Mesembrinella benoisti ( Séguy, 1925 ), Seguy, 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 : 116-117

Mesembrinella benoisti ( Séguy, 1925)

( Figs 61–62, 151–152, 218, 261, 305, 349, 390, 434, 488)

Ochromyia benoisti Séguy, 1925: 196 . Holotype male (MNHN), not examined. Type locality: French Guiana.

Eumesembrinella benoisti: Toma & Carvalho (1995: 141) ; Marinho et al. (2012: 842); Kosmann et al. (2013: 77); Wolff & Kosmann (2016: 866); Marinho et al. (2017: tab. 1); Velásquez et al. (2017: 108).

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

Diagnosis. A fairly large fly averaging 11.4 mm (11–12/5) in length. Postpronotal lobe with 2x 2 setae; wing hyaline with only faint yellowing along costa; thorax orange-brown with pale tomentose stripes; abdomen shiny blue; ac 0:1.

Redescription. Male. Head. Frons 0.06 (0.05–0.07/5) of head width at narrowest. Fronto-orbital orange below, silvery above; frontal setae ascending about 40% of distance to vertex; frontal vitta orange, obliterated about midway above; parafacial silvery; gena pale yellow with silvery tomentum; postgena yellow with silvery tomentum and silky yellow setae; occiput shiny dark brown dorsolaterally, remainder pale yellow with fine yellow setae; median occipital sclerite shiny dark brown; pedicel, first flagellomere and arista yellow-orange; palpus typical; eye with median facets about 2x size of lateral facets; ocellar triangle medium-sized, diameter of anterior ocellus about twice that of posterior ocelli; supravibrissal setae limited to small cluster near base of facial ridge.

Thorax. Dorsum dark orange-brown with four pale orange tomentose stripes; pleura orange; chaetotaxy: ac 0:1, dc 2:3, ia 0, ph 0, ppn 2x 2, kat 1:1, meral setae fine, tan, in shape of inverted L, horizontal portion very short, 1 pair of parallel ap, sa and lat absent, 1 bas, 1 weak pb, 1 disc; subscutellum moderately developed; spiracles small and orange; legs: trochanters and femora orange, tibiae and tarsi brown, darker on fore leg. Wing hyaline with faint yellowing along costa, whole wing somewhat yellowish; subcostal sclerite yellow and bare; basicosta yellow, tegula orange; section IV 0.16 of section III; disc of upper calypter pale, rim dark with short pale-yellow setae; disc of lower calypter golden, rim yellow with long golden setae.

Abdomen. T1+2 orange, T3 orange with small forward-pointing arrow-like dark area mid-dorsally [good specimens]; T4 mostly metallic blue-black with some orange color laterally and a pair of lateral marginal setae; T5 shiny blue-black, disc with dense, medium-long fine setae only. Terminalia in lateral view with surstylus moderately curved backward, cercus with apical hook ( Fig. 61); posterior view as in Fig. 62; phallus in lateral view with short, slightly curved epiphallus ( Fig. 151); in dorsal view, hypophallic lobes narrow ( Fig. 152); T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite, ST6 and ejaculatory sclerite as in Fig. 218; ST1–5 narrowed, as in Fig. 261.

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.274 (0.26–0.28/5) of head width at narrowest. T6 of WV shape, T7 continuous, weakened midway, T8 as separate sclerites ( Fig. 305). ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 349; spermathecae filiform ( Fig. 390). ST1–5 as in Fig. 434.

Material examined. French Guiana. 2 ³³*, 1 ♀ *, 5 ♀♀ ♦ ( TLW237 – TLW241 ) , 3 ♀♀, Kaw Mountain , 04°33ʹ58ʺN 52°12ʹ43ʺW, 8.ii. 2008, 310 m Bait trap, T.L. Whitworth ( TW) ; 7 ³³, 1 ♀, same data except 4–9.ii.2008 ( TW) . Guyana, Potaro-Siparuni. 1 ♀, Kaieteur , 6.viii.1911, [no collector] ( USNM) . Peru, Cusco. 1 ♀, Madre de Dios Parque Manu. , pakitza, 11°53ʹS 70°58ʹW, 400 m, 16.xi.1990, J. MacDonald ( MEM) . Venezuela, Bolivar. 1 ³, Rio Teuanen 24 mi. N. Kavanayen ca., 1600 m, 13.viii.1970, R.E. Dietz IV ( LACM) ; 1 ♀, El Bochinche Res., Forestal Imataca , 200 m, 6–13.xii.1974, [no collector] ( MIZA) .

Distribution. French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela. Bonatto (2001) listed it from Brazil.

Remarks. Five specimens ( TLW 237–241) were barcoded, all from one location in French Guiana. Two Gen- Bank sequences ( JQ 246686 , KR820726 ) from Brazil were added to the analysis. All sequences clustered together ( Fig. 488).