia. He designated one of these two specimens as the “Tip” [= Type = holotype], mentioned IZGAS as the depository, and compared his new species with Heteronychia fertoni Villeneuve, 1911 (= S. ( H.) minima Rondani, 1862 ). Conflicting information in the original description of Heteronychia kobachidzei and the finding in IZGAS of a male of S. ( H.) helenae from Georgia (see above), identified by Gudjabidze himself as “ Het. kobachidzei ”, suggest a possible synonymy of H. kobachidzei with S. ( H.) helenae . However, pending a direct examination of the holotype, which I was unfortunately unable to carry out, the identity of H. kobachidzei remains doubtful (see below under “Doubtful species”).

Sarcophaga ( H.) helenae is known, so far, from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Turkey and Turkmenistan.