Pelecinobaccha cubensis ( Macquart, 1850 ) Miranda, 2017

Miranda, Gil Felipe Gonçalves, 2017, Revision of the Hybobathus arx and Pelecinobaccha summa species groups (Diptera: Syrphidae), Zootaxa 4338 (1), pp. 1-43 : 29-32

Pelecinobaccha cubensis ( Macquart, 1850) comb. nov.

Fig. 9

Baccha cubensis Macquart, 1850: 465 . Type locality: Cuba. Holotype female (MNHN). Aldrich, 1905: 355 (catalog citation); Fluke, 1956: 242 (catalog citation).

Ocyptamus cubensis . Thompson, 1976: 15 (catalog citation); Thompson, 1981: 62 (comments on the holotype).

Baccha pandora Hull, 1942: 102 . Type locality: El Valle, Coclé Prov. Panama. Holotype male (MCZ). Hull, 1949: 198 (fig. 38, abdomen). syn. nov.

Ocyptamus pandora . Thompson, 1976: 24 (catalog citation).

Pelecinobaccha pandora . Miranda et al., 2014: 12 (species list), 13 (key), 102 (fig. 2j, dorsal habitus of holotype).

Pelecinobaccha sp. (group susio ). Miranda & Moran, 2017: 22 (Figs 67–68, female genitalia), 25 (Figs 81–82, female genitalia), 28 (description of female genitalia), 30 (Figs 98–99, female genitalia).

Redescription. MALE ( Figs 9a, c & f–k ). Head ( Fig. 9c ). Yellow. Face white pilose and with sparse microtrichosity lateral to tubercle. Gena white pilose. Lunule pale except for central black marking and slight darkening dorsal to it. Frontal triangle wholly yellow, wholly covered with ventro-dorsal oriented microtrichia, and with black pile. Frontal prominence protuberant. Vertical triangle black, with sparse white microtrichia, with 1–2 median regular rows of erect black pile ending dorsal to anterior ocellus; ocellar triangle separated by 1.7 times its length from the posterior eye margin. Eye contiguity as long as vertical triangle length. Eye with weak subtriangular indentation on posterior margin positioned slightly dorsal to level of antennal insertions. Antennal insertions confluent, ventral margin with short dorsal acute extension. Antenna orange, with black pile; postpedicel oval, slightly dark on small dorso-apical portion. Occiput homogenously covered by white microtrichosity and with long white flattened pile, anterior rows shorter; dorsal 1/3 with two rows; ventral 2/3 with 2–3 rows, pile thicker on posterior row. Thorax ( Figs 9a & f ). Scutum mostly black, yellow laterally except darker dorsal to wing base, mostly with very sparse white microtrichia except for three median vittae of concentrated microtrichia, one narrow median and a wide sub-median pair that tapers posteriorly; pile erect, black medially and on postalar callus, pale laterally, on a semi-circular area anterior to scutellum and close to the anterior row of pile, and with anterior row of white pile interrupted medially. Scutellum yellow, slightly darker medially, with erect, short, black pile, longer and pale on basal margin; subscutellar fringe with long and white pile. Pleuron yellow, black on anterior anepisternum, anterior 1/3 of posterior anepisternum, ventral 1/2 of katepisternum, meron, and ventro posterior margin of katatergum, anterior anepisternum with silver shine; with pale pile on anterior anepisternum, posterior 1/ 2 of posterior anepisternum, on separate dorsal and ventral patches on katepisternum, anterior anepimeron, katepimeron, and metaepisternum, with very short pile on proepimeron. Plumula yellow. Calypter yellow, margin of ventral lobe with long pile, margin of dorsal lobe with very short pile. Halter yellow, capitulum orange. Wing ( Fig. 9g ). Mostly hyaline, light brown on bc, c, sc, basal 1/4 and apical 1/6 of r1, and apical 1/5 of r2+3, entirely microtrichose; alula hyaline, convex, apically 4 times as broad as c cell apically, entirely microtrichose. Legs. Pro- and mesoleg yellow, femora slightly orange dorso-apically, pile short and yellow, except longer and black on a posterior row of the mesofemur. Metaleg mostly yellow, metafemur mostly orange, with a small darker area subapically and yellow apex, and metatibia with dark medial 1/3, with yellow pile except black on metacoxa, posteriorly on metatrochanter and on darker regions; metabasitarsomere 3/5 of the metatibia length. Abdomen ( Fig. 9a ). Petiolate, 4 times longer than thorax, dark brown. Tergite 1 yellow on basal 2/3, brown on apical 1/3, with long pile, erect and pale on basal 2/3, appressed and black on apical 1/3; sternite 1 yellow and with erect pale pile. Tergite 2 long, 4.4 times longer than smallest width, paler in general, more so on basal 1/5, and with pair of central, sub-lateral, yellow vittate markings; with hourglass-shaped medial region of dull brown microtrichia, pile appressed and black, except longer and erect on baso-lateral 2/3; sternite 2 yellow with appressed black pile. Tergite 3 trapezoidal long, 1.3 times longer than apical margin and apical margin 2.2 times wider than basal margin, with pair of central, large, long, oval, yellow markings, inconspicuously connected basally to baso-lateral, triangular, vittate, yellow markings, and with appressed black pile; sternite 3 as 2. Tergite 4 quadrate, central vittae connect to fasciate baso-lateral markings that extend laterally until basal 1/3, remaining characteristics as on segment 3. Tergite 5 rectangular short, wider than long, with central pair of yellow vittae that reach both margins and sub-lateral pair of vittate triangular yellow markings that reach both margins and join the central vittae basally, remaining characteristics as on segment 3. Genitalia ( Figs 9h–k ). Cercus with a regular row of pile on medial margin and two irregular rows sub-laterally. Surstylus directed apically, leaf-like and long, with short tapering apex, with around 16 ventral setulae on apex and an additional sub-apical pair and a basal pair of ventral setulae, pilose on dorsal surface except for an apical area. Subepandrial sclerite rectangular, longer than wide, with concave basal margin. Hypandrium elongated, with ventral notch extending on anterior 2/3 and with concave basal margin, dorsal articulation to sub-epandrial sclerite positioned closer to base than apex. Basiphallus drop-shaped, basal acute projection slightly shorter than anterior portion. Distiphallus with anterior surface tapering and curved anteriorly on apex, and with baso-lateral extensions that meet ventrally (forming a tube), ventro-apical membranous area with microtrichia. Phallapodeme well sclerotized and slightly enlarged sub-basally. Postgonite long, ventral surface straight, dorsal surface slightly concave, apex convex anteriorly, with small rounded ventral extremity and acute dorsal extremity, with sparse pile ventrally except on apex.

FEMALE ( Figs 9b, d, e & l–o ). Like male except for the following characters: Frons mostly pale, with a narrow central black vitta that joins the dark above the lunule. Vertex with shorter pile; ocellar triangle 1.5 times its length from posterior eye margin and an ocellus-width from lateral eye margin, pile short and appressed in 2–3 rows. Scutellum with only short and black pile. Wing dark apical region less distinct. Abdomen 3.3 times longer than thorax. Abdominal tergite 2 shorter and slightly wider than on male, 2.6 times minimum width, without medial pale markings, brown microtrichose area triangular-shaped, and pile always appressed and of the same length. Tergite 3 short, shorter than apical margin and apical margin 1.9 times wider than basal margin, central markings much smaller and shorter, and not connecting to baso-lateral markings. Tergite 4 rectangular and wide, remaining characteristics as on female abdominal tergite 3 except central markings are larger. Segment 6 conical, divided into separate tergite and sternite inconspicuously on basal 1/3 but distinctly fused on the remaining apical region, 1.4 times as long as basal margin and 1.6 times as long as 5. Genitalia ( Figs 9l–o ). Tergite 7 triangular, with rounded apex, with basal apodeme extending for most of the length of segment 6; segment 7 lateral sclerite rectangular, baso-ventral apodeme distinct; segment 7 heavily sclerotized between the tergite and the lateral sclerite, and heavily sclerotized ventrally, with triangular indentation apically, and pilose on membranous areas. Tergite 8 unsclerotized medially appearing as a pair of separate sclerites, basal crest with short extended ridge subdorsally, with a few sparse pile medially; sternite 8 as a pair of rectangular sclerotized plates with short ventroapical (directed apically) and ventro-basal (directed medially) projection, which folds inward while at rest, pilose medially. Epiproct as a pair of separate sclerites fused to dorsal margin of cerci, with a few pile in a row at the fusion border; hypoproct as a narrow sclerotized strip, pilose. Cercus with 1 row of pile on apical margin. Spermathecae ovoid with small protuberances on their surface.

Length. Body: male 11.4–15.8mm (n = 17), female 10.3–14.6mm (n = 11); wing: male 9.4–12.3mm, female 7.7–11.8mm.

Variation. MALE. The anterior row of the dorsal occiput might be reduced to a row of intermittent pile or to a few pile close to the vertical triangle. Thorax without longer basal pile on the scutellum (e.g. CNC Diptera 203532). Wing apical darkening might be indistinct. FEMALE. Wing apical darkening might be indistinct.

Distribution. Colombia (Nariño), Costa Rica (Cartago, Guanacaste, Limón, Puntarenas), Cuba, Ecuador (Napo), El Salvador (La Libertad, Santa Ana), Nicaragua ( Granada), Panama (Coclé), Peru (Madre de Dios).

Comments. Thompson (1981) made comments on the possible affinities of this species based on information from the type relayed to him by the MNHN curators at the time, and although that author noted the similarity of the abdominal markings to O. summus (= P. summa ), he still related it to the “ phaeopterus group” (= H. arx species group) and believed the specimen was mislabelled. The current curators at the MNHN provided to me pictures of the holotype of Baccha cubensis and, although the female specimen is in very poor conditions and missing a head, it agrees with the characters of the holotype of Baccha pandora , specially the apical darkening of the wing ( Fig. 9a ), and the female series associated to it. Thus, B. pandora is hereby denominated as a subjective junior synonym of B. cubensis .

The apical darkening of the wing is very distinct and should ease identification of P. cubensis specimens. However, there were specimens from both sexes that did not seem to have this apical darkening, with only the male genitalia and proportions of the female segment 6 confirming their identification. Overall, specimens from north of Panama have the apical darkening while the ones south of Panama do not.

Examined material. COLOMBIA. Nariño, Puerto Conejo, 1–2.vi.1963, leg. L. Pena (CNC_ Diptera 203547) [1 ♂, CNC]. COSTA RICA. Cartago, Turrialba, 28.v.1988, leg. Harris (USNMENT01288159) [1 ♀, USNM]. Guanacaste, 5 km north of Canas, 14.ix.1989, leg. M. Polak (CNC_ Diptera 203532) [1 ♂, CNC]; Santa Rosa National Park, 16.viii.2010, leg. J.H. Skevington (JSS22214) [1 ♀, CNC]. Limón, Cerro Tortuguero, iii.1993, leg. R. Delgado (INBIO CRI001 352898) [1 ♂, USNM]. Puntarenas, Estacion Sirena, ii| viii.1995, leg. G. Fonseca (INBIO CRI002 136374, 147616) [2 ♂, USNM]; Fila Matajambre Osa, 7–8.v.1994, leg. M.A. Zumbado (INBIO CRI001 964263–4) [2 ♂, USNM]; Golfito, 24.vii.1954, leg. Truxal & Menke (USNMENT01288157) [1 ♂, USNM]; Rancho Quemado, iv.1991 | xii.1992, leg. J.C. Saborio|F. Quesada (INBIO CRI000 429010, 905916–7) [3 ♂, USNM]. CUBA. (MNHN, Paris ED8264) [1 ♀ holotype Baccha cubensis , MNHN, only studied from photographs]. ECUADOR. Napo, Coca, Napo river, v.1965, leg. L. Pena (CNC_ Diptera 203530) [1 ♀, CNC]. EL SALVADOR. La Libertad, Quezaltepeque, 19.vi.1963, leg. D.Q. Cavagnaro & M.E. Irwin (USNMENT01288160) [1 ♂, USNM]. Santa Ana, Santa Anna, x.1959, leg. N.L.H. Krauss (USNMENT00036079) [1 ♀, USNM]. NICARAGUA. Granada, Reserva Privada Silvestre Domitila, 12.vi.2007, leg. N.E. Woodley (USNMENT01243086–7) [2 ♂, USNM]. PANAMA. Coclé, El Valle, 2.vii, leg. R.P. (M.C.Z. type 26148) [1 ♂ holotype Baccha pandora , MCZ]. PERU. Madre de Dios, Avispas, 10–20.ix | 20–30.ix | 1–5.x.1962, L. Pena (CNC_ Diptera 203531, 203542–6, 203548) [6 ♀ & 1 ♂, CNC]; Manu Wildlife Center, 28.x.2006, leg. J.H. Skevington (CNC_ Diptera 4140) [1 ♂, CNC].

Figures

FIGURE 9. Pelecinobaccha cubensis (Macquart, 1850) comb. nov. a. Male, habitus, dorsal. b. Female, habitus, dorsal. c. Male, head, dorsal. d. Female, habitus, lateral. e. Female, abdominal segments 4 – 6, dorsal. f. Male, anepisternum, lateral. g. Male, wing. h – k. Male genitalia: h. Epandrium, lateral. i. Hypandrium, lateral. j. Epandrium, ventral. k. Hypandrium, oblique ventral. l – o. Female genitalia (originally published in Miranda and Moran (2017) by Koninklijke Brill NV publisher): l. abdominal segment 7, dorsal. m. abdominal segment 7, lateral. n. abdominal segment 8 and proctiger, dorsal. o. abdominal segment 8, ventral. aanepst: Anterior anepisternum, bph: Basiphallus, crc: Cercus, ep: Epiproct, lscl: abdominal segment 7 lateral sclerite, panepst: Posterior anepisternum, pgt: Postgonite, sscl: Subepandrial sclerite, sg 6: abdominal segment 6, srs: Surstylus.