Copestylum (Tachinosyrphus) pseudotachina ( Hull, 1936 )

Barahona-Segovia, Rodrigo M., Riera, Pamela, Pañinao-Monsálvez, Laura, Guzmán, Vicente Valdés & Henríquez-Piskulich, Patricia, 2021, Updating the knowledge of the flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae) from Chile: Illustrated catalog, extinction risk and biological notes, Zootaxa 4959 (1), pp. 1-178 : 96

Copestylum (Tachinosyrphus) pseudotachina ( Hull, 1936)

Fig. 142

Tachinosyrphus pseudotachina Hull 1936: 167

Type locality and data. “ Crucero , Moscardones, Peru ” (T, ♂, USNM) .

Material examined. Tarapacá: 1♂, Pampa Antuta, Alto Chiapa , 27.IV.1969, Leg. L.E. Peña ( MEUC) ; 1♂, Cerro del Inca, Collahuasi , 15–20.IV.2015, Leg. R. Barahona-Segovia ( PCRBS) ; Antofagasta: 1♀, Socaire , VII.2017, phot. col. Diego Reyes ( CSP) .

References. Hull, 1937: 167 (desc.); Hull, 1949b: 350 (desc.); Thompson, 1972b: 107 ( Milesiinae rev.); Thompson, 1974b: 5 (corrections and restrictions of type locality); Thompson et al., 1976: 70 (cat.); Whittington, 1992: 214 (desc. Graptomyza ); Thompson, 1999a: 332 (key); Rotheray et al., 2007: 1 (desc.).

World distribution. Peru and Chile.

Chilean distribution. From Tarapacá to Antofagasta region ( Fig. 147 ).

Altitudinal range. This species inhabits mainly highland ecosystems (3,800–4,200 m.a.s.l.).

Biology and notes. Although the Systema Dipterorum ( Thompson & Pape 2010) reports C. pseudotachina in Chile, we did not find any article that confirms that this species occurs in the country. Therefore, we treated this species as a new to Chile. It is the only known syrphid with bristle-like hairs on the abdomen and bare arista, which is considered a novel trait in the tribe Volucellini (Thompson 1972) . There are only three records of this species in Chile, all from highlands in the Chilean ‘altiplano’ belonging to the Puna province ( Morrone 2014), considered a hotspot of biodiversity (Myer et al., 2000). There, this species visits yellow flowers of Parastrephia quadrangularis (Meyen) Cabrera (Rodrigo Barahona-Segovia pers. obs.), and Aloysia deserticola (Phil.) Lu-Irving & O’Leary (Diego Reyes, CSP record), a common plant species that blooms once Bolivian winter is over ( Fig. 142 ). This species has low abundance and is affected by habitat loss due to mining and water exploitation, and climate change.

Conservation status. EN under B1ab (iii) + 2ab (iii) using EOO = 4,242 km 2; AOO = 12 km 2 and three localities (or subpopulations).

Subgenus Viereckomyia Curran, 1925

Figures

FIGURE 147. Distribution map of Copestylum gibbera (Schiner, 1868) (yellow circles); Copestylum pseudotachina (Hull, 1936) (blue circles); Copestyllum scutellata (Macquart, 1842) (red circles); Copestylum yura (Curran, 1930) (black circles); Copestylum willinki (Fluke, 1951) (green circles); Ornidia obesa (Fabricius, 1775) (pink circles) in Chile.

FIGURES 140–143. Copestylum willinki (Fluke, 1951): (140) lateral view and (141) dorsal view, female (Photos by Vicente Valdés). (142) Copestylum pseudotachina (Hull, 1936) feeding on Aloysia deserticola (Phil.) Lu-Irving & O’Leary, Socaire (Photo by Diego Reyes). (143) Ornidia obesa (Fabricius, 1775), dorsal view (Photo by Vicente Valdés).