Diagnosis
This is the palest Agnisyrphus species described, being all yellow with narrow black fasciae on terga 2 to 4. Vertical triangle little shorter than sutura of eyes. Antennal postpedicel yellow, elongate oval with a small dorsal area being pale brown; arista yellow with a dark tip, little longer than antenna. Pleura more yellow pollinose than in A. gressitti Ghorpadé. Scutellar hairs almost all brownish black. Coxa and trochanter yellow; femur 1 yellow with few scattered black pile on apical half; tibia 3 yellow with black pile on basal two-thirds; tarsi all yellow, yellow pilose. Abdomen longest of all Agnisyrphus species except A. mandarinus Ghorpadé sp. nov., being widest in middle and narrowing on anterior and posterior ends; sternites yellow, sternites 3 and 4 each with triangular black spots in centre.
Male
As in Agnisyrphus brunettii except with following differential diagnostic characters:
Head: Eye red with dorsal ommatidia not visibly enlarged much; frontal pile pale brownish yellow to beside antennal bases; supra-antennal prominence (lunule) all yellow; vertical triangle with almost all brownish pile and little shorter than sutura of eyes; occiput all golden pilose; antenna all yellow except postpedicel which has a pale brown extreme anterodorsal area and is elongate-oval and as long as scape and pedicel together; arista yellow with dark tip, a little longer than antenna; face, frons and gena all rich yellow, face medially bare of yellow pollen, frontal pile pale brownish yellow.
Thorax: Similar to previous species, except perhaps being more yellow pollinose on dorsum, looking less black; pleuron as in A. gressitti Ghorpadé, but a little more yellow; scutellum as in gressitti.
Wing: Hyaline, even at apex which is clear, wholly microtrichose. Legs : Generally all yellow, femur 1 with few scattered black pile on apical half, femur 2 ventrolaterally with black hairs on apical half, femur 3 yellow with all black hairs except on basal one-third; tibia 3 with outer two-thirds from base with black hairs; tarsi 1 and 2 yellow and yellow pilose.
Abdomen: As in gressitti except tergite 2 yellow with posterior black fascia one-fifth to one-sixth width of segment, the black extending laterally to one-third; tergite 2 pile concolorous except black of posterior fascia extending a little in centre; tergite 3 yellow with anterior dark fascia blurred brownish but visible, posterior black fascia one-fourth to one-fifth length of tergite, extending laterally as a lighter vitta almost to anterior corners, pile concolorous but black on yellow areas posteriorly and medially to anterior margin; tergite 4 yellow without anterior black fascia, sub-posterior fascia pale brownish, not reaching lateral margins but extending anteriorly as paler vitta almost to anterior margin, pile all black; tergite 5 all yellow without any posterior dark fascia, all black pilose except anteromedially. Sternites all yellow, sternites 2 to 4 with triangular black spots in centre of each, and long yellow pile on sternites 1 to 3, black hairs on a little more than posterior half of sternite 3; abdominal hairs laterally all black except being long yellow on tergite 1, and on a little more than half of tergite 2 outside of black posterior fascia.
Male terminalia: Will be figured in a forthcoming paper.
Female
Unknown.
Specimen
Examined : 1 ♂. Holotype ♂, labelled “nr Mupin, China, vii.29, 12-14000ft”, “Szechuen, CHINA, DC Graham”, “HOLOTYPE, Agnisyrphus grahami KUMAR GHORPADÉ Ghorpade 2005” (red label); with terminalia in microvial on pin [USNM].
Flight
period : The only male fly known was collected in the month of July.
Geographical range
China, on the eastern edge of the much geologically “compressed” high mountains just north of the famous “Golden Triangle” at the junction of the political boundaries of present day Burma (Myanmar, Myanma), the provinces of Tibet (Xizang), Szechuan (Sichuan) and Yunnan in China (Zhongguo), as well as Thailand. “Mupin” (= Mapien, Mabian ?) is located on the north-south oriented mountain range of Daliang Shan, west of the town of Yipin (Ipin, Yibin, Suifu) near the borders of Szechuan, Yunnan and Kweichow (Guizhou) and just a little north of the Yangtze River, which latter is usually taken as the northern limit of the Oriental Region in China. Biogeographically, this new species is perhaps restricted and peculiar to the Sino-Burmese (and/or Sino-Tibetan ?) sub-area.
Etymology
The species name grahami is in honour of the collector, Father
D.C. Graham, an American missionary stationed in China, who collected insects from this country extensively during the early middle 20th Century.
Remarks
Agnisyrphus grahami Ghorpadé, sp. nov. is presently the palest of all known species in this genus, and it has the second longest abdomen. It can be differentiated by some other diagnostic characters mentioned above and in the table given below (pp. 12-13).
unless otherwise stated