Afrodontomyia James

Genus AFRODONTOMYIA James

Afrodontomyia James, 1940: 1. Type species, Odontomyia seminuda Curran, 1928, by original designation.

Afrodontomyia erecta (Brunetti). Comb. nov.

Odontomyia (Odontomyia) erecta Brunetti, 1926: 131. ST 1 ♂ [MNHN]: Congo: Bas Ogooué, N’Gomo; ST 1 ♂ [MNHN]: Gabon: Lambaréné; ST 1 ♀ [MRAC]: Zaire: Kivu, Kissenyi; ST 1 ♀ [MRAC]: Zaire: Haut-Uele, Moto. Odontomyia protrudens Curran, 1928: 3. HT ♀ [AMNH]: Zaire: Stanleyville, 0°30’N, 25°10’E. Syn. nov.

Afrodontomyia gigas (Brunetti).

Odontomyia (Odontomyia) gigas Brunetti, 1926: 127. HT ♂ [MNHN]: Congo: Bas Ogoué, N’Gomo. Odontomyia impressa Curran, 1928: 1. HT ♂ [AMNH]: Zaire: Stanleyville, 0°30’N, 25°10’E. Syn. nov.

Afrodontomyia flammiventris (Brunetti). Comb. nov.

Odontomyia flammiventris Brunetti, 1926: 131. ST 1 ♂, 5 ♀ [MRAC]: Zaire: Dima.

Afrodontomyia rufiventris (Curran). Comb. nov.

Stratiomys rufiventris Curran, 1928: 1. HT ♂ [AMNH]: Zaire: Stanleyville.

The only Afrotropical Stratiomys listed in Woodley (2001: 305) is Stratiomys rufiventris Curran. The examination of photographs of the female paratype clearly shows that this species does not belong into the genus Stratiomys, although it has an elongated scape and large scutellar spines. However, the narrow body shape and the color pattern do not agree with the concept of the Holarctic genus Stratiomys. The species fits very well in the genus Afrodontomyia, which James (1940: 1) characterized as “A genus showing certain characters of both Stratiomys and Odontomyia ”.

Most species of Afrodontomyia do not have the scape elongated, except A. flammiventris Brunetti (Fig. 35), A. apicalis James 1952, and A. rufiventris (Curran) (Fig. 36). It is possible that all three taxa are conspecific.

The type material of Ondontomyia erecta Brunetti (2 male syntypes [MNHN], 1 female syntype [MRAC]) and O. protrudens Curran (female holotype [AMNH], 1 female paratype [MRAC]) is clearly conspecific and the same is true for O. gigas Brunetti (we examined the male holotype and a female paratype [MNHN], two female paratypes [BMNH] and another female paratype [MRAC]) and O. impressa Curran (male holotype [AMNH]) and therefore these species are synonymized here. Remarkably, all of Curran’s material was collected from the same locality and collecting event, even though most of these species are very rare in collections.