Ceratobarys Coquillett, 1898

Mlynarek, Julia J. & Wheeler, Terry A., 2018, Phylogeny and revised classification of the tribe Elachipterini (Diptera: Chloropidae), Zootaxa 4471 (1), pp. 1-36 : 16-18

Ceratobarys Coquillett, 1898

( Figs 22–26 )

Ceratobarys Coquillett, 1898: 45 . Type species Hippelates eulophus (original designation).

New combinations. Ceratobarys attenuata (Adams, 1908) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys cultrata (Wheeler & Forrest, 2002) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys flavida (Williston, 1896) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys melinifrons (Mlynarek & Wheeler, 2008) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys fucosa (Mlynarek & Wheeler, 2008) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys queposana (Mlynarek & Wheeler, 2008) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys rubida (Becker, 1912) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys sacculicornis (Enderlein, 1911) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ); Ceratobarys willistoni (Sabrosky, 1948) comb.n. ( Elachiptera ).

Diagnosis. Oscinellinae with a trapezoidal scutellum with 2 small tubercles, first flagellomere elongated dorsally, and thick arista.

Description. Chloropidae , Oscinellinae . Vertex rounded in lateral view ( Fig. 22 ); frontal triangle long, shining and bare; frons microtomentose; cephalic chaetotaxy: long peristomal bristles, cruciate postocellar bristles, cruciate short ocellar bristles, long outer vertical bristles, interfrontal setulae long and on or slightly inside inner margin of frontal triangle, orbital bristles reclinate, long, sometimes 2 slightly longer than the others; eye sparsely and microscopically pubescent; gena narrow, vibrissal angle rounded, indistinct; face flat, wide, carina absent; first flagellomere reniform, dorsal region elongate, higher than wide, arista longer than width of frons, and thick ( Fig. 23 ); proboscis and palpus short.

Scutum rectangular, longer than wide; thoracic chaetotaxy: 1 anterior, 1 posterior notopleurals, 1 postsutural supra-alar bristle, 1 dorsocentral bristle; scutellum flat dorsally, trapezoidal, usually wider than long ( Fig. 24 ); 1 pair apical scutellar bristles on small tubercles, 1 pair of lateral scutellar bristles; thoracic pleurites bare except for a row of setulae on katepisternum. Wing long, narrow, usually clear (patterned in C. fucosa ), second costal sector equal to or shorter than third costal sector, distance between crossvein r-m and dm-cu 2.5–3 times length of dm-cu, anal angle reduced, alula small, much longer than wide; veins pale or darkened; halter white. Legs long and slender; male femoral organ present as 1–3 rows of 3–5 tubercles; small, apical ventral spur on mid tibia; hind tibial spur present or absent, usually apical, length variable; tibial organ oval, sometimes very narrow, 0.25 to 0.3 times length of hind tibia.

Abdominal tergites setulose laterally and with sparse setae posteriorly, mostly microtomentose; sternites narrow, with sparse setae; male spiracles 3–5 in membrane near lateral margin of tergite.

Male postabdomen: pregenital sclerites narrow; spiracles 6 and 7 in membrane ventral to lateral margin of dorsal sclerite; epandrium rounded, usually higher than long in lateral view ( Fig. 26 ) and wider than high in posterior view ( Fig. 25 ); surstylus simple, very narrow; hypandrium closed posteriorly; pregonite fused with postgonite, weakly sclerotized; basiphallus elongate, weakly sclerotized; distiphallus short, membranous; phallapodeme simple; phallic guide sclerotized; cercus small, triangular, projecting posteroventrally.

Female terminalia not modified, cerci separate, cylindrical, setulose.

Geographic distribution. C eratobarys is restricted to the Neotropical region except for C. eulophus and C. willistoni from the southern Nearctic region.

Remarks. The genus was synonymized with Elachiptera by Wheeler & Forrest (2002) because the type and only included species ( C. eulophus ) was considered closely related to the other Neotropical Elachiptera with a yellow, trapezoidal scutellum. The only distinguishing character was the long hind tibial spur in Ceratobarys (small or absent in Elachiptera ). Although our analysis confirmed that C. eulophus is congeneric with those Neotropical species, it is not congeneric with the type species of Elachiptera . Thus, we have reinstated Ceratobarys as the valid name for this mostly Neotropical clade.

Figures

FIGURES 22–26. Ceratobarys eulophus. 22. Head: lateral. 23. Antenna; 24. Scutellum, dorsal; 25. Male genitalia, posterior; 26. Male genitalia, lateral. (Figs 25–26 reproduced with permission from Wheeler & Forrest, 2002). Abbreviations: cercercus; epd—epandrium; sur—surstylus. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.