Mesembrinella spicata Aldrich, 1925

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 : 55-56

Mesembrinella spicata Aldrich, 1925

( Figs 12 , 29–30 , 104 , 119–120 , 202 , 246 , 290 , 334 , 377 , 419 , 459 , 488 )

Mesembrinella spicata Aldrich, 1925: 13 . Holotype male (USNM), examined photographically. Type locality: La Suiza de Turrialba, Costa Rica.

Henriquella spicata: Bonatto & Marinoni (2005: 888) ; Marinho et al. (2017: tab. 1); Velásquez et al. (2017: 109).

Mesembrinella spicata: Cerretti et al. (2017 : tab. 2).

Diagnosis. A medium-sized shiny blue fly, averaging 9.6 mm (8–11/5) in length. Similar to M. mexicana sp. nov. (see under that species for comparison). Face and antenna bright yellow-orange; T5 without discal setae in both sexes; T4 without marginal setae in both sexes; T5 without marginal setae in male, with marginal setae in females. Male with long, slender posterior projections on ST5 ( Fig. 246 ); cercus and surstylus small and slender ( Figs 29–30 ).

Redescription. Male. Head. Frons broad, 0.128 (0.11–0.14/5) of head width at narrowest; slightly narrower than width of first flagellomere; fronto-orbital, parafacial and gena bright yellow-gold; frontal vitta with upper 2/3 black, lower 1/3 orange; gena with typical horizontal row of stout setae, rest of the gena with small fine dark setae; postgena orange with long pale setae and small strip of dark setae along anterior edge; occiput dark, covered with silvery tomentum and fine pale setae; median occipital sclerite shiny black; antenna bright orange, pedicel with short brown setae; palpus typical; eye facets uniform in size; frontal setae ascending about 80% of distance to vertex; anterior ocellus about twice the size of posterior ocelli; supravibrissal setae ascending along frontal ridge to about 1/4 of distance to antennal base.

Thorax. Dorsal and pleural areas purple-blue with whitish tomentum, dorsum without tomentose stripes. Chaetotaxy: ac 2:1, dc 2:3, ia 0, ph 1, ppn 3x 3, kat 1:1, meral setae typical, 1 pair stout converging ap, sa absent, 1 lat, 1 stout bas, 1 weak pb, 1 disc; subscutellum moderately developed; spiracles of moderate size, brown; legs: femora shiny blue, tibiae and tarsi brown, tarsal claws black. Wing hyaline with crossvein r-m slightly darkened and some veins with faint yellowing; subcostal sclerite with brown pubescence; tegula black, basicosta light tan; section IV 0.20 of section III; discs of upper and lower calypters light tan; rim of upper calypter with short dark setae, rim of lower calypter with long brown setae.

Abdomen blue with whitish tomentum, all segments lacking marginal; no discal setae on T5. Terminalia in lateral and posterior views with surstylus and cercus unusually small and slender, epandrium very large and divided midway ( Figs 29–30 ); phallus in lateral and dorsal views with short, stout epiphallus curving slightly backward ( Figs 119–120 ); T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite, ST6 and hypandrium as in Fig. 202 ; ST2–5 very broad, progressively wider to the rear; ST5 exceptionally large with pair of pointed posterior projections midway ( Fig. 246 ).

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.226 (0.21–0.24/5) of head width at narrowest, T5 with marginal setae, disc of T5 sometimes with one or more discal setae and with medium-length fine setae. T6 of RV shape with suture midway; T7 reduced to pair of round sclerites; T8 continuous, narrowed and with median suture ( Fig. 290 ); ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 334 ; spermathecae filiform ( Fig. 377 ); ST1–5 as in Fig. 419 .

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂ ( Costa Rica, Cartago; USNM; examined photographically: Fig. 459 ), labeled: La Suiza / Costa Rica; Pablo Schild / Coll 11-2-23 / ♂; Type / 26797 / No. / U.S. N.M. [orange label]; Mesembrinella / spicata / Ald.; USNMENT / 01295433.

Additional material examined. Costa Rica, Cartago. 1 ♂♦* ( TLW290 ) , Turrialba, M.N. Guayabo, Send. Monticulos, 1100–1200 m, 8–12.v.2007, L_N_217200 570300 #91254, Moraga, Azofeifa, Gonzalez, Navarro ( IN- BIO) ; 1 ♀, nr. Tuis 3000 ft, 16–22.vii.1993, W.J. Hanson ( CNC) . Heredia: 2 ♀♀ ♦ ( TLW345 – TLW346 ) , 16 km SSE La Virgen , 10°16ʹN 84°05ʹW, 1150 m, 9–14.iii.2001, flight intercept trap, primary forest, E.G. Riley ( TAMU) .

Puntarenas. 1 ♂*, 1 ♂, Coto Bus, Z.P. Las Tablas, Est. Biol. Coton, S El. Tajo, 1700 m, 26.viii.1999, L_S_324150 590000 #56966, M. Alfaro ( INBIO); 1 ♂, Coto Brus, Z.P. Las Tablas, E.B. Las Alturas, S Acueducto , Orilla R. Coti- to, 1400 m, 12.i.2001, L_S_593300 321900 #61816, M. Alfaro, Manual ( INBIO) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW352 ) , same data except 1500–1600 m, 13–14.x.2012, Malaise trap, ZADBI ( INBIO) ; 1 ♂*, 1♂, 1 ♀ *, ♀, Coton, Las Alturas , 1400 m, 5.ix.1991, P. DeVries & M. Wood ( CNC) ; 3 ♀♀, same data except 1500 m, 28.ix.1994, D.M. Wood ( LACM) ; 1 ♂♦ ( TLW291 ) , Coto Brus , Z.P. Las Tablas, E.B. Las Alturas, 1500–1600 m, 13–14.x.2012, Malaise trap, Proyecto ZADBI ( INBIO) ; 2 ♂♂♦ ( TLW292 , TLW374 ) , Coto Brus, Z.P. Las Tablas, E.B. Las Alturas, Acueducto, Orilla, R. Cotito , 1400 m, 12.iv.2001, M. Alfaro Manual ( INBIO) ; 1 ♀, Estación Altmira, 1 km S del Cerro Biolley , Sen- dero a la Fila, 1300–1450 m, 20–23.xi.1995, L_S331700_572100 #7056, M. Moraga ( INBIO) ; 1 ♀, Est. Biol. Las Alturas, 1500 m, Coto Brus , 23.iii–2.v.1992, L_S_322500 591300, F. Arays ( INBIO) ; 1 ♀, 1 km S.O. del Cerro Bi- oley, Sector Altamira, Buenos Aires , 1150–1350 m, x.1994, L S 331500_571700 #3300, Z. Fuentes ( INBIO) ; 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW353 ) , 1♀, Las Alturas Biol. Stat., 20 air km NE of San Vito , quarry, 1 km N of Rio Bella Vista, 14.viii.1995, C.R. Nelson ( BYU) ; 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW373 ) , San Vito de Coto Brus, Est. Biol Las Alturas , 1500 m, v.1992, P. Hanson ( CNC) . Mexico, Chiapas. 1 ♂, Chis [Chiapas] 6.0 km SW Ocosingo, 1400 m, 22.ix.1992, D.M. Wood ( CNC) ; 3 ♀♀, Chis 6 km S.W. Ocosingo, 1400 m, 20.ix.1991, D.M. Wood ( CNC) . Nicaragua, Jinotega . 1 ♀ *, Selva Negro , ca. 12 km N Matagalpa, Jinotega, 15.viii.1995 ( FSCA) .

Distribution. Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua.

Remarks. Eleven specimens ( TLW 290–292, TLW 345–346, TLW 352–353, TLW 373–374, TLW 376 and TLW 459) were barcoded; they grouped together close to M. mexicana sp. nov. and M. guaramacalensis sp. nov. ( Fig. 488 ). A female later identified morphologically as M. spicata had a complete row of discal setae on T5, which initially caused it to key to the aeneiventris species-group where it did not fit any of the known species. The terminalia were dissected and it was a perfect match with other M. spicata .

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 9–14. Diagnostic characters of Mesembrinellidae. 9. Eggs of Laneella fuscosquamata sp. nov. 10. L. perisi (Mariluis), ventral view of tarsal claws, showing pale basal half. 11. L. fusconitida sp. nov., ventral view of tarsal claws, showing darker base. 12. M. spicata Aldrich, ventral view of male sternites, showing long projections on rear margin of ST5. 13. M. bicolor (Fabricius), posterior view of female occiput, showing median occipital sclerite. 14. M. socors (Walker), upper and lower calypters, showing disc, rim and fringe.

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 103–104. Mesembrinella spp., abdomens in posterior view. 103. Mesembrinella batesi Aldrich, showing heavy whitish tomentum with dark “pits” around setal sockets. 104. Mesembrinella spicata Aldrich, showing unusual shape of T6, STS7+8 and epandrium.

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 370–400. Spermathecae of Mesembrinellidae. 370. L. fusconitida sp. nov. 371. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 372. L. nigripes Guimar„es. 373. L. perisi (Mariluis). 374. L. purpurea sp. nov. 375. Mesembrinella guaramacalensis sp. nov. 376. M. mexicana sp. nov. 377. M. spicata Aldrich. 378. M. aeneiventris (Wiedemann). 379. M. decrepita Séguy. 380. M. lara (Bonatto). 381. M. nigrocoerulea sp. nov. 382. M. purpurata Aldrich. 383. M. semiflava Aldrich. 384. M. uniseta Aldrich. 385. M. vogelsangi (Mello). 386. M. zurquiensis sp. nov. 387. M. apollinaris Séguy. 388. M. batesi Aldrich. 389. M. bellardiana Aldrich. 390. M. benoisti (Séguy). 391. M. bicolor (Fabricius). 392. M. brunnipes Surcouf. 393. M. bullata sp. nov. 394. M. chantryi sp. nov. 395. M. currani Guimar„es. 396. M. cyaneicincta (Surcouf). 397. M. flavicrura Aldrich. 398. M. longicercus sp. nov. 399. M. peregrina Aldrich. 400. M. pictipennis Aldrich.

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 455–459. Lateral habitus and labels of holotypes. 455. Laneella fusconitida sp. nov. (LACM). 456. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. (USNM). 457. L. purpurea sp. nov. (INBIO). 458. Mesembrinella mexicana sp. nov. (CNC). 459. M. spicata Aldrich (USNM).