Eumecosoma caerulum, Scarbrough & Perez-Gelabert, 2006

Scarbrough, Aubrey G. & Perez-Gelabert, Daniel E., 2006, A review of the asilid (Diptera) fauna from Hispaniola with six genera new to the island, fifteen new species, and checklist, Zootaxa 1381, pp. 1-91 : 42-43

Eumecosoma caerulum sp. nov.

( Table 1, Figs. 37–39)

Male. Body black with bright blue reflections. Measurements, body 5.7–5.9 mm; wing 4.9–5.0 mm. Head: Black, mostly black vestiture. Face narrow with parallel sides, width 1/5–1/6 as wide as head, dorsal 2/3 flat, scarcely visible in lateral view, yellowish tomentose with sparse, moderately long, black setae; lower 1/3 abruptly produced, visibly laterally, white tomentose with several long, black, seta-like bristles and numerous white setae. Palpus minute. Proboscis unusually short, about as long as flagellum, white setose ventrally. Flagellum ( Fig. 37) elongate, as long as pedicel and scape combined, oval, apex acute, with preapical spine; surface black, without obvious delineated sensory area; pedicel oval, wider and longer than scape. Frons and vertex brown or black tomentose, may appear brownish-yellow at some angles, wide median brownish-yellow tomentose line extending from ocellar tubercle posteriorly onto occiput. Ocellar tubercle with 2 long diverging bristles, length subequal to antennae. Occiput mostly brown or black tomentose with several short black postocular bristles and sparse black setae dorsally, margins narrowly grayish tomentose with whitish setae.

Thorax: Black, scutum bright blue, smooth, without punctations; wide anterior margin posteriorly to postpronotum and narrow lateral and posterior margins brown tomentose; vestiture black, setae abundant to transverse suture, sparse posteriorly, 4–5 dorsocentral 3 bristles laterally, both long, thin. Scutellum bright blue with scattered black setae, apical margin brown tomentose with sparse black setae and 2 long, thick black bristles; apical crease absent. Mediotergite and anatergite brown tomentose, latter with numerous black setae. Pleuron gray tomentose except anepisternum, anepimeron, and katatergite brown or brownish-gray; one anepisternal and 4–5 katatergal bristles, black. Halter dull yellow. Sclerotized metacoxa present.

Wing: Slightly brownish. Discal and m 3 cells slightly offset apically. Squama pale yellow, fringe sparse, white.

Legs: Shining black, apices of femora and base of tibiae narrowly yellowish-brown. Coxae gray tomentose, vestiture whitish. Bristles black, mostly unusually long and thin. Femora and tibiae with yellowish setae ventrally except sparse exceptionally long, black setae; hind femur and tibia ventrally and middle tibia lateroapically with abundant setae of uniform length. Tarsi black, bristles unusually long and black, setae brownish-yellow or yellow except white on apical 4 tarsomeres ventrally.

Abdomen: Sides parallel with segment 2 slightly wider than long and only slightly narrower than segment 5; only 7 tergites present. Black with blue reflections dorsally and minute punctuations, narrow apical margins of segments 2–4 grayish tomentose; vestiture pale, mostly short, yellowish, tergites 1–3 laterally and sternite 1 with 2–5 long bristles. Sternites thinly brownish-gray tomentose.

Terminalia ( Figs. 38–39): Black, rotated 180 o. Epandrium undivided, ventral. Aedeagus trifid apically. Gonocoxa elongate, pointed apically. Hypandrium dorsal.

Female. Measurements, body 6.5–7.5 mm; wing 6.5–7.5 mm. Face entirely yellowishgray with only black bristles. Proboscis slightly longer than flagellum. Eight abdominal tergites present. Bristles thin; tergite 8 with sparse black bristles. Terminalia not dissected.

Types. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Vega prov., PN Armando / Bermúdez km 1–3 along trail / W of Ciénaga 900–1100 m / 19 o 01.753'N, 70 o 54.654''W / 24 June 2005 N.E.Woodley (holotype ♂, USNM) . Paratypes, same data as holotype (1 ♂, 1 ♀, USNM) ; on way down from cloud forest / ~ 1,300 m, Los Bolos, Sierra de Neiba , Independencia prov. / 9.vii.2003, D.Perez, R. Bastardo, B.Hierro (day) (1 ♀, MHNH) .

Distribution. Captured at intermediate to high elevations (900–1300 m) during June and July in Independencia and La Vega provinces.

Etymology. Latin caerulum for blue, referring to the bright blue color of the scutum and scutellum.

Remarks. Eumecosoma caerulum , a member of the pleuriticum species group ( Fisher and Hespenheide 1992), is the first species of this genus reported in the West Indies. It runs to E. metallescens Schiner (1868) from Peru in Curran's (1930) key but is distinguished from congeners by the color of the facial tomentum in the female and male antenna ( Fig. 37) and terminalia ( Figs. 38–39).