Ceratophya Wiedemann

Reemer, Menno & Stahls, Gunilla, 2013, Generic revision and species classification of the Microdontinae (Diptera, Syrphidae), ZooKeys 288, pp. 1-213 : 22

Ceratophya Wiedemann Figs 42-45

Ceratophya Wiedemann, 1824: 14. Type species Ceratophya notata Wiedemann, 1824: 14, by subsequent designation of Blanchard (1846: 145).

Ceratophyia Osten Sacken, 1858: 46. Misspelling.

Description.

Body length: 7-9 mm. Relatively small, black and yellow flies with long antennae and oval abdomen. Face in profile straight, with anterior oral margin somewhat produced ventrad; laterally depressed, therefore slightly carinate medially; somewhat wider than an eye. Lateral oral margins not produced. Vertex flat. Occiput narrow ventrally, slightly widened dorsally. Eye bare. Eyes in male not approaching each other, eye margins parallel; mutual distance much larger than width of antennal fossa. Antennal fossa about as high as wide. Antenna longer than distance between antennal fossa and anterior oral margin; basoflagellomere longer than scape; elongate, oval. Postpronotum pilose. Anepisternum with shallow sulcus; entirely short pilose, except bare on ventral 1/4. Anepimeron entirely pilose. Katepimeron weakly convex; bare. Scutellum semicircular or apicomedially sulcate; without calcars. Wing: vein R4+5 with posterior appendix; vein M1 perpendicular to vein R4+5 and vein M. Legs: hind tibia somewhat swollen; hind metatarsus enlarged, quadrate, sometimes with strong basoventral tooth. Abdomen with tergite 4 in lateral view more or less perpendicular to tergite 2. Tergites 3 and 4 not fused, able to articulate independently; in female with posterior margin of tergite 3 strongly overlapping tergite 4. Male genitalia: phallus strongly bent dorsally, furcate basally, with ejaculatory hood dorsally strongly elongate and thus forming a third process about equally long as two aedeagal processes; epandrium with ventrolateral ridges.

Diagnosis.

Tergites 3 and 4 not fused, strongly overlapping. Tergite 4 in lateral view more or less perpendicular to tergite 2. Basoflagellomere bare; longer than scape.

Discussion.

Cheng and Thompson (2008) point out the confused taxonomic history of Ceratophya . Unlike these authors, who consider the group as a subgroup of Microdon , it here treated as a separate genus. This is done because of the phylogenetic results of Reemer and Ståhls (in press) and because it does not agree with the diagnosis of Microdon as defined in the present paper.

Diversity and distribution.

Described species: 4. Description of one additional species from Argentina is in preparation by the first author. Known from Central and South America (Panama to northern Argentina ).