Prochyliza azteca McAlpine, 1977

Martín-Vega, Daniel, 2014, On the identity of Prochyliza nigrimana (Meigen) and Prochyliza nigricornis (Meigen) (Diptera: Piophilidae), with a synopsis of Prochyliza Walker and description of a new species, Zootaxa 3893 (2), pp. 277-292 : 283-284

Prochyliza azteca McAlpine, 1977

Prochyliza azteca McAlpine 1977: 45 . Type locality: México ( San Cristóbal de las Casas). Holotype (♀) and paratype (1 ♀) in CNC.

Material examined. 1 ♀ ( CNC, paratype): México, San Cristóbal de las Casas; 12.vi.1969; leg. B. V. Peterson; det. J. F. McAlpine. 1 ♀ ( CNC): Panamá, Chiriqui, Cerro Punta; 19.v.1977; det. J. F. McAlpine.

Diagnosis. The following combination of characters is distinctive of P. azteca : lower quarter or less of the frons orange ( Fig. 5 C); gena black; front coxa, mid and hind femora and mid and hind tibiae entirely yellow; margins and fringes of calypters white.

Remarks. According to McAlpine (1977), the two strictly Neotropical species of the genus, P. azteca and P. inca , were derived from the Holarctic fauna. McAlpine (1977) also suggested that P. i nc a would be the most closely related to P. azteca . However, the morphology of the male of P. az t e ca remains undescribed, so it is not possible to know if this species shares with P. inca the extremely distinctive two horn-like spines on the epandrium ( Fig. 5 D).

Biology. The larvae are necrophagous. Jirón & Cartín (1981) collected both adults and larvae on a dead dog during the dry season in a secondary forest of San José, Costa Rica, highlighting that P. a z t ec a was one of the most abundant insect species during most part of the decomposition process. The experiment of Jirón & Cartín (1981) was carried out in the campus of the University of Costa Rica, meaning that P. azteca may have developed synanthropic tendencies.

Distribution. Neotropical; described from southeastern México ( McAlpine 1977), it has been also recorded from Costa Rica ( Jirón & Cartín 1981) and Panamá ( Ozerov & Norrbom 2010).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Prochyliza nigricoxa (Melander & Spuler), Prochyliza brevicornis Melander, Prochyliza azteca McAlpine, Prochyliza inca McAlpine and Prochyliza lundbecki (Duda). (A) P. nigricoxa, male head, lateral view; (B) P. brevicornis, male head, laterofrontal view; (C) P. azteca, female head, lateraofrontal view; (D) P. i nc a, male epandrium, laterodorsal view, sp = spines on the epandrium; (E) P. lundbecki, male mid tibia, highlighting the posteroventral brush of yellowish hairs.