Stipomorpha goettei (Shannon, 1927) Shannon, 1927

Reemer, Menno, 2013, Taxonomic exploration of Neotropical Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) mimicking stingless bees, Zootaxa 3697 (1), pp. 1-88 : 51-52

Stipomorpha goettei (Shannon, 1927) comb. nov.

Figs 149–153 , 234 .

Microdon (Ubristes) goettei Shannon, 1927: 19 .

Studied type specimens. BRAZIL. Four syntypes examined, one of which is here designated as lectotype. Old labels: " Syntype "; "Ega"*; " Microdon : Ubristes goettei Snn."; added label: " Microdon goettei Shannon, LECTOTYPE , design. M. Reemer". For label information of paralectotypes see table 2. For further notes see account of Stipomorpha guianica .

Additionally studied specimens. SURINAM: 1 male, Akintosoela, Mapane area, SME Q.22, 28.VII.1995, leg. B. De Dijn & A. Gangadin, coll. RMNH; 1 female, SE of Zanderij, road to Kraka, 16.III.2006, leg. M. Reemer, coll. RMNH; FRENCH GUYANA: 1 female, Roura, Kaw Road, PK 37, Relais Patawa, N 04°32’42”–W 52°09’09”, malaise trap, August 2008, leg. J.A. Cerda, coll. RMNH.

Body size: 8–10.5 mm.

Redescription (based on lectotype)

Adult female. Body size: 10 mm.

Head. Face occupying about 1/3 of head width in frontal view; in dorsal half with tubercles along eye margin; yellow, a little darker on dorsal 1/3; yellow pilose, short dorsally and medially, long ventrally and ventrolaterally; with narrow strip of white pubescence along eye margin. Gena yellow. Oral cavity with lateral margins a little produced and notched anteriorly. Frons about as long as width of lunula; blackish posterior to lunula, otherwise yellow; yellow pilose, except for posterolateral patches of black pile. Vertex swollen; yellow; with fasciae of black pile from ocellar triangle to black pile patches on frons; with black pile on ocellar triangle and along posterior margin; with yellow pile anteriorly and laterally. Occiput black; yellow pilose dorsally, more whitish pilose ventrally. Eye very sparsely and short pilose, with pili about as long as ommati diameter, appearing bare under low magnification. Antennal fossa about as wide as high. Antenna with scape yellow, pedicel and basoflagellomere brown. Antennal ratio 3:1:5; basoflagellomere parallel-sided with rounded apex. Arista slender, about 2/3 of length of basoflagellomere.

Thorax. Scutum black, with widely yellow margins; yellow pilose, except for four patches of black pile, two of which anteriad of and two posteriad of transverse suture. Postpronotum, postalar callus and scutellum yellow and yellow pilose. Scutellum without calcars. Pleurae yellow dorsally, brownish ventrally. Anepisternum weakly convex, without distinction between anterior and posterior part; yellow pilose anterodorsally, bare posteriorly. Anepimeron yellow pilose dorsally. Katatergum and anatergum yellow pilose and microtrichose, respectively. Other pleurae bare. Calypter and halter yellow.

Wing: hyaline, with a wide white fascia on apical half (best visible against dark background); microtrichose except bare on most of cell br, basal 1/5 of cell bm and basal 1/5 of cell cup.

Legs: Front- and mid-legs yellow; yellow pilose. Hind femur yellowish brown, vaguely blackish on median 1/ 3; yellow pilose. Hind tibia strongly widened; brownish yellow, vaguely blackish around cicatrice on apical half; with long, dense pilosity dorsally: white on basal 1/3, black on apical 2/3; short yellow pilose apicolaterally. Hind tarsus: first tarsomere yellow and yellow pilose dorsally, except for black pile apically; other tarsomeres dark brown and black pilose dorsally; all tarsomeres densely, short, golden pilose ventrally. Coxae and trochanters yellow and yellow pilose.

Abdomen. Yellowish brown with large, vaguely demarcated, dark brown to black lateral markings on tergites 2-5, leaving only narrow median yellow vittae and widely yellow apical margins. Tergite 1 with anteromedian smooth, concave area. Second tergite about as wide as thorax, widest at basal 1/3; third and fourth tergites narrower, more or less parallel-sided. Entirely short, yellow pilose. Sternites brownish. Genitalia as in fig. 234.

Diagnosis. The yellow vertex with patches of black pile is shared with S. crematogastri , S. guianica , S. lanei and S. maculipennis . From these species, S. goettei differs by the absence of pile on the posterior part of the anepisternum in combination with the whitish cloud on the wing (view against dark background). Differences between S. goettei and S. guianica are listed in table 3.

Stipomorpha goettei (Shannon) Stipomorpha guianica (Curran) face in dorsal half with tubercles along eye margin face smooth, without tubercles along eye margin face in profile slightly concave at middle and clearly convex face in profile straight or slightly convex on lower half

basoflagellomere almost 1.5 times longer than scape basoflagellomere only slightly longer than scape (antennal (antennal ratio 3:1:5) ratio 4:1:(4-)5)

posterior part of anepisternum without pile posterior part of anepisternum with pile along posterodorsal

margin

female: tergites 3 and 4 with pale median vitta female: tergites 3 and 4 without pale median vitta Notes. Shannon (1927) based his description of Microdon goettei on five females. Only four of these syntypes could be found in the BMNH-collection. This series of syntypes was found to consist of two closely similar species, each represented by two specimens. Two syntypes were found to agree with Microdon guianicus Curran. The other two are here considered as the 'real' Microdon goettei Shannon. Support for this view is provided by the original description, which states that in the antennae the 'third [joint is] a little longer than combined length of first and second' (Shannon 1927). To ensure the stability of the taxon, a lectotype is designated for Microdon goettei Shannon out of the syntype series (see table 2).

Distribution. Known from Brazil, French Guyana and Surinam. All records of " Ubristes goettei " from Surinam by Van Doesburg (1966) belong to Stipomorpha guianica , but specimens belonging to the 'real' S. goettei were collected in recent years (see additionally studied specimens).

Figures

FIGURES 142 – 153. 142 – 144. Stipomorpha fallax male (holotype). 142. habitus dorsal; 143. habitus lateral; 144. head frontal. 145 – 148. Stipomorpha fraudator male (holotype). 145. habitus dorsal; 146. habitus lateral; 147. head frontal; 148. head lateral. 149 – 153. Stipomorpha goettei female. 149. (lectotype), head frontal; 150. (lectotype), head lateral; 151. (Surinam, coll. RMNH), head dorsal; 152. sternites 1 – 3 lateral; 153. sternites 1 – 3 ventral.

FIGURES 233 – 239. Stipomorpha, male genitalia. 233. S. fraudator (holotype); 234. S. goettei (Surinam, coll. RMNH); 235. S. guianica (Surinam, coll. RMNH); 236. S. inarmata (holotype); 237. S. lacteipennis (lectotype); 238. S. lanei (Surinam, coll. RMNH); 239. S. litoralis (holotype).