Cardiacephala camptomera ( Bigot, 1886 ) 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 : 421-422

Cardiacephala camptomera ( Bigot, 1886) new combination

( Figs. 28–29 )

Calobata camptomera Bigot, 1886: 375 .

Plocoscelus camptomerus (Bigot) , Hennig, 1935: 48.

Plocoscelus nitidus Hennig, 1935: 49 . New synonym

Description (female only): Body length 8 mm, wing 5 mm. Thorax and abdomen black. Palpus mostly dark brown, outer face slightly white. Clypeus dark brown with dispersed pale microsetulae. First flagellomere dark brown covered with pale microsetulae. Fronto-orbital plates and frontal vitta brown. Paracephalon and epicephalon black. Row of katepisternal setae black. Mid femur white in basal third. Hind femur narrowly white basally. Mid and hind femur yellowish apically. Anterior femur and tibia dark brown. Fore tarsus white, tarsomere one with brown ventral pubescence basally, 4–5 covered. Oviscape dark brown.

Head: Palpus strongly convex ventrally, axe-shaped. Clypeus enlarged, length at least half of width in frontal view. Two frontal setae. Epicephalon somewhat depressed after the ocellar triangle. Inner vertical seta insertion flat, without tubercle. Paracephalon smooth, without swelling (not extending beyond the vertex). Vertex rounded. Line of black supracervical setae strong.

Thorax: Mesonotum with white pruinosity. Femora with sparse black setulae. Mid and hind tibia flattened, but sulcus on outer face weak. Scutellum convex and displaced posteriorly (not upturned). Wing with stigmatal and discal bands, apex entirely dark. Crossvein r-m clear. R4+5 and M1+2 ending separately in wing margin. A1+CuA2 as long as CuA2. Female cervical sclerite smooth, without swelling.

Abdomen: Tergites with sparse yellowish setulae. Oviscape with sparse pale microsetulae. Single spermathecal duct apically broad, ending in an oval spermatheca. Paired spermathecal duct divided into a narrow basal half and a broader distal half. Paired spermathecal duct stems broad and convoluted until reaches spermathecae ( Fig. 60 ). Paired spermathecae oval, apical half invaginated.

Type material: Syntypes of Calobata camptomera Bigot (2 ♀, OUMNH, only images examined): BRAZIL. Ex. coll. Bigot (white label), date not cited; Plocoscelus nitidus Hennig (sex unknown, NMW, not examined): BRAZIL, Winth. coll.

Material examined: BRAZIL. Paraná, Curitiba, 5.I.1978, G. Oliveira (1 ♀, DZUP 341595); Rio de Janeiro, Floresta da Tijuca, Agude da Solidao, 23.I.1990, S. A. Marshall (1 ♀, DEBU 01086322); Rio de Janeiro, I.1939, R. C. Shannon (1 ♀, USNM); Rio de Janeiro, X.1938, R. C. Shannon (1 ♀, USNM); Rondônia, Nova Mamoré, Parque Estadual de Guajará-Mirim, Rio Formoso, 101926 S 643388W, 20–27.X.1995, malaise, J. Vidal & L. S. Aquino (1 ♀, INPA).

Distribution: Brazil.

Comments: C. camptomera differs from the other Brazillian species with an enlarged clypeus and axe-shaped palpus, C. spinosa , in that the thorax is black and the paired spermathecal duct stems are convoluted. R4+5 and M1+2 do not meet at the wing margin as in Bigot’s description and Hennig’s (1935) key.

Hennig (1935: 49) also describes a similar species from Brazil, P. nitidus , but makes no mention of C. camptomera , since neither specimens nor types were examined. The main diagnostic characters of P. nitidus (rounded vertex, two frontal setae and darkened fore tarsomere one) seem unlikely, as that fore tarsus colouration is restricted to species with three frontal setae ( C. setosa group). However, C. camptomera presents a white fore tarsomere one with brown ventral pubescence basally, which might have been misinterpreted by Hennig. Moreover, the P. nitidus type, a specimen presumably acquired by Wilhelm von Winthem at the beginning of 19th century and probably already in bad conditions (sex unknown) when Hennig examined it, is lost. Given these circumstances, it seems best to treat P. nitidus as a synonym of C. camptomera .

Figures

FIGURES 28–29. Cardiacephala camptomera. 28, female, lateral view; 29, female genitalia, lateral view.

FIGURES 59–61. Cardiacephala peruana. 59, male, lateral view; 60, female genitalia, ventral view; 61, male genitalia, dorsolateral view.