Oxysarcodexia mitifica Lopes, 1953

Souza, Carina Mara De, Pape, Thomas & Thyssen, Patricia Jacqueline, 2020, Oxysarcodexia Townsend, 1917 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) - a centennial conspectus, Zootaxa 4841 (1), pp. 1-126 : 76

Oxysarcodexia mitifica Lopes, 1953

( Figs 182–184 )

Oxysarcodexia mitifica Lopes, 1953: 50 ; Venezuela, Caracas. Holotype male in AMNH (not examined).

Diagnosis. Male. Length 8.0 mm. Postocular plate with golden pollinosity. Ocellar bristles well developed. Thorax and abdomen with golden pollinosity. Two well-differentiated posterior and 1–3 smaller anterior post-sutural dorsocentrals. Apical scutellar bristles absent. Legs blackish. 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 pointed obliquely cut apex. Cercus with bristles ventrally only in distal third. Cerci with distal third as broad as middle part in posterior view; parallel and with a distinct constriction mid length. Pregonite with expanded base, gradually narrowing to apex, which is darker than base. Postgonite with expanded base and sudden narrowing at apex; unicolorous. Distiphallus with smooth ventroapical margin, a lateroapical furrow, rounded apex and sinuous dorsal outline. Vesica symmetrical, with angular median projection of main branch; distal lobes well developed, with filaments, tapering, flattened laterally, partially membranous, with spines on both dorsal and ventral surfaces.

Remarks. The main feature differentiating this species from other Oxysarcodexia is the greatly developed median lobe of the vesica, directed ventroapically, and the small lateral lobes of the vesica, directed laterally ( Fig. 183 ). Female unknown.

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL. Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela.

Biology. Collected above Eciton burchellii army ant raids on Barro Colorado Island ( Dodge 1968). Chicken viscera and fish heads have been used as bait to attract and collect this species in a semi-rural area of Antioquia, Colombia ( Ramírez-Mora et al. 2012).

Material examined. [ ♂] COLOMBIA: SP21 4CP2 / O. ramosa ? [from Antioquia] [ CE-TdeA] // [♂] Sto. Domingo, Quito Ecuador. 1000m. I-1971 L. E. Peña col. / Oxysarcodexia mitifica ♂ Lopes Det. H. S. Lopes [ MNRJ] // [♂] Quincemil Cuzco , PERU 1-15.XI.1962 L. Pena. 700m. / Oxysarcodexia ♂ mitifica Lop. Det. H. S. Lopes [ MNRJ] .

Figures

FIGURES 182–191. Oxysarcodexia spp., males. 182–184. Oxysarcodexia mitifica Lopes (Colombia, Antioquia, CE-TdeA). 182. Habitus, lateral view. 183. Terminalia, lateral view. 184. Terminalia, posterior view. 185–187. Oxysarcodexia modesta Lopes (Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, NMR). 185. Habitus, lateral view. 186. Terminalia, lateral view. 187. Terminalia, posterior view. 188–191. Oxysarcodexia molitor (Curran & Walley), holotype (Guyana, Kaieteur, AMNH). 188. Head and thorax, lateral view. 189. Terminalia (without cerci), lateral view. 190. Cerci, posterolateral view. 191. Distiphallus, postgonites and pregonites, posterior view. Figs 188–191 by D. Grimaldi (AMNH).