Mesembrinella semihyalina 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 : 131-132

Mesembrinella semihyalina Mello, 1967

( Figs 87–88 , 177–178 , 231 , 274 , 318 , 362 , 403 , 447 , 488 )

Mesembrinella semihyalina Mello, 1967: 73 . Holotype male (FIOC), not examined. Type locality: Parque Sooretama , Espirito Santo, Brazil.

Mesembrinella semihyalina: Toma & Carvalho (1995: 138) ; Kosmann et al. (2013: 78); Wolff (2013: 121); Marinho et al. (2017: tab. 1); Cerretti et al. (2017: tab. 2).

Diagnosis. A medium-sized fly averaging 12.2 mm (11–13/5) in length. Wing infuscated; supravibrissal setae brown; subcostal sclerite setose; wing with section IV 0.23 of section III; male phallus in dorsal view with weak serrations ( Fig. 178 ); legs entirely orange. Male frons about 0.06 of head width at narrowest; epandrium, cerci and surstyli as in Figs. 87–88 . Female T6 of WU shape ( Fig. 318 ).

Redescription. Male. Head. Frons 0.063 (0.06–0.07/3) of head width at narrowest. Fronto-orbital and parafacial pale silvery when viewed from above, pale orange when viewed from below; frontal setae ascending halfway to vertex; frontal vitta dark orange, obliterated midway; gena pale orange with horizontal row of few dark setae anteriorly, otherwise with small dark setae; postgena pale yellow with fine yellow setae; occiput with pale yellow tomentum and yellow setae; median occipital sclerite shiny black; antenna orange, first flagellomere with pale tomentum, arista dark orange; palpus typical; eye with median facets 3x size of lateral facets; ocellar triangle medium-sized, anterior ocellus 2x size of posterior ocelli; short row of tan supravibrissal setae on facial ridge ascending, about 1/6 of distance to antennal base.

Thorax. Dorsum with alternating dark brown areas with yellowish tomentose stripes; pleura dark orange with whitish tomentum; spiracles small, pale orange; chaetotaxy: ac variable, 2:1or 2:2, sometimes one or more setae missing, dc 2:3, ia 1, ph 1, ppn 3x 3, kat 1:1, meral setae typical, 1 pair of parallel ap, sa and lat absent, 1 bas, 1 weak pb, 1 disc; subscutellum moderately developed; spiracles medium-sized, pale yellow; legs entirely orange. Wing faintly infuscated along distal 2/3 of costa through R 2+3 and along veins; basicosta and tegula pale orange; section IV 0.23 of section III; upper calypter with pale disc and dark rim with reddish setae; lower calypter with pale disc and rim, rim with long pale setae.

Abdomen. T1+2 dark orange; T3–T5 shiny blue with patchy white tomentum; rear margins of T4–5 with stout setae; disc of T5 with dense, medium-long, fine setae only. Terminalia in lateral view with surstylus broad, with gradual backward curve, cercus with apical hook ( Fig. 87 ); in posterior view, base of cerci broad, relatively short and stout, narrowing apically to chisel-like tip ( Fig. 88 ); phallus in lateral view with epiphallus short and stout with slight backward curve ( Fig. 177 ); in dorsal view, hypophallic lobes slightly rounded with shallow, moderate serrations ( Fig. 178 ). T6, STS7+8, pre- and postgonite, ejaculatory sclerite and ST6 as in Fig. 231 ; ST2–5 as in Fig. 274 .

Female. Similar to male except frons 0.248 (0.23–0.26/5) of head width at narrowest. T6 of WU shape; T7 continuous; T8 narrowed midway; epiproct divided midway ( Fig. 318 ); ST6–8 and hypoproct as in Fig. 362 ; spermathecae filiform ( Fig. 403 ); ST1–5 as in Fig. 447 .

Type material examined. PARATYPE: Brazil, Distrito Federal. 1 ♂, Parque Sooretama (Cupido), E. Santo, L. Travis, H. Travis, II/III-948 ( CNC) .

Additional material examined. Brazil, Alagoas. 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW392 ) , Murici , 26–30.vii.2012, S.S. Nihei, P.G. Dias, D.M. Alcantara, C.S. Costa ( NHMUK) ; 1 ♂♦, same data except ( TLW392 ) ( NHMUK) . São Paulo. 1 ♂*, 11.ii.1923, L.G. Saunders ( NHMUK) . Rio de Janeiro. 1 ♂*, Angra dos Reis, E. de Rio ( CNC) ; 1 ♀, Angra do Reis , 29.v.1972, H.S. Lopes ( CNC) . Rondônia. 1 ♀ *, 3 ♀♀, Caucalândia, 10°32ʹS 62°48ʹW, 21.x.1991, 1 ♀ ♦ ( TLW432 ) , J. McDonald ( MEM) ; 1 ♀ *, 62 km, SW Ariquemes nr Fzda. Rancho Grande , 6–15.xii.1990, D.A. Rider, J.E. Eger ( FSCA) .

Distribution. Brazil.

Remarks. Bonatto (2001) argued that this species is a synonym of M. abaca [here considered a synonym of M. socors ], but M. semihyalina has a distinct, dark infuscation in cells r 1 and r 2+3, while M. socors has, at most, a faint yellowing in the r 1 cell along the costa. The known range of M. semihyalina is Brazil, whereas M. socors is known only from Central America. Two specimens of M. semihyalina ( TLW 392 and TLW 432) were barcoded; they clustered together, close to M. anomala and distant from M. socors (genetic distance 12%) ( Fig. 488 ), supporting the morphological differentiation between these two species.

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 87–92. Left lateral and posterior views of epandrium, cerci and surstyli of Mesembrinella spp. 87–88. M. semihyalina Mello. 89–90. M. serrata sp. nov. 91–92. M. socors (Walker).

FIGURES 173–182. Left lateral and dorsal views of phallus of Mesembrinella spp. 173–174. M. quadrilineata (Fabricius). 175–176. M. randa (Walker). 177–178. M. semihyalina Mello. 179–180. M. serrata sp. nov. 181–182. M. socors (Walker).

FIGURES 229–235. Male terminalia of Mesembrinella spp. (a = T6, STS7+8; b = pre- and postgonite; c = ejaculatory sclerite; d = ST6; e = hypandrium). 229. M. quadrilineata (Fabricius). 230. M. randa (Walker). 231. M. semihyalina Mello. 232. M. serrata sp. nov. 233. M. socors (Walker). 234. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 235. M. umbrosa Aldrich.

FIGURES 266–279. Male sternites of Mesembrinella spp. 266. M. currani Guimar„es. 267. M. cyaneicincta (Surcouf). 268. M. flavicrura Aldrich. 269. M. longicercus sp. nov. 270. M. peregrina Aldrich. 271. M. pictipennis Aldrich (ST5 only). 272. M. quadrilineata (Fabricius). 273. M. randa (Walker). 274. M. semihyalina Mello. 275. M. serrata sp. nov. 276. M. socors (Walker). 277. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 278. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 279. M. velasquezae sp. nov.

FIGURES 318–323. Female terminalia (T6–T8, epiproct, cerci) of Mesembrinella spp., dorsal view. 318. M. semihyalina Mello. 319. M. serrata sp. nov. 320. M. socors (Walker). 321. M. townsendi Guimar„es. 322. M. umbrosa Aldrich. 323. M. velasquezae sp. nov.

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).