Ceratophya panamensis (Curran, 1930)

Reemer, Menno, 2013, Taxonomic exploration of Neotropical Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) mimicking stingless bees, Zootaxa 3697 (1), pp. 1-88 : 20-22

Ceratophya panamensis (Curran, 1930)

Figs 42–47 , 56 .

Microdon panamensis Curran, 1930: 6 .

Studied type specimens. HOLOTYPE. PANAMA. Male. Label 1: " France Field, Canal Zone. 18.I.1929 "; label 2 (red): " Type Microdon panamensis Curran "; label 3: "Collector C.H. Curran". Coll. AMNH.

PARATYPE.—Female. Attached to same pin as male holotype, with which it has been collected 'in coitu' (Curran 1930).

Notes on type specimens. The male holotype and the female paratype are attached to the same pin. There is no question as to which of the specimens should be regarded as holotype, because Curran (1930) clearly designated the male as such. Unfortunately, the abdomen of the male is missing. Nonetheless, its genitalia are conserved in a microvial attached to the pin.

Adult male. Body size: 7-8.5 mm (Curran 1930).

Head. Face parallel-sided, occupying slightly less than 1/3 of head width in frontal view; sublaterally depressed, so medially slightly carinate; pale yellow, with brown median vitta from base of antenna to oral margin, where it is at its narrowest; entirely short yellow pilose. Face in profile straight, produced downward at anterior oral margin. Gena black. Frons black, short yellow pilose; vertex black, short yellow pilose. Occiput black. Eye bare. Antennal fossa about as wide as high. Antenna with scape brown, yellowish basally; pedicel and scape brown; antennal ratio approximately 5:1:8. Basoflagellomere parallel-sided, curled slightly upward in apical 1/4. Arista slender, about half the length of the basoflagellomere.

Thorax. Scutum black; short black pilose, except fasciae of pale pile, which are badly visible in type specimen. Curran (1930): 'golden hair forming three bands, the anterior one situated on the anterior margin, interrupted, the median one narrowest and entire, posterior band widest, situated on the posterior border, irregularly margined in front'. Postpronotum yellow, short yellow pilose. Postalar callus brown, short black pilose. Scutellum yellow, short yellow pilose, except short black pilose apicoventrally; deeply sulcate apicomedially; without calcars. Anterior and posterior part of anepisternum not differentiated; short yellow pilose except on ventral 1/3. Anepimeron entirely white pilose. Katepisternum white pilose dorsally and ventrally, these patches widely separated. Katatergum and anatergum microtrichose. Other pleurae bare. Calypter pale brown, halter yellow.

Wing: hyaline with brown veins; microtrichose, except bare on costal cells, on basal 1/4 of cell r1, on cell br except for traces of microtrichia around vena spuria , on most cell bm except antero-apically, on anterobasal 1/3 of cell cup.

Legs: Profemora and -tibiae reddish brown, with apical 1/3 of tibiae paler. Meso- and metafemora and -tibiae blackish brown. Femora very short blackish pilose; tibiae very short appressed golden pilose, most densely so on apical 1/3 of pro- and mesotibiae. Procoxae yellow and white pilose, other coxae brown and white pilose. Trochanters brown, short pale pilose.

Abdomen. Missing in type specimen. Curran (1930): 'Abdomen brownish black, with yellow markings. Second segment on either side with a large pale triangle which is continuous with a broad pale vitta on the third segment, the very broad apex of the third segment, except at the sides, yellowish, the base more or less yellow; fourth segment with the posterior border broadly yellow. Pile very short, golden yellow, on the fourth segment less abundant and more brassy. Second to fourth sternites brownish yellow with pale-yellow apices.' Genitalia as in fig. 56.

Female. Same as male, except the following differences. Face occupying slightly more than 1/3 of total head width in frontal view. Scutum and pleurae brownish. Postalar callus pale brown. Wing: veins yellow. Abdomen about 1.5 times wider than in male; tergites and sternites strongly overlapping and with posterior margins of tergite 3 and 4 appearing swollen; entirely yellow, except narrowly brown along lateral margins of tergites.

Diagnosis. Recognizable by the following combination of characters: scutellum deeply sulcate, male: tergite 3 blackish brown with posterior margin broadly yellow and with yellow lateral vittae (based on description of Curran 1930; in holotype the abdomen is missing), female: tergites yellow, only brownish along lateral margins.

The colouration of the abdomen appears to be strongly sexually dimorphic: mostly blackish in the male, mostly pale orange in the female.

Distribution. Only known from Panama.

Figures

FIGURES 42 – 54. 42 – 47. Ceratophya panamensis. 42. male holotype (above) & female paratype (photo: American Museum of Natural History); 43. female, head frontal; 44. female, head lateral; 45. male, wing; 46. male, scutellum; 47. male, hind tarsus. 48 – 54. Ceratophya scolopus male (holotype). 48. habitus dorsal; 49. habitus lateral; 50. abdomen posterodorsal; 51. head frontal; 52. wing; 53. scutellum; 54. apex of hind tibia with basitarsus, lateral.

FIGURES 55 – 62. 55 – 57. Ceratophya, male genitalia. 55. C. notata (holotype); 56. C. panamensis (holotype); 57. C. scolopus (holotype). 58 – 62. Hypselosyrphus amazonicus male (Peru, coll. RMNH). 58. habitus dorsal; 59. habitus lateral; 60. head frontal; 61. head lateral; 62. wing.