Laneella Mello, 1967

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 : 20-24

Genus Laneella Mello, 1967

Laneella Mello, 1967: 3 . Type species: Mesembrinella brunnipes Surcouf, 1919 sensu Mello, 1967 , by original designation. Misidentification, = Laneella nigripes Guimar „es, 1977; teste Guimar„es (1977). Herewith fixed under Article 70.3 of the Code (I.C.Z.N 1999).

Diagnosis. Dorsum of thorax more or less shiny brown in five of the six known species; one species ( L. purpurea ) with thorax and abdomen entirely metallic purple. Males with both surstylus and cercus curved forward and epandrium usually smaller than in most other mesembrinellids ( Figs 15, 17, 19 , 21, 23 ). Phallus narrow in dorsal view just before anterior edge of hypophallic lobe; lobes distinctive, short and rounded, with prominent serrations (as in Fig. 106 ); epiphallus long and slender with gentle curve posteriorly ( Figs 105, 107, 109, 111, 113 ). Male sternites usually with coarse, dense setae ( Figs 239–243 ), unlike those in other genera and species-groups. Females with T6 flattened ( FU shape), a condition not found in most other mesembrinellids ( Figs 282–286 ), and usually with tuberform spermathecae ( Figs 370–374 ).

Remarks. Three of the six known species in the genus have more or less shiny brown abdomens, two have abdomens with metallic reflections and one has a gleaming purple abdomen. Males in this genus have the surstylus and cercus both curving forward ( Figs 15, 17, 19 , 21, 23 ). In Mesembrinellinae , the species-groups have surstylus straight with cercus curved forward or surstylus and cercus curved toward each other. Females have tuberform spermathecae ( Figs 370–374 ), although those of L. fuscosquamata are about half the length of those of other species ( Fig. 371 ). Eggs were found in the abdomen of a specimen of L. fuscosquamata , see discussion under that species. Known from Brazil, Colombia (Wolff 2013), Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala and French Guiana.

The NJ barcode analysis recovered two distantly separated clades for Laneella , the first containing L. nigripes , L. perisi , L. patriciae and L. fusconitida , the second L. purpurea and L. fuscosquamata . To be more certain about the relationships among the species of this genus, we decided to run a Bayesian analysis using part of the data representing all species. The topology from this analysis (results not shown here) recovered a polyphyletic Laneella with L. purpurea and L. fuscosquamata in a distant, separate clade sister to all other Mesembrinellidae , confirming the NJ findings. These results are not congruent with morphology; thus, it is possible that the morphological characters used to place L. purpurea and L. fuscosquamata within Laneella are the result of convergent evolution and not character states shared through common ancestry. Also, it is important to note that both analyses are based only on COI, and one marker is not enough to resolve the evolution of a group. Further studies using more markers are needed to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among species of this genus.

Figures

FIGURES 15–20. Left lateral and posterior views of epandrium, cerci and surstyli of Laneella spp. 15–16. L. fusconitida sp. nov. 17–18. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 19–20. L. nigripes Guimar„es.

FIGURES 21–26. Left lateral and posterior views of epandrium, cerci and surstyli of Laneella and Mesembrinella spp. 21–22. L. perisi (Mariluis). 23–24. L. purpurea sp. nov. 25–26. M. latifrons (Mello).

FIGURES 105–114. Left lateral and dorsal views of phallus of Laneella spp. 105–106. L. fusconitida sp. nov. 107–108. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 109–110. L. nigripes Guimar„es. 111–112. L. perisi (Mariluis). 113–114. L. purpurea sp. nov.

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 282–287. Female terminalia (T6–T8, epiproct, cerci) of Mesembrinellidae, dorsal view. 282. Laneella fusconitida sp. nov. 283. L. fuscosquamata sp. nov. 284. L. nigripes Guimar„es. 285. L. perisi (Mariluis). 286. L. purpurea sp. nov. 287. M. latifrons (Mello).

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.