Mesoconius albimanus Enderlein, 1922

Marshall, Stephen A., 2019, A revision of the genus Mesoconius Enderlein (Diptera, Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 548, pp. 1-126 : 56-57

Mesoconius albimanus Enderlein, 1922

Fig. 22H

Mesoconius albimanus Enderlein, 1922: 180 .

Diagnosis (type females only)

Length 18 mm. General colour dark brown to black. Epicephalon and paracephalon shiny blue-black, palpus yellow and lower face pale. Thorax with extensive red areas covering ventral part of posterior half and extending to first tergite and the bases of mid and hind femora. Notum as illustrated for M. albipedis sp. nov., with faint silver longitudinal bands interrupted by a brown patch postsuturally. Fore and hind tarsi almost entirely white, with some dark ventral setulae at base of first fore tarsomere and slight darkening of distal tarsomeres. Oviscape shiny black, orange at tip. Neither of the types has been dissected, so the spermathecal complex has not been observed.

Material examined

Lectotype (designated here)

PERU • ♀; Cusco, Callanga, Piñipiñi Valley ; 1500 m a.s.l.; 1900; O. Garlepp leg.; MNBG.

Paralectotype

PERU • ♀; same collecting data as for lectotype; MNBG .

Enderlein indicated in his description that one of the types is a male, but the Enderlein collection in MNBG includes only two “types”, both good female specimens (examined and photographed in 2002). They differ slightly in the extent of the reddish area at the base of the mid and hind femora, and the degree to which the first tergite is red. The specimen illustrated here, in which almost the entire T1 is red, is designated as lectotype.

Remarks

The type specimens of M. albimanus have a black fore femur in contrast with the mostly red fore femur of the similar Colombian species M. albipedis sp. nov., and they have more extensive red pigmentation of the lower thoracic pleuron (including the katepisternum) and abdominal base compared to M. albipedis sp. nov. Despite these differences, M. albimanus and M. albipedis sp. nov. are very similar and need to be reconsidered once fresh material of M. albimanus is obtained. The internal genitalia of M. albimanus have not been examined, but the oviscape of the type is relatively bare and shiny, in contrast to the distinctly setulose oviscape of M. albipedis sp. nov. The two known specimens of M. albimanus also differ from M. albipedis sp. nov. in having a clearly visible abdominal pleuron, with distinct black triangular bands tapering down from the lateral margins of tergites 3, 4 and 5. The pleuron is not visible on the available specimens of M. albipedis sp. nov.

Figures

Fig. 22. A–G. Mesoconius albipedis sp. nov. A. Paratype, ♂, BMNH. B. Male terminalia, including segments 6–8. C. Male terminalia, excluding segments 6–8. D. Spermatheca and associated structures. E. Head and thorax, dorsolateral view. F. Holotype, ♀, BMNH, dorsolateral view. G. Holotype, ♀, lateral view. — H. Mesoconius albimanus Enderlein, 1992, lectotype, ♀, MNBG. Abbreviation: kt = katatergite.