Coenosia ruficornis, Macquart, 1835

Pont, Adrian C., 2012, Muscoidea (Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae, Muscidae) described by P. J. M. Macquart (Insecta, Diptera), Zoosystema 34 (1), pp. 39-111 : 84

ruficornis Macquart, 1835 , Caenosia

Caenosia ruficornis Macquart, 1835:348 . Syntype (s) ♂ (♂), “du nord de la France ” ( France, Lille area), not in MNHN or MHNL, and presumed destroyed.

MATERIAL. — Described from an unspecified number of ♂♂. No syntypes have been located.

CURRENT IDENTITY. — Caenosia ruficornis has been treated as an unrecognized species of Coenosia Meigen, 1826 , by Bezzi & Stein (1907: 742) and Hennig (1962a: 619). In his description, Macquart notes that the antennae, face and anterior part of the frontal vitta are yellow, and that the abdomen has two pairs of dark spots; he also notes a resemblance to Coenosia decipiens Meigen, 1826 (now = Coenosia pedella (Fallén, 1825)) , which he described as having yellow legs. This combination of characters fits Coenosia litoralis (Zetterstedt, 1846) extremely well, and this is a species that occurs along the Atlantic coast of France as well as sporadically inland. The synonymy of Caenosia ruficornis Macquart, 1835 , and Coenosia litoralis (Zetterstedt, 1846) was recorded by Pont (1986b: 198).

I also considered whether Caenosia ruficornis might be the same as Coenosia mollicula (Fallén, 1825) , a common species that Macquart does not actually mention by name in his two works on the French Diptera . This too has postpedicel yellow. However, Macquart makes an initial division of his Caenosia into those species with haired arista and those with bare arista. Caenosia ruficornis is described in the section with bare arista, whilst Coenosia mollicula would be placed in the section with haired arista.