Mesembrinella pictipennis Aldrich, 1922

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 : 127-128

Mesembrinella pictipennis Aldrich, 1922

( Figs 81–82, 171–172, 228, 271, 315, 359, 400, 444, 478, 494)

Mesembrinella pictipennis Aldrich, 1922: 11 . Lectotype male (NHMUK), here designated. Type locality: Yungas de La Paz , Bolivia.

Mesembrinella pictipennis: Peris & Mariluis (1984: 259) ; Wolff (2013: 121); Kosmann et al. (2013: 78); Marinho et al. (2017: tab. 1); Cerretti et al. (2017: tab. 2).

Diagnosis. A large fly, averaging 16.7 mm (16–17/3) in length. Wing pattern distinctive: anterior half infuscated, posterior half darkened around veins ( Fig. 494); abdomen without tomentose pits; supravibrissal setae brown or black, ascending about 1/2 of distance to antennal base; subcostal sclerite with long, stout brown setae; scutellum with discal setae; palpus yellow; section IV of wing 0.51 of section III.

Redescription. Male. Head. Frons narrow, 0.015 of head width at narrowest [only lectotype was measured], eyes almost touching; fronto-orbital reddish with pale tomentum; frontal setae ascending about 60% of distance to vertex; frontal vitta orange, obliterated in upper 2/3; parafacial yellow in upper 1/3, orange with whitish tomentum in lower 2/3; gena orange with silvery tomentum and horizontal row of stout setae midway; postgena orange with pale tomentum and long golden setae; occiput with dense silvery tomentum on orange cuticle, with golden setae; median occipital sclerite shiny dark brown; antenna: pedicel orange, first flagellomere brown, arista orange with tan setae; eye with median facets about 3x size of lateral facets; ocellar triangle small, supravibrissal setae dark brown, ascending about 1/2 of distance to antennal base.

Thorax. Dorsum reddish-brown with four pale tomentose stripes, pleura yellow-orange; chaetotaxy: ac 1:1, dc 2:3, ia 1, ph 1, ppn 3x 3, kat 2:1, meral setae long and fine, 1 pair converging ap, 1 weak sa, 1 weak lat, 1 stout bas, 1 weak pb, 1 disc; subscutellum moderately developed; spiracles yellow, medium-sized; legs dark orange. Wing with strong, dark infuscation on anterior half, only areas around veins infuscated on posterior half ( Fig. 494); subcostal sclerite with long reddish setae, basicosta dark reddish, tegula lighter red; section IV 0.51 of section III; discs of upper and lower calypters reddish-brown; rim of upper calypter dark brown with reddish setae, rim of lower calypter mostly pale with long reddish setae.

Abdomen. T1+2 and T3 more or less tan, T4–5 shiny blue; rear margin of T4 with row of stout setae; disc of T5 with dense, short, sparse, fine setae only. Terminalia in lateral view with surstylus curved sharply backward ( Fig. 81); in posterior view, cerci with broad base, gradually tapering to blunt tip ( Fig. 82); phallus in lateral view with long, slender epiphallus with slight backward curve ( Fig. 171); in dorsal view, hypophallic lobes narrow ( Fig. 172); T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite as in Fig. 228; ST5 as in Fig. 271 [lectotype missing ST2–4].

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.26/2 of head width at narrowest. T6 wide and deep, of OU shape; T 7 in broad arc nearly separated midway; T8 as pair of small slender sclerites; epiproct divided ( Fig. 315); ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 359; spermathecae filiform ( Fig. 400); ST1–5 as in Fig. 444.

Type material examined 1. LECTOTYPE ³ ( Bolivia, La Paz; NHMUK; Fig. 478), here designated, labeled: Yungas de la Paz, / Bolivia / 1000 m / Purchd. from / H. Rolle / 1904–117; LECTOTYPE ³ / Mesembrinella / pictipennis / Aldrich, 1922 / Designated by / Dear and Pont. [red border]; Mesembrinella / pictipennis / Type Ald.; LECTO- / TYPE [round label with purple border].

PARALECTOTYPE: ♀, same locality as lectotype ( NHMUK) [with handwritten label “ Mesembrinella pic- tipennis Allotype Ald. ”, paralectotype label (des. Dear & Pont) and round paralectotype label with light blue bor- der] .

Remarks. Dear and Pont selected a lectotype for Mesembrinella pictipennis Aldrich, 1922 , without publishing the designation. The same specimen (in NHMUK) is here formally designated as the lectotype of this nominal species. The paralectotype is conspecific with the lectotype (N. Wyatt, pers. comm.).

Additional material examined. Bolivia, La Paz. 1 ♀, Coroico, 1200 m, [no date], Fassi ( NHMUK) ; 1 ♀, Rio Songo , 750 m, [no date], Fassi ( NHMUK) . Ecuador, Napo. 2 ♀♀, Tiputini Biodiversity Stn. , 0°36ʹ50ʺS 76°9ʹ1ʹW, V.2011, S.A. Marshall ( UGG) . La Paz. 2 ³³, Heath River Wildlife Centre, 21 km SSW Puerto Heath, 12°40ʹS 68°42ʹW, 29.iv–12v.2007, S.A. Marshall ( UGG) .

Distribution. Bolivia, Ecuador. Marinho et al. (2017) also listed it from Colombia and Costa Rica.

Remarks. No specimens were barcoded.