Mesembrinella anomala (Guimarães, 1977)

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 : 140-141

Mesembrinella anomala (Guimarães, 1977)

( Figs 99–100 , 189–190 , 237 , 280 , 324 , 368 , 409 , 453 , 488 , 496–497 )

Thompsoniella anomala Guimar „es, 1977: 54. Holotype male (MZSP), not examined. Type locality: San Diego , Venezuela.

Thompsoniella anomala: Toma & Carvalho (1995: 139) ; Kosmann et al. (2013: 78); Wolff et al. (2014: 321); Marinho et al. (2017: tab. 1); Velásquez et al. (2017: 109).

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

Diagnosis. A medium-sized fly with subshining blue thorax and abdomen, averaging 10.8 mm (10–12/5) in length. Anterior thoracic spiracle with broad oval opening above (see Fig. 5 ). Postpronotal setae 2x 2; wing with faint yellowish infuscation on distal 2/3 along costa; scutellum without discal setae; gena with some pale orange setae; fore femur brown; ac usually 0:1, rarely 0:0; male with T5 about 2x as long as T4 ( Fig. 496 ); epandrium with a pair of knob-like anteroventral projections ( Fig. 99 , 497 ); epiphallus long, slender and sharply curved backward ( Fig. 189 ).

Redescription. Male. Frons broad, 0.096 (0.09–0.10/5) of head width at narrowest. Fronto-orbital and parafacial silvery when viewed from above and orange when viewed from below; frontal setae ascending halfway to vertex; frontal vitta broad, extending to ocellar triangle, orange below and black above; gena pale orange with whitish tomentum a short horizontal row of 2–3 stout setae, and pale orange setae; postgena and occiput with silvery tomentum and long pale setae; median occipital sclerite shiny black with faint whitish tomentum; antenna: pedicel orange: base of first flagellomere orange, tip with tan tomentum; base of arista dark orange, tip black; palpus typical; eye with median facets 3x size of lateral facets; ocellar triangle small, anterior ocellus 2x size of posterior ocelli; facial ridge with short black supravibrissal setae ascending about 1/10 of distance to antennal base.

Thorax. Dorsum subshining blue with pale tomentum; pleura silvery-orange; chaetotaxy: ac 0:1, rarely 0:0, dc 2:2, ia 0, ph 0, kat 1:1, ppn 2x 2, meral setae typical, with short horizontal section, 1 pair crossed ap, 1 stout bas, 1 sa, 1 lat, 1 pb, 0 disc; subscutellum moderately developed; spiracles orange and medium-sized; legs: fore femur brown, mid femur brown to orange, hind femur orange, tibiae and tarsi brown. Wing: distal 2/3 along costa with faint yellowish infuscation; subcostal sclerite pubescent; basicosta and tegula brown; section IV 0.19 of section III; discs of both calypters pale; rims tan with tan setae.

Abdomen entirely blue with whitish tomentum; T5 2x as long as T4 ( Fig. 496 ); T4 with row of marginal setae; pairs of lateral marginal setae on T4 and T5; disc of T5 with dense, medium-long, fine setae only. Terminalia in lateral view with exceptionally broad surstylus and tiny cercus ( Fig. 99 ); in posterior view as in Fig. 100 ; T 6 , STS7+8 and epandrium fused into broad plate at tip of abdomen ( Fig. 497 ); knob-like bases of surstylus also visible at tip of abdomen ( Fig. 497 ); phallus in lateral view with epiphallus exceptionally long and curving at 90° angle, directed backward ( Fig. 189 ); in dorsal view, hypophallic lobes extremely narrow with coarse serrations ( Fig. 190 ); T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite and ejaculatory sclerite as in Fig. 237 ; sternites of very unusual shape ( Fig. 280 ).

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.187 (0.18–0.19/3) of head width at narrowest. T6 of FU shape, divided midway; condition of T7 unclear, possibly fused with T6; ST8 as separate sclerites ( Fig. 324 ); ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 368 , ST8 with pair of stout setal clusters; spermathecae as in Fig. 409 ; ST1–5 as in Fig. 453 .

Material examined. Venezuela, Aragua. 1 ♂*, 1 ♀, Marcai, Choroni Pass , 1100 m, 26.ii.1971, G. & M. Wood ( CNC) ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 11 km N Rancho Grande , 1100 m, 25.ii.1971, G. & M. Wood ( CNC) ; 1 ♂, Parque Nac., Avila , 28.ii.1971, G. & M. Wood ( CNC) ; 1 ♂, Rancho Grande , 6–7.xii.1976, J. Robertson ( LACM) ; 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW458 ) , Co- corote, Sector Candelo , 10°36ʹ89ʺN 66°82ʹ63ʺW, 1600 m, 15–21.x.2001, R. Briceño, A. Chacán, J. Clavijo, F. Díaz, R. Paz, E. Arcaya L. Joly ( MJMO) . Miranda. 1 ♂♦ ( TLW198 ) , San Antonio de los Altos, IV, IC, 10°24ʹN 66°58ʹW, 1680 m, iv. 2003, Y. Velásquez ( MIZA) .

Distribution. Venezuela. Bonatto (2001) also listed it from Ecuador. Marinho et al. (2017) also listed it from Bolivia.

Remarks. Two specimens ( TLW 198 and TLW 458) were barcoded and grouped together near M. semihyalina ( Fig. 488 ).

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 99–102. Left lateral and posterior views of epandrium, cerci and surstyli of Mesembrinellidae. 99–100. Mesembrinella anomala (Guimar„es). 101–102. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 183–192. Left lateral and dorsal views of phallus of Mesembrinella. 183–184. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 185–186. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 187–188. M. velasquezae sp. nov. 189–190. M. anomala (Guimar„es). 191–192. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 236–238. Male terminalia of Mesembrinella spp. (a = T6, STS7+8; b = pre- and postgonite; c = ejaculatory sclerite; d = ST6; e = hypandrium). 236. M. velasquezae sp. nov. 237. M. anomala (Guimar„es). 238. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 280–281. Male sternites of Mesembrinellidae. 280. Mesembrinella anomala (Guimar„es). 281. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 324–325. Female terminalia (T6–T8, epiproct, cerci) of Mesembrinellidae, dorsal view. 324. Mesembrinella anomala (Guimar„es). 325. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 350–369. ST6–8 and hypoproct of Mesembrinellidae. 350. M. bicolor (Fabricius). 351. M. brunnipes Surcouf. 352. M. bullata sp. nov. 353. M. chantryi sp. nov. 354. M. currani Guimar„es. 355. M. cyaneicincta (Surcouf). 356. M. flavicrura Aldrich. 357. M. longicercus sp. nov. 358. M. peregrina Aldrich. 359. M. pictipennis Aldrich. 360. M. quadrilineata (Fabricius). 361. M. randa (Walker). 362. M. semihyalina Mello. 363. M. serrata sp. nov. 364. M. socors (Walker). 365. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 366. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 367. M. velasquezae sp. nov. 368. M. anomala (Guimar„es). 369. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 401–410. Spermathecae of Mesembrinellidae. 401. Mesembrinella quadrilineata (Fabricius). 402. M. randa (Walker). 403. M. semihyalina Mello. 404. M. serrata sp. nov. 405. M. socors (Walker). 406. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 407. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 408. M. velasquezae sp. nov. 409. M. anomala (Guimar„es). 410. Souzalopesiella facialis (Aldrich).

FIGURES 439–453. Female sternites of Mesembrinella spp. 439. M. currani Guimar„es. 440. M. cyaneicincta (Surcouf). 441. M. flavicrura Aldrich. 442. M. longicercus sp. nov. 443. M. peregrina Aldrich. 444. M. pictipennis Aldrich. 445. M. quadrilineata (Fabricius). 446. M. randa (Walker). 447. M. semihyalina Mello. 448. M. serrata sp. nov. 449. M. socors (Walker). 450. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 451. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 452. M. velasquezae sp. nov. 453. M. anomala (Guimar„es).

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.