Leptocera duplicata Richards, 1955

Buck, Matthias & Marshall, Stephen A., 2009, Revision of New World Leptocera Olivier (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae), Zootaxa 2039 (1), pp. 1-139 : 64-66

Leptocera duplicata Richards, 1955

( Figs. 17 , 117–123 , 146 )

Leptocera (Leptocera) duplicata Richards, 1955: 75 (holotype ♂, IESC, lost?).

Leptocera duplicata .— Roháček et al., 2001: 152 (World catalog).

Description. Body length 2.4–4.1 mm. A brown species, frons and inner surface of pedicel more or less reddish. Scutum with five dorsocentral bristles plus one enlarged hair in front of anterior bristle. Third dorsocentral bristle from behind slightly shifted forward: its socket in line with, or slightly behind line connecting sockets of presutural supra-alar and presutural intra-alar bristles. Wings fully developed, strongly infuscated, usually clouded around distal half of R 2+3 and around veins delimiting cell dm beyond level of r-m, less frequently and to a lesser degree also along R 4+5. Mid tibia ( Fig. 17 ) with bristle above distal dorsal bristle longer than corresponding bristle above distal anterodorsal, 0.3–0.6x as long as distal anterodorsal; dorsal posteroapical bristle short, ventral posteroapical not differentiated (as in Fig. 18 ).

Male terminalia ( Figs. 117–120 ): Sternite 5 with microtrichose posteromedial area of moderate size, hind margin lacking enlarged scales. Surstylus with anterior process of anterior section bearing a slightly darker anterior point; ventral lobe with slightly convex ventral margin, with long posterior bristle plus several short bristles. Posterior section of surstylus with two strong bristles close to apex, both with fine tips; posterior surface of surstylus with few bristles. Cercus with completely transparent, lamellate inner margin. Aedeagal complex as in Fig. 146 .

Female terminalia ( Figs. 121–123 ): Tergite 7 relatively short and hardly convex, only hind margin shining (no shining medial stripe); enlarged paramedian bristles weak and convergent, rarely cruciate. Hind margin of sternite 7 shining and paler than disc. Sternite 8 not emarginate on each side of posteromedial lobe. Tergite 10 + cerci relatively long, with few short hairs. Spermathecae elongate, dilated apical portion finely striate.

Type material. Holotype ♂ ( IESC, lost?): CHILE, Masatierra [= Robinson Crusoe I.], Plazoleta del Yunque, 200 m, 17.iii.1951, G. Kuschel . Paratypes: 1 ♂, same as holotype except 9.i.1952 ( BMNH, examined by S.A. Marshall in 1989) ; 1 ♀, Masatierra, Cerro Alto, 1.ii.1952 ( IESC) .

Other material examined. CHILE. Reg. Aconcagua : 136 ♂♂, 189 ♀♀, Juan Fernández Is. , Robinson Crusoe I., from the following localities: base of El Yunque , slopes of El Yunque , lower and upper El Yunque trail, Plazoleta del Yunque , above Plazoleta , Plazoleta trail, Damajuana, N and S side Mirador de Selkirk , quebrada on S side Mirador de Selkirk , Rabanal , Puerto Inglés , Puerto Francés, above Puerto Francés, various dates: 23–29.i.1992 and 31.xii.1992 – 12.i.1993, various habitats: open forest, fern forest, forest, wet areas, seep, creek, intermittent streambed, open eroded slope, various methods: pan, malaise and dung traps, sweeping, aspirated, Berlese, S.A. Marshall ( DEBU, IESC) ; 4 ♂♂, 15 ♀♀, same but N side El Yunque , 1–9.ii.1973, L.E. Peña ( CNCI) ; 4 ♀♀, same but 7.ii.1973, Barria & Cartagena ( CNCI) .

Distribution. Endemic to Robinson Crusoe I. (Juan Fernández Is., Chile).

Discussion. This is the only macropterous species of the L. cultellipennis clade. The only other Leptocera species from the Juan Fernández Is., the fully winged L. caenosa (probably introduced), is easily separated by the different mid tibia chaetotaxy, much shorter enlarged acrostichal bristles, presence of additional setulae on orbit behind level of upper orbital bristle, and longer arista pubescence. The male terminalia of L. duplicata are quite similar to L. cultellipennis and L. parallelipennis sp.n. The female terminalia are similar to L. cultellipennis in that tergite 10 + cerci are fairly large.

Figures

FIGURES 16–29. Leptocera mid tibiae and basitarsi. Mid tibia, dorsal: (16) L. neocurvinervis (Chile); (17) L. duplicata (Juan Fernández Is.). Apical half of mid tibia and basitarsus, posterior: (18) L. parallelipennis sp.n. (Juan Fernández Is.); (19) L. ellipsipennis (Juan Fernández Is.); (20) L. erythrocera (Honduras); (21) L. sphaerotheca sp.n. (Mexico); (22) L. plax sp.n. (Ecuador); (23) L. tapanti sp.n. (Costa Rica); (24) L. cymatonota sp.n. (Mexico); (25) L. parafinalis (Canada); (26) L. neofinalis sp.n. (Canada); (27) L. kanata sp.n. (Canada); (28) L. fontinalis (France); (29) L. nigra (South Africa). d ad—distal anterodorsal bristle, d d—distal dorsal bristle, d pa—dorsal posteroapical bristle, l ad—lowermost bristle of proximal anterodorsal series, l pd—lowermost bristle of proximal posterodorsal series, mv—midventral bristle, pa v—preapical ventral bristle, vb—ventrobasal bristle of basitarsus, v pa—ventral posteroapical bristle.

FIGURES 117–123. Leptocera duplicata (Juan Fernández Is.). Male terminalia (phallus and postgonites omitted): (117) lateral; (118) posterior; (119) ventral; (120) sternite 5. Female terminalia: (121) dorsal; (122) spermathecae; (123) ventral.

FIGURES 138–146. Postgonites and aedeagal complex of Leptocera caenosa group. Postgonites of (138) L. aequilimbata (Argentina), (139) L. argentinica sp.n. (Argentina), (140) L. neocurvinervis (Chile), (141) L. erratica sp.n. (South Africa), (142) L. sphaerotheca sp.n. (U.S.A.), (143) L. ellipsipennis (Juan Fernández Is.), (144) L. parallelipennis sp.n. (Juan Fernández Is.), (145) L. cultellipennis (Juan Fernández Is.). Aedeagal complex of (146) L. duplicata (Juan Fernández Is.). bp—basiphallus, dp—distiphallus, ea—ejaculatory apodeme, pa—phallapodeme, pg—postgonites.