Grallipeza mellea (Williston)

Figs. 32–37

Calobata mellea Williston, 1896:373 .

Grallipeza placida (Loew), Hennig, 1934: 307. Grallipeza mellea, Steyskal, 1968:48.7.

Description: Size: Approximately 8mm. Colour: Head, including frontal vitta and palpus, almost entirely orange with only ocellar triangle black (Fig. 33); gena and central occiput all or partly silvery. Fore femur slightly darkened only on mesal surface or distal fifth, tarsomere one and tarsomere two off-white, tarsomere 3 brown distally, other tarsomeres brown. Hind femur uniformly pale. Katepisternal bristles golden, silvery area of katepisternum indistinct, restricted to posterodorsal third. Postpronotum prominent, with small dark setulae; one large and 1–2 small suprahumeral bristles. Wing with infuscated discal area quadrate distally, expanded at level of CuA1 and extending from base of CuA1 to apex of R2+3. Apex of wing lightly infuscated. Abdominal pleuron almost entirely pale, darkened along dorsal edge only.

Head: Arista conspicuously long-haired at least over basal ¾. Pedicel with long ventroapical bristles, one almost as long as first flagellomere. Supra-antennal shelf small but exposed between lower frons and scape. Lunule with black setulae, face pale setulose, ventral half membranous and microsetulose. Clypeus shining orange. Palpus orange, parallel-sided with short dark bristles on ventral half. Gena with dense silvery setulae. Frontal vitta almost parallel, orange with an indistinctly darkened anterior patch (Fig. 33).

Thorax: Cervical sclerite slightly convex ventrally, microtrichose and without distinct pores, female with a differentiated densely microtrichose ventral patch. Postpronotum setulose and with several weak bristles along ventrolateral half. Fore femur with an anterior row of about 12 and a posteroventral row of about 10 stout bristles along length (Fig. 34). Two distinct dorsocentral bristles; 1 distinct suprahumeral bristle at end of a row of small dorsocentral setulae; acrostichal setulae forming 2 distinct presutural rows, scattered postsuturally. Wing: Anal cell microsetulose except for a narrow longitudinal strip, wing membrane with central pigmented area distally rounded, extending from base of vein CuA1 to apex of R2+3 (or nearly so).

Male abdomen: Pleuron of segment 2 with an elongate-oval differentiated area (all specimens shriveled but this is presumably eversible as a dome in fresh material). Tergite one reddish, posterior preabdominal tergites dark, tergite 6 black and shining bare. Epandrium elongate and yellow, 2.3 times as long as high. Genital fork with arms strongly incurved with a distinct inner basal shoulder, almost entirely enclosing a circular area distally, basally deeply cleft such that only the distal half has teeth on the mesal surface; mesal surface of distal half with about 30 black teeth in two loose rows. Distiphallus elongate, sinuate, about twice as long as epandrium, ending in a small but dense bulb (Fig. 37).

Female abdomen: Oviscape very long (almost as long as balance of abdomen; Fig. 32), apex orange, otherwise shining dark brown. Abdominal tergite 1 pale, tergites 2–5 dull brown; tergite 6 and oviscape dark and shining. Common spermathecal duct of uniform width, about twice as wide as single spermathecal duct; paired spermathecae cup-shaped, striate on main part and with a convoluted and tuberculate base (Fig. 36). Single spermatheca T-shaped with 2 equal narrow lobes.

Type material: (lectotype female BMNH). St. Vincent. Leeward side St. Vincent, HH Smith, W. Indies 1907- 66. Non-type material examined: St. Vincent. Kingstown Botanical Garden, 25–27.iii.1989, W. Mathis (2 Ƥ 1 3, USNM); Montreal, 26.iii.1989, A. Freidberg (3 Ƥ, USNM); Cumberland, 28.iii.1989, W. Mathis (1 Ƥ, USNM); Mangaroo, 28.iii.1989, A. Freidberg (1 3, USNM).

Comments: As pointed out by Steyskal (1967), Hennig (1934) was in error to synonymize this species with the Cuban species Grallipeza placida, from which it differs in having golden katepisternal bristles, a diffuse discal spot on the wing, a mostly reddish fore femur with distinct ventral bristles, and an entirely pale abdominal pleuron. More importantly, the spermathecae and associated ducts are entirely different in these two species, with G. m e l l e a more closely resembling G. spinuliger and G. placidoides from Dominica and St. Lucia. Grallipeza mellea is most similar to G. grenada, from which it differs in having two pairs of dorsocentral bristles.