Cardiacephala angularis, Ferro & Marshall, 2018

Ferro, Gustavo Borges & Marshall, Stephen A., 2018, A revision of the Neotropical ant-like genus Cardiacephala Macquart, including Plocoscelus Enderlein syn. nov. (Diptera: Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 401-458 : 412-413

Cardiacephala angularis new species

( Figs. 9–11 )

Description (female only): Body length 7 mm, wing 4 mm. Palpus yellow. Clypeus yellow and shiny. First flagellomere brown. Fronto-orbital plates brown, shiny. Row of katepisternal setae brownish. Mid femur entirely yellow. Hind femur narrowly white basally. Fore tarsus dark brown with gold/whitish pubescence ventrally at base of tarsomere one. Oviscape yellow and shiny, darkened preapically.

Head: Palpus broadened basally and gradually tapering to apex. Clypeus short, length less than half of width. First flagellomere with golden microsetulae. Frontal vitta with a narrowed depression centrally, reaching ocellar triangle. Two frontal setae. Paracephalon swollen (extending beyond the vertex), conical and shiny. Vertex flattened. Inner vertical setae insertions flat, without tubercles. Black supracervical setae sparse, weak.

Thorax: Mesonotum golden pruinose with sparse and pale setulae. Scutellum upturned, triangular. Femora shiny and covered with sparse black microsetulae. Mid and hind tibia flattened, but sulcus on outer face weak. Wing with stigmatal and discal bands, apex clear with a dark and narrow preapical pigmentation. Crossvein r-m with small dark spot. R4+5 and M1+2 ending separately in the wing margin. A1+CuA2 as long as CuA2. Female cervical sclerite smooth, without swelling.

Abdomen: Tergites covered by brownish setulae. Single spermathecal duct apically broad, ending in a cylindrical spermatheca ( Fig. 11 ). Paired spermathecal duct uniformly thick, apically broad before splitting into stems. Paired spermathecal duct stems thin and smooth in basal third, followed by a rounded swelling and a striate duct that leads to spermathecae. Paired spermathecae cylindrical and striate, slightly tapered basally.

Type material: PERU. Madre de Dios, Manu Natl. Pk, Cocha Cachu Biol. Stn., 380 m, 11º55’ S 77º18’ W, Malaise trap, 2–6.IX.1986, D. C. Darling (1 ♀, DEBU 01086335, ROM, sequence MYCRO 262–16).

Distribution: Peru.

Etymology: The specific name of C. angularis refers to the acute angle formed by the paracephalon of this species.

Comments: C. angularis is distinctive for its completely yellow body and swollen conical paracephalon (pointing dorsally) in combination with a smooth epicephalon and striate spermathecae.

Figures

FIGURES 9–11. Cardiacephala angularis. 9, female, lateral view; 10, female, dorsal view; 11, female genitalia, ventral view.