Citrogramma chola, GHORPADE, 1994

Mengual, Ximo, 2012, The flower fly genus Citrogramma Vockeroth (Diptera: Syrphidae): illustrated revision with descriptions of new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (1), pp. 99-172 : 131-132

CITROGRAMMA CHOLA GHORPADÉ, 1994

Citrogramma chola Ghorpadé, 1994: 9 . Holotype: ♂, USNM, by original designation. Type locality: India: Nandi Hills.

Citrogramma sp. A of Wyatt 1991: 157, 166.

Description

Male: Head: Face with facial tubercle, gradually sloping dorsally, more abrupt ventrally, entirely yellow, yellow pilose ventrally, mainly yellow with some black hairs on medial section, black pilose dorsally and laterally; gena yellow, dark pilose medially, yellow pilose posteriorly, white pollinose posteriorly; lunule dark, black area forming semicircular area; holoptic; frontal triangle yellow, black pilose; vertical triangle black, small, shorter than eye contiguity (1:1.3), black pilose; ocelli reddish; antenna dark, scape brownish, pedicel black, scape and pedicel black pilose; basoflagellomere orangish, dark dorsally, oval; arista black; occiput black, silver pollinose, pale pilose on ventral half, golden yellow pilose on dorsal half ( Fig. 81 ).

Thorax: Scutum black with dorsomedial area almost uniformly grey pollinose with a metallic blue iridescence, mainly black pilose dorsally with some yellow hairs, with a lateral yellow vitta; postpronotum yellow; notopleuron yellow, orangish pilose with black hairs posterolaterally; yellow vitta continuing until scutellum, supra-alar area orangish yellow and black pilose; postalar callus entirely yellow, mainly black pilose; scutellum bright yellow with a dorsomedial small diffuse light brown macula, black pilose, with a complete subscutellar fringe with dark hairs. Pleuron mostly yellow ( Fig. 80 ), except katepisternum black with dorsal yellow macula, meron black, posterior anepisternum yellow with black vertical macula on anterior third, entirely orangish yellow pilose; metasternum pilose; ventral calypter yellow with long yellowish hairs on margin, dorsal calypter yellow basally and blackened distally with short black hairs on margin; plumula yellow; halter yellow; spiracular fringes yellow.

Wing: Wing membrane light brown, entirely microtrichose. Alula microtrichose, broad, broader than cell BM.

Legs: Procoxa yellow, dark basally; protrochanter brown; mesocoxa and mesotrochanter brownish; metacoxa and metatrochanter yellowish brown; pro- and mesofemur yellow, mainly black pilose with yellow hairs; metafemur yellowish on basal half, dark on distal half, mainly black pilose with yellow hairs; pro- and mesotibia yellow, black pilose; metatibia black, black pilose; tarsi black, black pilose dorsolaterally and golden pilose ventrolaterally.

Abdomen: Figure 83 . Parallel-sided, slightly oval; terga 3, 4, and 5 margined. Dorsum mainly black, black pilose dorsally and laterally except tergum 1 yellow pilose laterally and tergum 2 yellow pilose laterally on anterobasal quarter and on dorsal yellow maculae; tergum 1 black, brownish anteriorly, yellow laterally; tergum 2 black with two mesolateral broad yellow maculae very narrowed laterally and extending forward to anterolateral tergal margin, yellow lateral margin on anterior third; terga 3, 4, and 5 black with an anterior broad yellow fascia markedly emarginate posteriorly and narrowed to lateral margins, with a narrow black fascia on anterior margin; lateral margins partially yellow: one quarter to one third on tergum 3, half on tergum 4 and almost the entire lateral margin on tergum 5; sterna yellow, black pilose; genital segments yellowish; male genitalia as in Figures 127 and 130 .

Female: Similar to male except normal sexual dimorphism and as follows: frons yellow with medial triangular brown macula towards ocellar triangle not reaching posterior black area, black lateral margin on posterior half ( Fig. 82 ); posterior section of anepimeron dark; abdominal fasciae narrower without emargination, tergum 4 with yellow fascia very sinuate medially ( Fig. 84 ).

Variation: One paratype specimen has a small brownish area on facial tubercle that looks like a medial vitta but does not reach the antennal base. The yellow portion of lateral margin of abdominal terga varies slightly. Some individuals have yellow pollinosity on anepisternum and posterior anepisternum, and they can look completely shiny yellow. Females can present frons yellowish, with a very diffuse brownish triangular macula not present in the lightest specimen. This specimen lacks medial brownish macula on scutellum.

There is a female [ India, P.S. Nathan, Frank M. Hull collection C.N.C. 1973 (CNC)] with the metasternum bare, probably hairs were rubbed off. The specimen is in very bad condition, laterally compressed, missing some legs. There is another female specimen with the metasternum bare deposited at RMNH.

Length (N = 5): Body, 9.5–11.0 (10.3) mm; wing, 8.5– 9.2 (8.9) mm.

Geographical distribution: India.

Differential diagnosis: Species very similar to C. citrinum , but with anepisternum yellow, different shape of abdominal fasciae and the macula of katepisternum usually connected with the yellow area of the anterior anepisternum. Citrogramma citrinum has anepisternum black, and the dorsal yellow macula on katepisternum does not reach the yellow anterior anepisternum ( Figs 80 , 88 ). Females of C. citrinum have frons completely yellow; meanwhile females of C. chola have a medial diffuse triangular brown macula ( Fig. 86 ).

Etymology: The species name is based on the Chola Dynasty , which, in historical times, ruled the area now known as northern Tamil Nadu, where the Palni Hills lie, in the old Madura country. Species epithet to be treated as a noun in apposition.

Remarks: Ghorpadé (1994) mentioned that C. flavigenum Wyatt, 1991 would key out to C. chola Ghorpadé, 1994 in his key. The most evident difference is the coloration of legs and anepimeron, with pro- and mesofemur black basally and metafemur entirely black in C. flavigenum . Ghorpadé (1994) also explained that Citrogramma sp. A of Wyatt (1991) was C. chola . Ghorpadé and I think that C. flavigenum and C. chola could be the same species. Both taxa are similar and sympatric, collected on the same dates at the same location, but they can be distinguished perfectly by anepimeron, lunule, and metafemur coloration. Characters based on coloration can be variable, but only two specimens of almost 100 studied were difficult to identify, and male genitalia show no differences between these species. In this revision, I prefer to keep these two taxa tentatively separate, pending other sources of information such as DNA or larval morphology, which may help clarify the species status.

Wyatt (1991) defined Citrogramma sp. A with bare metasternum in the couplet 10 of his key, but Ghorpadé (1994) clarified that this species possesses metasternal hairs. I reviewed the specimen studied by Wyatt (deposited at BMNH) and it does have metasternum pilose.

Holotype male deposited in the National Museum of Natural History (Washington D.C., USA) and labelled: ‘ INDIA: Karnataka /Nandi Hills 1467 m / 27.vii.1975 /Ghorpade No. A207’ ‘GHORPADE/ COLLECTION/Bangalore’ ‘ HOLOTYPE / Citrogramma / chola /Ghorpade 19 94 ’ [red, second and third lines handwritten].

Type locality: India: Karnataka State, Chikkaballapur District, Nandi Hills , 1467 m, 13°22′N, 77°40′E .

Material examined: Type material. Holotype, as above. Paratypes. INDIA: P.S. Nathan [2♀, CNC]; Karnataka, Nandi Hills , 1467 m, 27.vii.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A207 [1♂ 1♀, USNM] ; Kerala, Kaikatty , 937 m, 1.i.1974, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A77 [1♂, USNM] ; Tamil Nadu, Ootacamund , 2350 m, 23.x.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A254 [1♂, USNM; 1♀, CNC]; Kodaikanal, Pulney Hills, 6500 ft, iv.1953, P.S. Nathan [1♂, CNC];..., xi.1953, P.S. Nathan [1♀, AMNH];..., 2250 m, 31.x.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A259 [1♀, BMNH] .

Nontype material. INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh, Tirap Dist., Hornbill Camp , 2000 ft, 8.xii.1981, M.L. Ripley [1♀, USNM]; Karnataka, Nandi Hills, 1467 m, 27.vii.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A207 [3♀, USNM]; Tamil Nadu, Ootacamund, 2350 m, 23.x.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A254 [2♂ 4♀, USNM];..., 21.x.1975, K.D. Ghorpadé No. A251 [1♂ 3♀, USNM]; Tamil Nadu, Palani Hills, Sowrikadu, 1000 m, v.1978, T. R . Susai Nathan [1♀, ZMAN]; Tamil Nadu, Kookal, 2000 m, 19.xi.2006, K. Ghorpade D592 [8♂ 15♀, USNM];..., 29.xii.2007, K. Ghorpade D592 [1♀, USNM]; Tamil Nadu, Kodaikanal, 2150 m, 28.ix.1985, K.D. Ghorpadé No. B420 [1♀, USNM]; Tamil Nadu, Kookal sholah, 2000 m, 24–25.x.2006, K. Ghorpade D577 [1♀, USNM]; Tamil Nadu, Glenmorgan, 2000 m, 1.ix.1991, K. Ghorpade [1♀, USNM]; Kerala, Munnar, Top Station , 28.xi.2002, K. Ghorpadé D309 [1♀, USNM]; Anamalai Hills, Cinchona, 3500 ft, v.1969, T. R . Susai Nathan [1♀, ZMAN]; Aruchanal Hills , 3500 ft, v.1960 ‘ Museum Leiden Collectie Van Doesburg rec. 1973’ [1♀, RMNH] .

Figures

Figures 76–87. 76–77, Citrogramma clarum: 76, dorsal view of male abdomen; 77, dorsal view of female abdomen. 78, Citrogramma shirakii, dorsal view of male abdomen. 79, Citrogramma frederici, dorsal view of male abdomen. 80–84, Citrogramma chola: 80, lateral view of male head and pleuron; 81, dorsal view of male head; 82, dorsal view of female head; 83, dorsal view of male abdomen; 84, dorsal view of female abdomen. 85-87, Citrogramma citrinum: 85, dorsal view of male abdomen; 86, dorsal view of female head; 87, dorsal view of male head.

Figures 122–130. 122–123, Citrogramma frederici: 122, frontal view of female head; 123, dorsal view of female abdomen. 124–126, Citrogramma notiale species group: 124, lateral view of puparium; 125, dorsal view of puparium; 126, posterior view of posterior breathing tube and spiracular openings (detail). 127, Citrogramma citrinum, left lateral view of male genitalia. 128–129, Citrogramma henryi: 128, left lateral view of male genitalia; 129, tergum 9 and surstyli, dorsal view. 130, C. henryi (from Vockeroth, 1969 as C. citrinum): a, left lateral view; b, superior lobe, lateral, outline only; c, sternum 9, superior lobes and aedeagal base, ventral view.

Figures 88–99. 88–89, Citrogramma citrinum: 88, lateral view of male head and pleuron; 89, dorsal view of female abdomen. 90, Citrogramma citrinoides, dorsal view of male abdomen. 91–92, Citrogramma henryi: 91, dorsal view of male abdomen; 92, dorsal view of female abdomen. 93, Citrogramma variscutatum, dorsal view of male abdomen. 94, C. citrinoides, frontal view of male head. 95, Citrogramma currani, dorsal view of male head. 96, C. variscutatum, lateral view of male head. 97, C. currani, anterodorsal view of female head. 98, C. henryi, lateral view of male head. 99, C. currani, lateral view of female head.