Species Geron karakara Evenhuis, 1979

• Geron karakara Evenhuis, N.L. 1979. Studies in Pacific Bombyliidae (Diptera). II. Revision of the genus Geron of Australia and the Pacific. Pacific Insects 21: 13-55 [Date published 30 August] [32].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM K291986 ♂ (13.i.1971, G.A. Holloway & H. Hughes), WA: 30 mi (48 km) S of Mendurah [32° 30' S 115° 42' E].
  Paratype(s) AMSA 5♂, 1♀ (13.i.1971, G.A. Holloway & H. Hughes), WA: 30 mi (48 km) S of Mendurah; ANIC 4♂, 1♀ (16.x.1970, D.H. Colless), WA: 37 mi (59.2km) N of Ajana; ANIC ♀ (21.iii.1971, E.F. Riek), WA: 16 km N of Augusta; ANIC ♀ (21.ix.1964, G.L. Bush), WA: Bindoon; CAS ♀ (5.x.1962, 440rn, E.S. Ross & D.Q. Cavagnaro), WA: 45 mi (72 km) NW of Cue; BMNH ♀ (11-21.i.1936, R.E. Turner), WA: Dedari, 40 mi (64 km) W of Coolgardie; ANIC 12♂, 1♀ (3.ii.1934, 6-14.x.1934, 3-10.ii.1935 & 23.ii.1936, K.R. Norris), WA: Fremantle; ANIC ♂ (17.iii.1953, J.H. Calaby), WA: 6 mi [9.6 km] NE of Geraldton; ANIC ♀ (26.x.1970, Colless), WA: Millstream; BMNH ♀ (11.x.1969, H.E. Evans), WA: 6 mi [9.6 km] W of Mullewa; BMNH ♀ (25.ii-12.iii.1936, R.E. Turner), WA: Perth; ANIC ♀ (15.i.1934, Norris), WA: Perth, King's Park; ANIC ♀ (27.iii.1971, Upton & Mitchell), WA: Perth, Reabold Hill; BMNH 3♂, 1♀ (3-19.xii.1935, 29.i-8.ii.1936, R.E. Turner), WA: Yanchep, 32 mi [51.2 km] N of Perth; ANIC ♀ (23.ii.1936, Norris), WA: Rottnest Island; ANIC ♂ (15.xi.1971, N. McFarland), WA: Red Bluff; AMSA ♀ (21.i.1971, Holloway & Hughes), WA: Serpentine Falls, Darling Ranges.

  Type locality references:

  Evenhuis, N.L. & Greathead, D.J. 1999. World Catalog of Bee Flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae). Leiden, Netherlands : Backhuys xlviii+756 pp. [43].

Distribution

States

Western Australia

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Carnarvon (CAR), Coolgardie (COO), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Murchison (MUR), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR)

Diagnosis

♂. Head: face and frons tan to gray; frons sparse white tomentose; face bare; oral margin gray-black, bare; occiput gray, whitish yellow pilose and yellow tomentose; gula gray, white pilose; antennal segment I tan, white pilose above, black below; antennal segments II and III black, segment II short black pilose distally, segment III bare; antennal ratio: 2:1:3.5. Thorax: scutum and scutellum blackish brown, white pile overlying sparse golden tomentum; pleura gray, white pilose and tomentose; halter stem yellow, knob yellowish brown. Legs: coxae gray, white pilose; femora gray-brown, white pilose ventrally and dense white scales along entire length; fore and hind tibiae and tarsi brown, sparse white scales; mid tibia orangebrown, sparse white scales; mid tarsi brown, bare. Wing: hyaline; veins brown, r-m crossvein slightly beyond middle of discal cell; R4 perpendicular to R4+5 at junction, slightly curved upward at wing margin; squama brown, fringe white. Abdomen: tergites blackish brown, white pilose and golden tomentose; sternites gray, dense white pilose and tomentose; apex brown, dense white pilose. Genitalia: basistylus linear with long hairs ventrally; dististylus short, recurved ventrally; dorsolateral rami broad; epiphallus broad, straight; tip of aedeagus sharply truncate; basal apodeme short, broad.
♀. Similar to ♂ except for following: frons with dense argentous tomentum; scutum, scutellum and abdominal tergum dense pale yellow pilose, golden tomentum absent; legs more orange than in ♂; halter knob yellow-white.

History of changes