Coelopacidia cylindrica ( Walker, 1853 )

Ross, Andrew J., Hancock, David L., Mcalister, Erica & Zhou, Jiale, 2024, A fly in the ointment: the re-discovered holotype of ‘ Trypeta’ cylindrica Walker, 1853 belongs to the genus Coelopacidia Enderlein (Diptera: Tephritidae), not Chyliza Fallén (Psilidae), Zootaxa 5529 (3), pp. 593-600 : 595-597

Coelopacidia cylindrica ( Walker, 1853)

Figs 1 , 2

Trypeta cylindrica Walker, 1853: 380 , pl. 8, figs 6, 6a; ‘East Indies’.

Trypeta cylindrica Walker : Walker, 1856: 474.

Trypeta cylindrica Walker : Bezzi, 1913: 70; East India.

Coelopacidia cylindrica (Walker) : Hardy, 1977: 79, ‘N. comb.’; India.

Coelopacidia cylindrica (Walker) : Kapoor, 1993: 29, 90; East India; Pars.

Coelopacidia sp. : Hancock & Drew, 2005: 5; India.

Coelopacidia sp. : David et al., 2013: 456, figs 57–59; India.

Coelopacidia ‘undescribed species’ : Hancock, 2019: 221; India.

Holotype. NHMUK 013448450 , male, William Saunders Collection. Type locality. India, precise location not known.

Redescription

Male. Length from tip of head (excluding antennae) to tip of abdomen 10.2mm, wing length 9.4mm; head length 1.6mm (excluding antennae). Head with 2 pairs of frontal and 1 pair of orbital setae, all weak; ocellar setae very weak and hair-like; antennae about as long as face, first flagellomere fulvous, third flagellomere pale yellow, elongate and apically rounded; arista long, black and bare. Thorax largely reddish brown with postpronotal lobes and narrow postsutural lateral vittae yellow; anepisternal stripe broadly yellow and extending as a narrow dorsal stripe to postpronotal lobe; chaetotaxy with well developed postpronotal, anterior and posterior notopleural, supra-alar and postalar setae and moderately developed dorsocentral setae placed behind line of supra-alar setae; I anepisternal seta; scutellum red-brown with 2 pairs of setae, basal and apical. Wing largely hyaline with a very faint yellowish tinge; pterostigma yellow; r-m crossvein at apical third of cell dm; dm-cu crossvein with a narrow infuscation, broadest posteriorly; apical brown spot across vein R4+5 as broad as long in apical portion of cell r2+3. Legs yellow; fore femora with 2 short, black anterior spines in distal half; mid tibiae with 2 distinct apical spines. Abdomen elongate, reddish brown with darker staining.

Remarks

The Coelopacidia specimen, NHMUK 013448450, is very similar to Walker’s (1853) original description and Westwood’s figures of ‘ Trypeta ’ cylindrica in general habitus and particularly in that it possesses brown wing-tips. The specimen also has distinct pterostigmata on the wings, long, black setae on the thorax and head, and a long, curved arista on the antenna, which are clearly seen in Westwood’s figures. From this it is clear that this specimen is the correct holotype.

Although the number of specimens was not expressly stated, the precise nature of Walker’s original description and subsequent illustrations implied only a single specimen was available, here accepted as the ‘ Holotype by monotypy’ under Article 73.1.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN 1999). This specimen, a male, also bears a handwritten [original?] label that is largely indecipherable but appears to indicate ‘ Cape Camp’.

Bezzi (1913) suggested a relationship with Adrama Walker and his statement of ‘Type in London’ therefore indicates a reference to this specimen. Hardy’s (1959) redescription does not match the original description and illustrations, so he had misidentified the “type” (see below). Later, Hardy (1977) listed Coelopacidia cylindrica (Walker) as a new combination in the Tephritidae , so he had subsequently correctly identified the holotype but did not refer to it as such. Kapoor (1993) also listed Coelopacidia cylindrica in the Tephritidae , however he referred to both Hardy (1959) and Hardy (1977), effectively referring to both specimens. Hancock & Drew (2005), David et al. (2013, with figures) and Hancock (2019) referred to this specimen but they did not consider it was the holotype of a previously named species.

This species is very similar to C. vivax (Munro, 1932) from South Africa, differing only in the broader apical spot on the wing. The locality ‘ Cape Camp’ is ambiguous and the possibility remains that the type locality of ‘East Indies [ India]’ is erroneous and the specimen is actually from the Cape Province of South Africa, with C. vivax a potential synonym.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Westwood’s original figures of Trypeta cylindrica Walker, 1853. Right side of the head and dorsal view, from Walker (1853, plate 8).

FIGURE 2. The re-discovered holotype of Coelopacidia cylindrica (Walker, 1853), NHMUK 013448450. A, dorsal view; note the wings are not flat in this image. B, right side of the head. Scale bars 5mm for A and 1mm for B.