Peradon aureus (Hull) Figs 14, 20, 22, 102, 103, 153-156, 258

Microdon aureus Hull, 1944b: 35. Holotype ♀: Ecuador (MCZ) [examined]; Thompson et al. 1976: 63.

Peradon aureus (Hull): Reemer and Ståhls 2013a: 146; Marín-Armijos et al. 2017: 175.

Studied type specimens.

Ecuador • 1 ♀, holotype of Microdon aureus Hull; Jatun Yacu, Rio Napu watershed, Oriente; 700 m a.s.l.; Jan.-Jul. 2003; C. McIntyre leg.; MCZ.

Label 1: "Jatun Yacu / Rio Napu / watershed / 700 m"; label 2: "Oriente / Ecuador"; label 3: "Wm. C. / Mcintyre"; label 4 (red): "M.C.Z. / Type / 23807"; label 5: "Microdon aureus Hull n. sp. holotype"; label 6: "Jan.-July 2003 / MCZ Image / database"; label 7: " MCZ-ENT /00023807".

Additional specimens.

Ecuador • 3 ♂; Pompeya, Napo R., Pastaza; 14-22 May 1965; L. Pena leg.; CNC • 1 ♀; Coca, Napo R., Napo; 250 m a.s.l.; May 1965; L. Pena leg.; CNC • 1 ♂; Sucumbios, Sacha Lodge; 00.5S, 76.5W; 290 m a.s.l.; Jul. 1994; P. Hibbs leg.; LACM • 1 ♂; Napo Prov., Limoncocha; 16 Jun. 1977; D.L. Vincent leg.; USNM.

Diagnosis.

Body length: male 11-14 mm, female 16-19.5 mm. The triangle of golden pile on the mesoscutum places this species in a group together with P. aureoscutus, P. trilinea and P. trivittatus . From the latter two species, P. aureus differs by the absence of golden pile along the anterior and lateral margins of the mesoscutum. The species differs from P. aureoscutus in the triangle of golden pile on the mesoscutum being longer than wide and reaching the anterior half of the mesoscutum. In the male, the ratio vertex width:head width is approximately 1:3.3 (Fig. 14), and the lateral margins of tergite 2 are more or less parallel in the anterior half and diverging in the posterior 1/2 to 1/3. The female is figured in Fig. 102. As the female of P. aureoscutus is unknown, it is uncertain whether the characters described for the males of both species also apply to the females.

Notes.

This taxon is very similar to P. aureoscutus . Although both taxa were described by F.M. Hull, he apparently was unaware of this similarity, as Hull (1944b) only noted that it was 'related distantly to beebei ' (a species nowadays placed in the genus Pseudomicrodon Hull, 1937).

Distribution.

Known only from Ecuador.