Oxysarcodexia conclausa ( Walker, 1861 )

Souza, Carina Mara De, Pape, Thomas & Thyssen, Patricia Jacqueline, 2020, Oxysarcodexia Townsend, 1917 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) - a centennial conspectus, Zootaxa 4841 (1), pp. 1-126 : 42

Oxysarcodexia conclausa ( Walker, 1861)

( Figs 79–81 )

Sarcophaga conclausa Walker, 1861: 309 ; Mexico. Lectotype female (designated by Lopes 1975b: 539) in NHMUK (not examined). [Described from one or more females. Aldrich (1930: 20) mentioned “One female, Mexico ”, which was considered “the female holotype ” by Lopes (1975b: 539). We consider Lopes to have made a lectotype designation in accordance with Article 74.5 of the Code ( ICZN 1999), having “unambiguously selected a particular syntype to act as the unique name-bearing type” of the nominal taxon Sarcophaga conclausa Walker, 1861 .]

Sarcophaga ochripyga Wulp, 1895: 269 ; Mexico, Tabasco, Frontera. Male lectotype (designated by Aldrich 1930: 36) and one male and four female paralectotypes in NHMUK (not examined).

Sarcophaga australis Aldrich, 1916: 282 ; Peru. Holotype male and six male paratypes in USNM (not examined).

Sarcophaga ochropyga: Mattos (1919: 63) , incorrect subsequent spelling of ochripyga Wulp, 1895 .

Sarcophaga ochrypyga: Hall (1933: 284) , Lopes (1933: 158), incorrect subsequent spelling of ochripyga Wulp, 1895 .

Diagnosis. Male.Length8.0–9.0 mm.Postocular plate with pale golden pollinosity.Ocellar bristles weakly developed. Thorax grayish with pale golden pollinosity.Abdominal T5 with golden pollinosity. Two well-differentiated posterior and 1–3 smaller anterior post-sutural dorsocentrals. Apical scutellar bristles absent. Legs brownish. T3 with 1 pair of lateral marginal bristles, T4 with 1 pair of median marginal and 2 pairs of lateral marginal bristles. ST5 with deep median cleft with margins almost parallel and with pilosity. Cercus straight in lateral view, with expanded obliquely cut apex and dorsal subapical barb. Cercus with bristles ventrally only in distal third. Cerci with distal third as broad as middle part in posterior view; parallel. Pregonite with expanded base and sudden narrowing at apex, which is darker than base. Postgonite with expanded base and sudden narrowing at apex; unicolorous. Distiphallus with serrated ventroapical margin, rounded apex, straight dorsal outline and “finger-like” dorsoapical swelling. Vesica symmetrical, with angular median projection of main branch; distal lobes well developed, square, with median upwards-projecting “finger-like” sclerotization and spines only along margins.

Remarks. The “finger-like” dorsoapical swelling of the distiphallus and the square vesica with serrated margins ( Fig. 80 ) resemble those in O. morretesi Tibana & Mello 1983b ( Fig. 193 ) and O. thornax ( Fig. 258 ), but O. conclausa can be distinguished from these species by the shape of the apical part of cercus. See also remarks under O. afficta . The female of O. conclausa was described by Lopes (1975b) and has T7 divided into two plates ( Tibana & Mello 1985). The first larval instar was described by Knipling (1936).

Distribution. NEARCTIC. Canada (Quebec), Mexico (Baja California Sur,Guajanuto, Morelos, San Luis Potosí), USA (Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Texas). NEOTROPICAL. Chile (La Araucanía, Patagonia , Tarapacá), Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras (Tegucilgalpa), Mexico (Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Nayarít, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatán), Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago ( Trinidad), Venezuela.

Biology. This species is closely associated with bovine dung ( Blume 1985). Due to this and to its seasonality (more active with the onset of spring), it has been considered a possible candidate for the natural control of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans ( Linnaeus, 1758) ( Diptera : Muscidae ) ( Kunz 1978). A strong necrophagy of O. conclausa was suggested by Yepes-Gaurisas et al. (2013), as well as a high synanthropic index, i.e., a preference for human settlements. In Guajira, Colombia, this species was collected in rural, forest, and urban areas, in decreasing order of abundance, using Van Someren-Rydon traps baited with fermented fruit, decomposing fish, and human feces ( Valverde-Castro et al. 2017). Lopes (1946b) collected this species with an entomological net and with baited fruit-fly traps. Marked attractiveness of dead fish, bovine liver, chicken viscera and pig carcasses has been reported ( Flores & Dale 1995; Garcés et al. 2004; Ramírez-Mora et al 2012; Yepes-Gaurisas et al. 2013). Oxysarcodexia conclausa has been recorded as a floral visitor of Bdallophyton bambusarum Liebm. (Rafflesiaceae) ( García-Franco & Rico-Gray 1997).

Material examined. [ ♂] [ USA] Hidalgo Co. Tx., 4.X.1986; dysentery fly trap; USPUS Mi / Oxysarcodexia ochripyga [ NHMD] // [♂] COLOMBIA Palmira , Valle 1 Mar 1971 1006m 165 G. P. Waldbauer / Oxysarcodexia ochripyga Wulp, H. S. Lopes det. [ MNRJ] .

Figures

FIGURES 79–89. Oxysarcodexia spp., males. 79–81. Oxysarcodexia conclausa (Walker) (USA, Texas, Hidalgo County, NHMD). 79. Habitus, lateral view. 80. Terminalia, lateral view. 81. Terminalia, posterior view. 82–84. Oxysarcodexia confusa Lopes (Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis, NHMD). 82. Habitus, lateral view. 83. Terminalia, lateral view. 84. Terminalia, posterior view. 85–89. Oxysarcodexia corolla Dodge, holotype (Jamaica, Saint Andrews, Second Breakfast Spring, WSU). 85. Habitus, lateral view. 86. Terminalia (without cerci), lateral view. 87. Cerci and surstyli, lateral view. 88. Terminalia (without cerci), posterior view. 89. Cerci, posterior view. Figs 85–89 by R.S. Zack (WSU).

FIGURES 192–200. Oxysarcodexia spp., males. 192–194. Oxysarcodexia morretesi Tibana & Mello, paratype (Brazil, São Paulo, Bertioga, MNRJ). 192. Habitus, lateral view. 193. Terminalia, lateral view. 194. Terminalia, posterior view. 195–197. Oxysarcodexia nitida Soares & Mello-Patiu (Ecuador, Napo Province, NMR). 195. Habitus, lateral view. 196. Terminalia, lateral view. 197. Terminalia, posterior view. 198–200. Oxysarcodexia notata Soares & Mello-Patiu (Ecuador, Napo Province, NMR). 198. Habitus, lateral view. 199. Terminalia, lateral view. 200. Terminalia, posterior view.

FIGURES 254–263. Oxysarcodexia spp., males. 254–256. Oxysarcodexia terminalis (Wiedemann) (Argentina, MACN). 254. Habitus, lateral view. 255. Terminalia, lateral view. 256. Terminalia, posterior view. 257–259. Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker) (Brazil, São Paulo, Campinas, LIE). 257. Habitus, lateral view. 258. Terminalia, lateral view. 259. Terminalia, posterior view. 260–263. Oxysarcodexia timida (Aldrich) (Venezuela, Aragua, NHMD). 260. Habitus, lateral view. 261. Terminalia, lateral view. 262. Distiphallus, anterior view. 263. Terminalia, posterior view. Figs 254–256 by P.R. Mulieri (MACN).