Mesembrinella epandrioaurantia Whitworth, 2019

Whitworth, Terry L. & Yusseff-Vanegas, Sohath, 2019, A revision of the genera and species of the Neotropical family Mesembrinellidae (Diptera: Oestroidea), Zootaxa 4659 (1), pp. 1-146 : 60-64

Mesembrinella epandrioaurantia Whitworth , sp. nov.

( Figs 31–32 , 121–122 , 203 , 247 , 291 , 335 , 420 , 460 , 488 , 492 )

Diagnosis. A small blue-black fly averaging 9.2 mm (8–11/5) in length. Abdomen with distinctive orange area on tip of T 5 in both sexes ( Fig. 492 ) vs. tip of T5 and epandrium shiny blue in M. woodorum sp. nov. Male with ST5 of distinctive shape ( Fig. 247 ); epandrium, cerci and surstyli of distinctive shape ( Figs 31–32 ).

Description. Male. Head. Frons 0.045 (0.04–0.05/5) of head width at narrowest, about equal to width of frontoorbital; fronto-orbital narrow and silvery; frontal vitta brown, significantly narrowed midway; frontal setae ascending about 60% of distance to vertex; parafacial bluish with silvery tomentum; gena and postgena bluish with silvery tomentum, most of gena with black setae, lower edge with pale setae; postgena entirely with pale setae; occiput with silvery tomentum and pale silky setae; median occipital sclerite shiny orange; palpus typical; antenna: pedicel and first flagellomere brown with whitish tomentum, setae on pedicel dark brown; eye facets small, median facets slightly larger than lateral facets; ocellar triangle medium-sized, anterior ocellus slightly larger than posterior ocelli; frontal ridge with only 2–3 stout supravibrissal setae at base.

Thorax. Dorsum and pleura bluish with pale tomentum forming faint stripes; chaetotaxy: ac 0:0, dc 1:2, ia 0, ph 1, ppn 2x 2, kat 1:1, meral setae typical, 1 crossed ap, 1 stout bas, 0 disc, usually no other setae on scutellum; subscutellum weakly developed; spiracles medium-sized and brown; anterior spiracular opening long and narrow, gradually widening above ( Fig. 6 ); legs entirely brown except femora orange distally; tarsal claws brown with black tips, pads white. Wing hyaline with narrow yellowish area in costal cell near costa; basal cells and veins darkened; subcostal sclerite with pubescence only; basicosta and tegula brown; section IV 0.16 of section III; upper and lower calypters with rim and disc tan, small area of upper calypter whitish; rim of upper calypter with short reddish-brown setae, rim of lower calypter with long reddish-brown setae.

Abdomen bluish with white tomentum except tip of T5; disc of T5 with only weak, fine setae. Terminalia bright orange ( Fig. 492 ); in posterior view, epandrium with broad suture midway ( Fig. 32 ); epandrium, cerci and surstyli very unusual in shape; in lateral view surstylus long and slender, extending forward under epandrium and curving down and slightly backward; cercus short, slender and straight, widely separated from surstylus ( Figs 31–32 ); phallus in lateral view with long, slender epiphallus gently curved backward ( Fig. 121 ); in dorsal view with narrow hypophallic lobes ( Fig. 122 ); T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite, ejaculatory sclerite and ST6 as in Fig. 203 ; sternites unusual: ST3–4 small, ST 5 of unusual shape ( Fig. 247 ).

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.186 (0.18–0.20/3) of head width at narrowest. T6 of OU shape, recessed posteriorly midway; T7 unusually wide, weakened midway; T8 as separate sclerites ( Fig. 291 ); ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 335 ; ST1–5 with ST2 large about 3x sclerite ST3 ( Fig. 420 ).

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂* ( Venezuela, Yaracuy; MJMO; Fig. 460 ), labeled: Venezuela. Yaracuy / Cocorote Sector El / Candelo. 1650 m / 4–10/XI/2002 / 10°36ʹ886ʺN 68°82ʹ628ʺW; Cols: R. Briceño; A. / Chacón; J. Clavijo; F. / Díaz; R. Paz.; E. Arcaya; / L. Joly / Proyecto S 1-2000000479 ; HOLOTYPE / Mesembrinella / epandrioaurantia / T.L. Whitworth.

ALLOTYPE ♀ ♦* ( TLW309 ): same data as holotype except 17–20.x.2001 ( MJMO).

PARATYPES: Venezuela, Yaracuy. 1 ♂*, 2 ♂♂♦ ( TLW307 , 310 ) , 1 ♀, Cocorote , Sector El Candelo, 10°36ʹ886ʺN 66°82ʹ628ʺW, 1600 m, 4–10.xi.2002, R. Briceño et al. ( MJMO) ; 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ ♦* ( TLW308 ) , same data except 17–20.x.2001 ( MJMO) ; 1 ♂ ♦ ( TLW306 ) , same data except 15–21.x.2001 ( MJMO) ; 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ *, Aragua, Colonia Tovar , 22.xii.1985, P. Kovarik ( TAMU) ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀, same data except 2300 m, 10.iii.1996, sweep, steep forest trail, S.A. Marshall ( UGG) .

Distribution. Venezuela.

Remarks. Five specimens ( TLW 306–310) were barcoded, and they all grouped together in our analysis ( Fig. 488 ).

Etymology. The species name epandrioaurantia refers to the bright orange tip of the abdomen in both sexes, especially distinctive in males, where the whole epandrium is orange. The name is a combination of the word epandrium and the Latin aurantium (orange).

Figures

FIGURE 488. Neighbor-joining tree of COI DNA barcode sequences of specimens and species of Mesembrinellidae, using K2P distances and generated in BOLD; species names on the tree are followed by BOLD accession number, voucher number, country of origin, number of sequenced base pairs and number of ambiguous nucleotides.

FIGURES 27–32. Left lateral and posterior views of epandrium, cerci and surstyli of Mesembrinella spp. 27–28. M. mexicana sp. nov. 29–30. M. spicata Aldrich. 31–32. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov.

FIGURES 115–124. Left lateral and dorsal views of phallus of Mesembrinella spp. 115–116. M. latifrons (Mello). 117–118. M. mexicana sp. nov. 119–120. M. spicata Aldrich. 121–122. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 123–124. M. woodorum sp. nov.

FIGURES 202–208. Male terminalia of Mesembrinella spp. (a = T6, STS7+8; b = pre- and postgonite; c = ejaculatory sclerite; d = ST6; e = hypandrium). 202. M. spicata Aldrich. 203. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 204. M. woodorum sp. nov. 205. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 206. M. bolivar (Bonatto). 207. M. decrepita Séguy. 208. M. lara (Bonatto).

FIGURES 239–251. Male sternites of Lanella spp. 239. L. fusconitida sp. nov. 240. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 241. L. nigripes Guimar„es 242. L. perisi (Mariluis). 243. L. purpurea sp. nov. 244. M. latifrons (Mello). 245. M. mexicana sp. nov. 246. M. spicata Aldrich. 247. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 248. M. woodorum sp. nov. 249. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 250. M. decrepita Séguy. 251. M. lara (Bonatto) (ST5 only).

FIGURES 288–293. Female terminalia (T6–T8, epiproct, cerci) of Mesembrinella spp., dorsal view. 288. M. guaramacalensis sp. nov. 289. M. mexicana sp. nov. 290. M. spicata Aldrich. 291. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 292. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 293. M. decrepita Séguy.

FIGURES 326–349. ST6–8 and hypoproct of Mesembrinellidae. 326. Laneella fusconitida sp. nov. 327. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 328. L. nigripes Guimar„es. 329. L. perisi (Mariluis). 330. L. purpurea sp. nov. 331. Mesembrinella latifrons (Mello). 332. M. guaramacalensis sp. nov. 333. M. mexicana sp. nov. 334. M. spicata Aldrich. 335. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 336. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 337. M. decrepita Séguy. 338. M. lara (Bonatto). 339. M. nigrocoerulea sp. nov. 340. M. purpurata Aldrich. 341. M. semiflava Aldrich. 342. M. uniseta Aldrich. 343. M. violacea sp. nov. 344. M. vogelsangi (Mello). 345. M. zurquiensis sp. nov. 346. M. apollinaris Séguy. 347. M. batesi Aldrich. 348. M. bellardiana Aldrich. 349. M. benoisti (Séguy).

FIGURES 411–423. Female sternites of Mesembrinellidae. 411. Laneella fusconitida sp. nov. (LACM). 412. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 413. L. nigripes Guimar„es. 414. L. perisi (Mariluis). 415. L. purpurea sp. nov. 416. Mesembrinella latifrons (Mello). 417. M. guaramacalensis sp. nov. 418. M. mexicana sp. nov. 419. M. spicata Aldrich. 420. M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov. 421. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 422. M. decrepita Séguy. 423. M. lara (Bonatto).

FIGURES 460–464. Lateral habitus and labels of holotypes. 460. Mesembrinella epandrioaurantia sp. nov. (MJMO). 461. M. woodorum sp. nov. (CNC). 462. M. bolivar (Bonatto) (USNM). 463. M. lara (Bonatto) (USNM). 464. M. nigrocoerulea sp. nov. (INBIO).

FIGURES 489–497. Diagnostic characters of Mesembrinella spp. 489. Dorsal view of stem vein of wing of M. bellardiana Aldrich showing stem vein setose. 490. Detail of wing of M. batesi Aldrich in ventral view, showing setose condition of subcostal sclerite. 491. Epandrium of M. mexicana sp. nov. in posterior view, showing broad dorsal division found in M. spicata group. 492. Detail of abdomen of male M. epandrioaurantia sp. nov., showing orange color of rear segments. 493. Detail of dorsal habitus of M. socors (Walker), showing triangle of bluish cuticle on hind margin T3. 494. Wing of M. pictipennis Aldrich, showing pattern of infuscation. 495. Posterodorsal habitus of male M. townsendi Guimar„es, showing wing pattern and stripes on thorax. 496. Detail of male abdomen of M. anomala (Guimar„es), showing relative lengths of T4 and T5. 497. Same as previous, showing modification of T6, STS7+8 and epandrium.

FIGURES 1–8. Diagnostic characters of Mesembrinellidae and Calliphoridae. 1. Wing of Mesembrinella flavicrura Aldrich, showing veins and cells. 2. Wing of M. currani Guimar„es, showing infuscated anterior margin. 3. Wing of Laneella fusconitida sp. nov., showing dark macula around crossvein r-m. 4. Wing of Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus), showing acute bend of vein M. 5. Anterior spiracle of Mesembrinella batesi Aldrich, showing broad oval opening above. 6. Anterior spiracle of M. bolivar (Bonatto), showing long, narrow opening gradually widening above. 7. Meral setae and posterior spiracle of M. bicolor (Fabricius). 8. Last abdominal tergites of M. vogelsangi (Mello), showing setae.