Drosophila florae Sturtevant, 1916

Grimaldi, David A., 2016, Revision of the Drosophila bromeliae Species Group (Diptera: Drosophilidae): Central American, Caribbean, and Andean Species, American Museum Novitates 2016 (3859), pp. 1-56 : 23-24

Drosophila florae Sturtevant, 1916

Figures 11I–J

Drosophila florae Sturtevant, 1916: 339 .

DIAGNOSIS: Body yellowish, large, thorax length 1.11 mm; prescutellars large, with smaller pair laterally, prescutellar index 0.56; oviscapt long, length 5.0× the depth (in lateral view); spermathecal capsule unique in group: spherical, with short introvert and sclerotized funnel within introvert.

DESCRIPTION: (based on holotype, ♀): Head: Frons dark yellow-ochraceous, pollinose on fronto-orbital plates and ocellar triangle; frontal vittae relatively broad, golden, shiny, finely striate. Frontal length 0.32 mm; frontal index 1.03, top to bottom width ratio 1.22. Ocellar triangle only slightly raised above rest of front, dark brown between ocelli; anterior apex of triangle ca. 0.7× length of front. Orbital setae dark brown-bronze in color, or1:or3 ratio 1.06, or2:or1 ratio 0.50, lengths of postocellar setae 0.47× and ocellar setae 0.65× that of frontal length; bases of ocellar setae outside of tangent between median and lateral ocelli; postocellar setae slightly convergent; vt index 1.10. Vibrissal index 0.53. Face slightly darker than front. Carina well developed, frontal edge somewhat flattened, with faint sulcus; edge width ca. 0.7× width of pedicel. Cheek index 0.11. Eye index 1.57. Occiput (not observable). Basal antennomeres slightly darker than face and front; arista with 4 dorsal and 2 ventral branches, plus small terminal fork. Proboscis very light brown; palpus lighter, with one apical and one subapical seta.

Thorax length 1.11 mm. Scutum deep ochraceous yellow, pollinose; 8 rows of acrostichal setulae. One large pair of prescutellar setae, lateral pair and pair just anterior to prescutellars barely differentiated from acrostichals; lengths of large prescutellars 0.56× that of posterior dorsocentral setae; h index 0.86. Transverse distance of dorsocentral setae 4.0× the longitudinal distance. Scutellum same color as scutum, pollinose; basal scutellars convergent, apical scutellars cruciate for ca. 0.5× their lengths; scutellar index 0.83. Pleura same color as scutum, sterno index 0.71. Halter stem same color as scutellum; bulb slightly infuscate brown. Legs lighter than scutum and pleura.

Wing hyaline, veins light brown, length 2.20 mm, length to width ratio 2.36. Indices: C, 2.38; ac, 2.47; hb, 0.54, 4-C, 1.00; 4V, 1.75; 5x, 1.58; M, 0.57. Wing tip not pointed; vein R 2+3 virtually straight; section of C near Sc break with 2 thicker spinules.

Abdomen overall color similar to that of scutum, posterior margins of tergites with faint, diffuse, light brown infuscation.

Male terminalia: Unknown. Female terminalia: Valves of oviscapt acute but not pointed at tip in lateral view, ca. 400 µm long, with 20 ovisensilla pegs (4 discal and 16 marginal). Spermatheca spherical, height approximately equal to width; basal introvert reaching about 0.60× length of capsule.

TYPE: Holotype, ♀: “ Havana, Cuba, Jan. Feb. 1915 ” [printed]/ “Melon flow.[er]” [written]/ “TYPE” [printed]/ “ Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. Dept. Invert. Zool. No. [printed] 24141 [written]”/ “ Drosophila florae Sturtevant ” [written in Sturtevant’s hand]. The specimen is double mounted, impaled with a minuten through the pleura; head was dislodged by a prior investigator, but is complete and was stored in a corked, glass microvial pinned to the specimen; it was carefully glued back on to the thorax by D.A.G. The thorax, wings, and legs are intact; the abdomen was removed and cleared (dissector unknown) and stored in a corked, glass microvial on same pin as thorax. Oviscapt valves had been separated in the original dissection, making a fully intact ventral view impossible. In AMNH.

OTHER SPECIMENS: Known with certainty only from the type specimen.