Syneches catarinae Smith

Soares, Matheus M. M., Freitas-Silva, Rafael A. P. & Ale-Rocha, Rosaly, 2021, Review of Brazilian species of Syneches Walker (Diptera, Hybotidae, Hybotinae), with description of ten new species, Zootaxa 5049 (1), pp. 1-84 : 23-26

Syneches catarinae Smith

( Figs 2C , 13A–E , 14A–E , 51 )

Syneches catarinae Smith, 1962: 215 , fig. 16; 1967: 9 (cat.); Yang et al., 2007 (cat.). Type locality: Nova Teutônia, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Diagnosis. Large size (6.0 mm) ( Fig. 13A ). Antenna brown, but postpedicel yellow to brown ( Fig. 13C ). Palpus and proboscis yellow ( Fig. 13C ). Prosternum fused to proepisternum; scutum rounded, as broad as mesopleuron in lateral view, covered with brown pruinescence, except by dorsocentral stripe and prescutellar disc with gray pruinescence (lateral view) ( Figs 13A, B ); scutellum with 17–18 marginal bristles. Fore tibia yellow; hind femur strongly swollen, yellow, with ring on mid-length and apex brown, bearing 1AV series of spiniform bristles inserted on short tubercles ( Fig. 13D ). Wing sub-hyaline, pale brown; pterostigma long, oval, brown, fading on apical third; second section of M 1 2 x longer than crossvein r-m ( Fig. 13E ).

Redescription. Holotype male. Body length: 6.0 mm; wing length: 4.6 mm. Head ( Fig. 13C ). Compound eyes with upper facets not enlarged. Ocellar triangle protuberant, covered with golden pruinescence; 2 pairs of ocellar bristles, anterior pair about 2 x longer than posterior pair. Face brown covered with gray pruinescence. Antenna brown, except postpedicel pale brown; postpedicel short, oval, about 1.5 x longer than wide, as long as preceding segments combined, covered with golden pruinescence, bearing 2 mediodorsal bristles (anterior longer, other shorter than postpedicel); antennal stylus pale brown, about 4 x longer than preceding segments combined, short pubescent, bare on apical 1/6. Proboscis, palpus and palpifer yellow; palpus short, about 1/3 proboscis length, covered with golden pruinescence, bearing 2 bristles as long as palpus (1 medioventral and 1 apical) and 5 shorter bristles (3V on basal half, 2D on apical half). Postcranium black, covered with gray pruinescence. Thorax ( Figs 13A, B ). Prosternum fused to proepisternum ( Fig. 2C ). Pronotum pale brown, covered with golden pruinescence. Scutum rounded, as broad as mesopleuron lateral view, brown except posterior margin of pprn lb and pal cal pale brown, scutum covered with brown pruinescence, except gray pruinescence on dorsocentral stripe, prescutellar disc, and apparently bare small triangular area on prescutellar disc in posterior view, but with evident gray pruinescence in dorsal view. Scutellum pale brown covered with golden pruinescence. Pleura brown. Mediotergite concolorous with scutum. Chaetotaxy: scutum with acr 8-serial, dc uniserial, bristles short and sparse; prescutellar disc with acr 4-serial and dc 3-serial, bristles long, posterior acr and dc bristle longer and curved apically; 2 npl long and strong, inserted distant from each other; 2 pal bristles (anterior one short and thin, posterior one long and strong, about 4 x longer than anterior bristle); scutellum with 18 marginal bristles (1 convergent apical pair, 1 long, strong, parallel subapical pair, about 2 x longer than apical pair, 1 long and strong lateral pair, slightly shorter than subapical pair, 6 lateral bristles about as long as apical scutellar bristle). Legs ( Figs 13A, D ). Fore femur slightly swollen on basal half, mid femur slender, hind femur strongly swollen. Legs with mid and hind coxae, apex of femora, ring at mid-length of hind femur, apical third of hind tibia and all tarsomeres 5 brown, otherwise yellow. Chaetotaxy: fore tibia with 1D series of long and sparse bristles; mid femur with 1AV and 1PV series of long and strong bristles, shortening toward femur apex; mid tibia with 2AD long bristles (1 on basal third and 1 subapical), 4AV long bristles on apical 2/3 (1 subapical stronger), 3PV long bristles (2 on basal half and 1 stronger subapical), 4D on apical 2/3; hind femur with 1AV series of spiniform bristles inserted on short tubercles, V spiniform bristles shorter on apical 2/3, 3AD stronger bristles on apical third; hind tibia with 2AD long (1 on apical half and 1 subapical), 1AV and 1PV strong subapical bristles. Wing ( Fig. 13E ). Sub-hyaline, pale brown; pterostigma long, oval, brown on basal two thirds, fading on apical third, about 4 x longer than wide, extended from apex of R 1 and not filling apex of cell r 1; R 2+3 slightly angulate near apex; cells br and bm equally long, both longer than cell cua; second section of M 1 2 x longer than crossvein r-m. Halter dark brown, except base of stem yellow. Abdomen ( Fig. 13A ). Long, about 2 x longer than thorax. Brown, except tergite 1 with anterior half pale brown and posterior half dark yellow. Abdomen covered with concolorous pruinescence, dorsal bristles short and brown, laterodorsal bristles long and yellow. Terminalia ( Figs 14A–C ) (compared with holotype, type-locality) with distal margin of hypandrium with deep mid-width concavity, forming two long lobes, each bearing 1 long apical bristle that reaches 2/3 of exposed part of phallus. Phallus strong, with rounded apex and lateral flaps long and strong, pointing to base of phallus, arising from middle of phallus. Postgonite long and slender, apex truncate and longer than exposed part of phallus. Dorsal connection of epandrial lamellae wide. Epandrial lamella wide in lateral view, narrowing apically, apex rounded.

Female. Similar to male, except npl with gray pruinescence and tergites 1–2 yellow. Terminalia ( Figs 14D, E ) with tergite 8 rectangular, about 2 x longer than wide, lateral bristles long on distal margin; sternite 8 long, about 3 x longer than wide, narrower and membranous on central portion of basal half, distal margins slightly concave bearing long bristles; cercus long and strong, as long as sternite 10.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂ ( NHMUK) labelled: “ Brasilien [ BRAZIL, Santa Catarina, Seara], Nova Teutônia, 21.xi.1937, Fritz Plaumann , 300–500 m ” “Hol. ♂ n° 1938-312” . Holotype condition: good, right wing between cover slides; not dissected. PARATYPES. Same data as holotype except, 20.xi.1937 (1 ♂, NHMUK) ; idem, 21.xi.1937 (1 ♀, NHMUK) .

Additional material examined. BRAZIL. Santa Catarina: xi.1970, Compared with the holotype, Syneches catarinae Smith, 1962 , Det. R. Ale-Rocha [green label] (2 ♂, INPA) ; idem, 27°11′S 52°23′W, 300–500 m, x.1960 (6 ♂, CNC) ; idem, xii.1962 (1 ♀, CNC) ; idem, 10.xi.1962 (1 ♀, CNC) ; idem, 22.xi.1962 (1 ♀, CNC) ; idem, x.1963 (1 ♀, CNC) ; idem, xi.1964 (1 ♂, CNC) ; idem, x.1970 (2 ♂, 1 ♀, MZUSP) ; idem, xi.1970 (8 ♂, 1 ♀, MZUSP; 6 ♀, INPA) ; idem, xi.1975, Cal. Acad. Sci. Coll. (11 ♂, 3 ♀, CAS) ; idem, x.1976 (26 ♂, 1 ♀, CAS) ; idem, x.1977 (21 ♂, CAS; 40 ♂, INPA) . Espírito Santo: Alfredo Chaves, Picadão , mata, 714 m, 20°27′53″S 40°42′35″W, 08–15.x.2007 , Malaise, M. Tavares & C. Azevedo e eq., col. (1 ♀, UFES) . São Paulo: Cd. Jardim, 20.ii.1943, Carrera col. (1 ♂, MZUSP) . Paraná: Curitiba , xii.1985, A. Yamamoto (2 ♂, MZUSP) ; Guarapuava, Est. Águas Sta. Clara , 24.xi.1986, Lev. Ent. PROFAUPAR, Malaise (1 ♀, DZUP) .

Distribution. Brazil (States of Espírito Santo *, Paraná *, Santa Catarina and São Paulo *) ( Fig. 51 ). Syneches catarinae is only known to occur in the Atlantic Forest biome.

Variation. The postpedicel may vary from yellow to brown. On the scutellum, the subapical bristles may vary from 1–2 pairs and the lateral bristles vary from 5–7 pairs. The fore coxa and all trochanters may be brown and the ring at mid-length on the hind femur may be longer and the color varies from pale to dark brown.Also, tergite 1 may be brown on the anterior half, instead of pale brown as in the holotype.

Remarks. Syneches catarinae , S. curvipes and S. walkeri are closely related species and possibly form a monophyletic group by sharing the large size and strong aspect, wide prosternum, dorsocentral stripe with gray pruinescence, scutellum with more than 16 bristles and hind femur strongly swollen with 1AV series of spiniform bristles inserted on short tubercles, besides the apical margin of the hypandrium with a deep mid-width concavity, forming two long lobes. However, S. catarinae may be differentiated from S. walkeri by the long and oval pterostigma, fading off apically, hind femur yellow with a wide ring at mid-length and apex brown and hind tibia brown on apical third. In S. walkeri , the pterostigma is short, quadrangular, the hind femur has a pale brown ring on apical third and the hind tibia is yellow with a brown ring at mid-length. Also, S. catarinae has the antennae brown with postpedicel varying from yellow to brown, palpus, proboscis and fore tibia yellow, apex of postgonite truncate, epandrial lamellae wide, narrowing abruptly towards apex (boot-like shape), but differing from S. curvipes , which has antennae, palpus and fore tibia brown to dark brown, apex of postgonite rounded and epandrial lamellae wide, slightly narrower on apical half. Moreover, S. atratus and S. rafaeli seem to be related to these species. Syneches atratus shares the strong aspect, the hind femur strongly swollen with 1AV row of spiniform setae inserted on short tubercles and the apical margin of the hypandrium has a deep mid-width concavity, forming two long lobes ( Soares & Ale-Rocha 2018, fig. 1), but it has a narrow prosternum and the scutum is homogenously covered with reddish brown pruinescence. Syneches rafaeli shares the wide prosternum and the dorsocentral stripe with gray pruinescence, but it has a medium-size length, without strong aspect and the hind femur weakly swollen.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Syneches Walker. Proepisternum and prosternum.A. Syneches fuscescens Bezzi, 1909 (male from Peru). Proepisternum short, prosternum isolated, not fused to proepisternum; B. Syneches striatus Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016 (male from Mato Grosso). Proepisternum long, prosternum isolated, not fused to proepisternum; C. Syneches catarinae Smith, 1962 (male from Santa Catarina). Prosternum fused to proepisternum. Abbreviations: cx 1—coxa 1; prepm—proepisternum; prst—prosternum.

FIGURE 13. Syneches catarinae Smith, 1962 (male from type-locality, compared with holotype). A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Thorax, lateral view; C. Head, lateral view; D. Hind leg, anterior view; E. Wing.

FIGURE 14. Syneches catarinae Smith, 1962. A–C. Male terminalia (specimen from type-locality, compared with holotype). A. Epandrium and hypandrium, phallus and postgonite darkened, ventral view; B. Epandrium with cerci, dorsal view; C. Left epandrial lamella with cercus, lateral view. D–E. Female terminalia (female from type-locality) in dorsal and ventral views respectively. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 51. Syneches Walker. Geographical records of S. amorimi sp. nov.; S. barrettoi sp. nov.; S. catarinae Smith, 1962 and S. digitatus sp. nov. in Brazil.