Irwiniella Lyneborg

Irwiniella Lyneborg, 1976: 251. Type species: Thereva nuba Wiedemann, 1828.

Could be confused with: Megathereva, Anabarhynchus.

Systematic grouping: Therevinae.

Diagnosis: Male frons narrow, wider in female, antenna short; male often with extensive abdominal velutum; cell m3 open or closed; hind femur with anteroventral apical seta; forefemur with appressed scales; velutum patches absent on fore and hind femora and gonocoxites; inner gonocoxal process absent; distiphallus with broad dorsal apodeme, simple ventral apodeme; female with two spermathecae.

Distribution: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Asia, Africa.

Comments: Irwiniella is an adventive to the Australasian region and is the only Australasian genus not found exclusively in the region. While highly diverse in Africa and Asia, this genus is represented by only two species in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Spot characters to look for when identifying this genus include velutum patches on the fore and hind femora absent, wing cell m3 open, two spermathecae, appressed setae on femora.

Included species: I. atripes (Kröber), I. congrua (Walker).

Relevant literature:
Lyneborg, L. (1976) A revision of the therevine stiletto-flies (Diptera: Therevidae) of the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology), 33, 191-346.

Irwiniella novaguineensis (Kröber) Type (=I. atripes). Image copyright: C.L. Lambkin, CSIRO..

Irwiniella sp. (female). Image copyright: S.L. Winterton.