Oxysarcodexia sp1

Carvalho-Filho, Fernando da Silva, Sousa, José Roberto Pereira de & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2017, A new species and new records of Oxysarcodexia Townsend (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) from Brazil, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 61 (4), pp. 349-353 : 350-352

Oxysarcodexia sp1 : Sousa et al., 2015: 6.

Description. Male. Body length = 6.7 mm. Head: Fronto-orbital and parafacial plates with golden pruinosity; post-ocular plates with silvery gray pruinosity; frontal vitta black, with row of 6 subequal frontal setae; front about 0.1x head width at level of ocellar triangle; inner vertical seta well-developed; outer vertical seta not differentiated; ocellar seta similar to uppermost frontals; reclinate fronto-orbital seta longer than frontals and proclinate absent; gena and postgena with golden pruinosity and black setae; antenna dark brown, first flagellomere with pale golden pruinosity and about 2x as long as pedicel, arista plumose on basal third; palpus black.

Thorax: Dark brown with gray pruinosity; chaetotaxy: acrosticals 0 + 1, dorsocentrals 2 + 4 (first two shoter), intra-alars 2 + 2, supraalars 2 + 3, postalars 2, postpronotals 3, notopleurals 4 (2 long primaries and 2 short subprimaries intercalated), katepisternals 3 (middle one short, inserted slightly below anterior one), postalar wall setose, scutellum with one preapical, no apical, two long laterals; prosternum setose in almost full extension.

Wings: Hyaline, tegula black, R 1 bare, R 4+5 setulose in proximal half, costal spine not differentiated.

Legs: Blackish brown, fore femur with rows of setae along dorsal, posterodorsal and posteroventral surfaces. All the other legs are missing.

Abdomen: Blackish with gray pruinosity; tergite 3 with one marginal lateral seta; tergite 4 with one pair of median marginals and 2 lateral marginal setae; sternites blackish, sternites 2 and 3 subsquare-shaped; sternite 4 trapezoid, with posterior concave margin, sternites 2 to 4 covered with long and slender setae and without differentiated marginal setae.

Terminalia: Sternite 5 with short base (wider than long) and widened arms without a lateral projection, inner lateral margin of arm distally covered with many scattered fine setae and with spine-like setae, with U-shaped cleft ( Fig. 4).

Cercus, in lateral view, elongated and narrowing toward apex ( Fig. 1). Dorsal margin of cercus at midlength with a depression followed by a grainy elevation ( Fig. 1). Cerci, in dorsal view, with prongs divergent and apex rounded ( Fig. 3). Cercal prong, in dorsal view, without setae or setulae ( Fig. 3). Surstylus elongated, as long as distiphallus, with serrate apex ( Fig. 1). Pregonite shorter than postgonite, deeply sinuous on ventral margin, distal third perpendicular to basal third ( Fig. 2). Postgonite elongated, curved, with two short spine-like setae on ventral margin, and a rounded apex ( Fig. 2). Phallus well sclerotized, with no division between basi- and distiphallus, and juxta widened in lateral view ( Fig. 6). Ventral margin of distiphallus bearing many hair-like setulae ( Figs. 5, 6). Phallus, in ventral view, with margin composed by plates covered with hair-like setulae and spines ( Fig.5). Lateral styli tubular ( Fig.5). Median stylus tubular and shorter than lateral styli ( Fig. 5). Vesica, in lateral view, slightly angled, with a pre-apical pointed projection ventrally and many tiny pointed projections dorsally ( Fig. 6).

Female. Unknown.

Discussion. Oxysarcodexia cocais sp. nov. differs from congener species in having surstylus very long and almost the same length as the cercus ( Fig. 1). All described species of Oxysarcodexia have a triangular or oblong surstylus ( Fig. 9 ), shorter than cercus. The shape of sternite 5 is very different as well. Most species of Oxysarcodexia have a sternite 5 with base (basal portion that ends in the cleft) usually longer than wide, a deep median cleft with almost parallel inner edges and arms narrowed and rounded apically with a small projection laterally and base (basal portion that ends in the cleft) usually longer than wide, as shown in Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker, 1849) ( Fig. 7 ). However, there are nine species ( Oxysarcodexia aura (Hall, 1937) ; Oxysarcodexia cyanea Lopes, 1975 ; Oxysarcodexia edwardsi Lopes, 1946 ; Oxysarcodexia galeata (Aldrich, 1916) ; Oxysarcodexia liliarum Souza & Buenaventura, 2016 ; Oxysarcodexia terminalis (Wiedemann, 1830) ; Oxysarcodexia varia (Walker, 1836) ; Oxysarcodexia xon (Dodge, 1968) ; and Oxysarcodexia zayasi Dodge, 1956 ) whose sternite 5 has a V-shaped cleft, arms broadened without the lateral projection, with a base wider than long ( Fig. 8 ). The sternite 5 of O. cocais sp. nov. ( Fig. 4) resembles that of these species in having the arm broadened and without a lateral projection, but the cleft is U-shaped rather than V-shaped.

Biology. The holotype was collected in a type of palm tree forest known locally as “mata de cocais”, which occurs sporadically both in the rainforest and in the cerrado (savanna-like vegetation) in the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. This type of forest is characterized mainly by the babassu palm ( Orbignya phalerata ) .

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL – Brazil (Maranhão).

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to “mata de cocais”, the predominant vegetation in the type locality. The specific epithet should be treated as a noun in apposition.

Material examined. Holotype male labeled as follows: “ Brasil, MA [Maranhão], Poção de Pedras / Pastagem-mata de cocais [pasture-palm forest]/ S04 ◦ 43 l 4.18 llO [W] 04 ◦ 55 l 05.08 ll /J. R. P. Sousa [collector]”; “Armadilha p. moscas [fly trap]/com pulmão bovino [bovine lung]/Armadilha 26 [trap 26]/Área 06 [site 06]”. Specimen without mid, hind legs and with detached terminalia cleared and stored in a plastic microvial with glycerin pinned under the specimen.

Figures

Figs.7–10. (7) Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker,1849),sternite 5 of male,ventral view.(8) Oxysarcodexia cyanea Lopes,1973, sternite 5 of male,ventral view (redrawn of Lopes, 1975c). Oxysarcodexia adunca Lopes, 1975, male terminalia. (9) Epandrium, surstylus and cercus, lateral view; (10) Phallus left lateral view, lateral view. Scale bars =3 mm. (Abbreviations:ar, arm; bs, base; cl, cleft; lp, lateral projection; ve, vesica.)