Mesoconius versicolorus ( Enderlein, 1922 ) Marshall, 2019

Marshall, Stephen A., 2019, A revision of the genus Mesoconius Enderlein (Diptera, Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), European Journal of Taxonomy 548, pp. 1-126 : 122-123

Mesoconius versicolorus ( Enderlein, 1922) comb. nov.

Fig. 40G

Tanypoda versicolora Enderlein, 1922: 203 .

Aristobata versicolora – Hennig 1935: 32 .

Zelatractodes versicolorus – Steyskal 1968: 20 .

Material examined

Holotype

COLOMBIA • ♀; Moritz leg.; MNBG.

Diagnosis

Based on unique female holotype.

LENGTH. 14 mm.

COLOUR. Head brown to black, fore tarsus white, thorax orange, except for mostly black pronotum and anterior margin of postpronotal lobe, hind femur with a broad white band just beyond middle, mid femur with a narrow white band, mid and hind femora with pale brown apices. Wing of type very dirty, but lightly pigmented and apparently with a weak discal band and a weakly pigmented apex. Abdomen dark, with pale margins.

HEAD. Epicephalon and paracephalon smooth and shiny, with no trace of striae. Frontal vitta parallelsided and depressed behind ocelli, oblong and only slightly raised anteriorly, not reaching anterior margin of frons. Postocellar and inner vertical bristles well developed. Upper fronto-orbital on epicephalon near level of upper ocelli, lower fronto-orbital inserted in microtrichose area below point of overlap between orbital plate and epicephalon.

THORAX. Scutum inconspicuously microtrichose; acrostichal setulae very small. Cervical sclerite oblong, with a small, depressed orange anterior portion and a larger, subquadrate, dark, microtrichose posterior part. Prosternum microtrichose, but without distinct setulae. Postpronotal lobe shiny, sparsely microtrichose and with a few black setulae along lower margin, anterior surface vertical and shiny along dorsal margin, posterior surface sloped and microtrichose. Dorsocentral bristle thin, subequal in length to scutellum. Scutellum with one pair of discal setulae and one pair of long, golden apical bristles (longer than scutellum). Vertical row of katepisternal bristles golden. Katatergite slightly swollen, without median process, evenly convex and microtrichose. All coxae with an anteroventral tuft of long golden setae.

ABDOMEN. Abdominal segment 1 petiolate, T1+2 2.2× as long as T3.

Remarks

I could find no information on the collector (Moritz) and therefore cannot suggest a more precise type locality than “ Colombia ”. The abdomen of the holotype is very shrivelled, but seems to have dark tergites with pale posterior margins. The very prominent frontal vitta, with a strongly convex area bearing the ocelli, is similar to that of M. oblitus , which has a dark thorax and different femoral banding. See also Remarks under M. scurrus .

Figures

Fig. 40. Mesoconius oblitus group species known only from original type specimens. A. Mesoconius afurcatus (Hennig, 1935), holotype, ♂, MLUH, Venezuela. B. M. braueri (Hennig, 1935), paratype, ♂, NHMW, Venezuela. C. M. cyclops (Hennig, 1935), holotype, ♂, SMTCk, Bolivia. D. M. filipes Enderlein, 1922, holotype, ♀, MNBG, Peru. E. Aristobata melini Frey, 1927 (junior synonym of M. filipes), syntype, ZMUH, Peru. F. M. rufiventris (Enderlein, 1922), holotype, ♀, MNBG, Colombia. G. M. versicolorus (Enderlein, 1922), holotype, ♀, MNBG, Colombia.