Cardiacephala erugata, Ferro & Marshall, 2018

Ferro, Gustavo Borges & Marshall, Stephen A., 2018, A revision of the Neotropical ant-like genus Cardiacephala Macquart, including Plocoscelus Enderlein syn. nov. (Diptera: Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 401-458 : 426-427

Cardiacephala erugata new species

( Figs. 37–39 )

Description: Body length 9 mm, wing 5 mm. Palpus dark brown, outer face white. Clypeus brown. First flagellomere dark brown, with pale microsetulae. Fronto-orbital plates, frontal vitta, epicephalon and paracephalon brown and shiny. Row of katepisternal setae brownish. Fore tibia dark brown. Mid and hind femora uniformly brown. Fore tarsus dark brown with gold/whitish pubescence ventrally at base of tarsomere one. Oviscape brown, apex yellow. Epandrium brown.

Head: Palpus broadened basally and gradually tapering to apex ( Fig. 37 ). Clypeus short, length less than half of width. Two frontal setae. Ocellar triangle displaced more anteriorly, epicephalon occupying more than half the length of the head ( Fig. 38 ). Inner vertical seta insertion flat, without tubercle. Vertex rounded. Paracephalon, epicephalon and vertex limits undistinguishable. Paracephalon swollen, arched and slightly extending beyond the vertex. Black supracervical setae sparse, weak.

Thorax: Mesonotum with white pruinosity. Scutellum upturned, triangular. Femora with sparse black setulae. Mid and hind tibia flattened, but sulcus on outer face weak. Wing with incomplete apical pigmentation and three preapical darkened spots. Crossvein r-m with dark spot. R4+5 and M1+2 ending separately in wing margin. A1+CuA2 as long as CuA2.

Abdomen: Tergites with black setulae. Female abdomen: Single spermathecal duct apically broad, ending in a cylindrical spermatheca. Paired spermathecal duct smooth and with a broader apical ring-like swelling. Paired spermathecal duct stems thin and smooth in basal third, followed by a rounded swelling and a small appendix before the spermathecae. Paired spermathecae sac-like (distally swollen and tapered basally), striate and deeply invaginated. Male Abdomen: Ejaculatory apodeme bigger than epandrium and with a broad blade, wider than sperm pump. Phallapodeme extending to anterior limit of hypandrium. Distiphallus long, longer than epandrium, ending in a phallic bulb, phallic bulb subequal in length and width ( Fig. 39 ).

Type material: Holotype: ECUADOR. Prt. Orellana, Rio Tiputini, 0º36’2” S 76º8’9” W, 12–26.VIII.1999, W. N. Mathis, A. Baptista & M. Kotrba (1 ♂, USNM 00090816).

Other material examined: PERU. Madre De Dios, Tambopata Wldlf. Res. 30km SW Pto. Maldonado, 12º50’S 69º20’W, 290m, 12–31.VIII.1982, Joseph J. Anderson (1 ♀, USNM).

Distribution: Ecuador, Peru.

Etymology: The specific name C. erugata refers to the clean and smooth epicephalon and paracephalon (Latin: “clear of wrinkles, smooth”).

Comments: Cardiacephala erugata is distinctive for the displacement of the ocellar triangle and the smoothness of the epicephalon and paracephalon.

Figures

FIGURES 37–39. Cardiacephala erugata. 37, male, lateral view. Abbreviation: plp—Palpus; 38, male, dorsal view; 39, male genitalia, lateral view.