Ocyptamus lepidus species group

Figs 29, 31, 64–69, 79, 108–110, 112.

Baccha cultrata species group. Hull (1949a).

Baccha lepida species group. Hull (1949a).

Ocyptamus elnora species group, in part. Thompson (1981).

Ocyptamus lepidus species group. Thompson (1981), Miranda et al. (2016).

Diagnosis. Vertex/vertical triangle and ocellar triangle with white/silver microtrichia or entirely shiny. Wing usually wholly light brown/yellow. Vein M1 sometimes straight. Alula usually narrow. Abdominal terga usually with a pair of central pale vittae or inverted ‘U’-shaped markings. Subepandrial sclerite with pair of lobes projecting between surstyli.

Biology. Larvae of O. cubanus (Hull, 1943b) feed on aphids ( Hemiptera: Aphididae). Larvae of O. luctuosus (Bigot, 1884a) live in the water-filled leaves of bromeliads and have been reported with the same feeding habits as Hermesomyia wulpianus (see the biology section of Hermesomyia). Rotheray et al. (2000) proposed the use of venom by these larvae to subdue their prey.

Comments. Constituted mainly of brown flies with infuscated wings that might be confused with Hybobathus, but lacking the vertex, scutum and wing characteristics of the latter. This is one of the largest groups from the old concept of ‘ Ocyptamus ’, and worthy of sub-divisions of its own. It is also one of the largest groups proposed by Hull (1949a) but poorly distinguished then. Thompson (1981) diagnosed the group and distinguished it from the O. lineatus group (= Hybobathus). Miranda et al. (2016) recovered representatives of this group in a single clade. Despite the high morphological diversity, they share a unique condition on the male genitalia: a bilobated extension of the subepandrial sclerite that is located between the surstyli.

Species list (71): O. abata (Curran, 1938), O. aeneus (Williston, 1891), O. aeolus (Hull, 1943b), O. anona (Hull, 1943g), O. arabella (Hull, 1947a), O. aurora (Hull, 1943d), O. banksi (Hull, 1941b), O. cecrops (Hull, 1958), O. chapadensis (Curran, 1930a), O. confusus (Goot, 1964), O. crocatus (Austen, 1893), O. croceus (Austen, 1893), O. cubana (Hull, 1943b), O. cultratus (Austen, 1893), O. cymbellina (Hull, 1944b), O. debasa (Curran, 1941), O. delicatissimus (Hull, 1943c), O. dryope (Hull, 1958), O. fervidus (Austen, 1893), O. filii (Doesburg, 1966), O. flavens (Austen, 1893), O. geijskesi (Doesburg, 1966), O. gilvus (Austen, 1893), O. halcyone (Hull, 1949d), O. hippolite (Hull, 1957), O. hyalipennis (Curran, 1930c), O. inornatus (Walker, 1836), O. io (Hull, 1944b), O. iona (Curran, 1941), O. isthmus (Thompson in Thompson et al., 1976), O. lepidus (Macquart, 1842), O. lucretia (Hull, 1949e), O. luctuosus (Bigot, 1884a), O. micropyga (Curran, 1941), O. minimus (Hull, 1943c), O. murinus (Curran, 1930a), O. myiophagus Thompson sp. nov., O. nasutus (Williston, 1891), O. neoparvicornis (Telford, 1973), O. neptunus (Hull, 1943e), O. neuralis (Curran, 1934), O. niobe (Hull, 1943d), O. nora (Curran, 1941), O. obliquus (Curran, 1941), O. oblongus (Walker, 1852), O. octomaculatus (Thompson in Thompson et al., 1976), O. oriel (Hull, 1942a), O. peri (Hull, 1943b), O. phillipianus (Enderlein, 1938), O. pola (Curran, 1939), O. prenes (Curran, 1930a), O. prudens (Curran, 1934), O. pullus (Sack, 1921), O. punctifrons (Williston, 1891), O. pyxia (Hull, 1943b), O. saffrona (Hull, 1943d), O. spatulatus (Giglio-Tos, 1892), O. subchalybeus (Walker, 1857), O. vanessa (Hull, 1949a), O. verona (Curran, 1941), O. victoria (Hull, 1941c), O. vierecki (Curran, 1930a), O. virgilio (Hull, 1942c), O. wilhelmina (Doesburg, 1962), O. xanthopterus (Wiedemann, 1830), O. xantippe (Hull, 1949a), O. zenillia (Curran, 1941), O. zilla (Hull, 1943c), O. zita (Curran, 1941), O. zobeide (Hull, 1943g), O. zoroaster (Hull, 1943b) .