Quichuana simonetta, HULL, 1946: 5

Ricarte, Antonio, Marcos-García, M. Ángeles, Hancock, E. G. & Rotheray, Graham E., 2012, Revision of the New World genus Quichuana Knab, 1913 (Diptera: Syrphidae), including descriptions of 24 new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 166 (1), pp. 72-131 : 114

QUICHUANA SIMONETTA HULL, 1946: 5

According to Hull (1946), the type material of this species consists of three females, the holotype plus two paratypes, all of them from Huanoabamba (misspelled as ‘Huanoabama’ in the original description), Peru, 1500 m a.s.l. Hull (1946) states that one paratype and the holotype were returned to the VMNH, whereas the other paratype was retained by him. We studied images of the paratype retained by Hull, which is in the collection of the CNC.

Diagnostic features

Female

Hull (1946) provides a detailed description of this species, and illustrates the head in lateral and frontal views in figures 3 and 7, respectively. On the basis of the images examined: the face is shiny black with light-yellow hairs, and has a central and two lateral stripes outlined with white pollinosity (the lateral stripes do not reach the mouth edge); basoflagellomere is black, slightly concave ventrally, elongate; bf = 2.3 (in the original description is stated that ‘the third [antennal] segment is nearly two and a half times as long as wide’); medial pollinose stripes on the scutum are faintly visible (state uncertain because of the poor condition of the paratype examined); femora extensively black, except for the dark-red apex of the metafemur; basal half of the meso- and metatibia dark red; at least metabasotarsomere dark red dorsally; wings conspicuously dark-brown pigmented on most of the anterior half; terga I–III are nearly parallel sided, and tergum I has a moustache arrangement of golden yellow hairs.

Male

Unknown.

Material examined

Paratype: 1f, Quichuana simonetta Hull, Cotype simonetta Hull, Huanoabamba, C. Peru, 1500 m , Coll. Fassl, CNC Diptera 46338 (CNC). The specimen was examined on the basis of five images made by J. Skevington: dorsal overall view, two lateral overall views and two anterior views of the face.

Range

Peru.

Taxonomic notes

According to Hull (1946), Q. simonetta is a medium size species (11 mm) with ‘abdomen broader than usual in Quichuana ’. On the basis of the images examined, this is an exaggeration under the definitions of abdomen width used here (see ‘Material and methods’). Thus, Q. simonetta fits into the group of species with slender abdomens.

Hull (1946) states that Q. simonetta is similar to Q. knabi , but, in fact, it is more similar to Q. sylvicola . On the basis of similarities between Q. simonetta and Q. sylvicola , the former species could be a junior synonym of the latter species, which is also Peruvian. However, a lack of material, with only one specimen per species examined, and the following gross differences, prevent us from formally proposing this synonymy: wing with a conspicuously darkpigmented area in Q. simonetta , but almost hyaline in Q. sylvicola ; tergum IV extensively covered with light-yellow hairs in Q. simonetta , but with a large area covered with short, posteriorly directed, black hairs in Q. sylvicola .