Hemipenthes seminigra Loew

Ávalos-Hernández, Omar, 2009, A review of the North American species of Hemipenthes Loew, 1869 (Diptera: Bombyliidae), Zootaxa 2074, pp. 1-49 : 37-39

19. Hemipenthes seminigra Loew

(Figs 21, 69–70)

Hemipenthes seminigra Loew, 1869: 27 .

Anthrax eumenes Osten Sacken, 1886b: 115 (key); 1887: 131 (description). New synonymy. Villa (Hemipenthes) eumenes (Osten Sacken) : Painter & Painter, 1962: 102. Hemipenthes eumenes (Osten Sacken) : Hull, 1973: 385.

Holotype of Hemipenthes seminigra in MCZ. Lectotype of Anthrax eumenes designated by Painter & Painter (1962:102) in BMNH.

Diagnosis: Mesopleuron white or pale yellow pilose; sides of first, second and anterior half of third abdominal tergites with abundant white hair, abundant black mix with some yellow hairs on rest; cell r1 not entirely infuscated; cell r2+3 with basal half infuscated; cell dm infuscated at least on its basal third; cell a not entirely infuscated; cell r5 slightly narrowed at wing margin; first abdominal tergite with a band of white scales.

Description: Male. Body length: 8–12 mm; wing length: 9–11 mm. Head: Eyes separated by a little more than width of ocellar triangle. Front black pilose, black and yellow tomentose. Face brown, rounded, with black hairs and yellowish tomentum, a few black scales in middle and dorsal portion. Scape brown, swollen on inner apical margin, with long black hairs, twice as long as pedicel; pedicel black, twice as wide as long, with short black hairs in dorsal portion, bare in ventral portion; flagellomere brown, longer than scape and pedicel combined; base subconical, tapering to styliform apical two-thirds; stylus minute, terminal. Proboscis short, not projecting beyond oral margin. Palpi black with black hairs. Occiput with short black and yellowish hairs and yellowish scales.

Thorax: Mesonotum anterior margin pale yellow pilose; lateral margin entirely white pilose; tomentum on disc entirely yellowish, long, hairlike, not dense; bristles black. Mesopleuron black pilose in dorsal portion, yellowish hairs in ventral portion on proepisternum and anepisternum, katatergite with white hairs, tomentum on katepisternum pale yellow. Proepimeron with mixed black and yellowish hairs. Mid coxa with black hairs, tomentum on all coxae hairlike, pale yellow. Legs fulvous, tarsi brown, tibiae yellow tomentose, fore and mid femora with black scales on anterior surface and yellow scales on posterior surface, hind femur with yellow scales; bristles black. Halter steam brownish, knob yellow to white. Scutellum brown, black pilose, and yellowish tomentose, a spot of black tomentum in middle at base; bristles black. Black setulae on basicosta. Cells c, sc, br, and bm entirely infuscated (Fig. 21); cells cup and a entirely infuscated except tip; cell r1 with two basal thirds infuscated; cell dm with basal half infuscated; cells r2+3, r5 and cua1 with basal third infuscated; cell m2 infuscated just at base; color in cell a not reaching hind margin of wing; cell dm infuscated at r-m crossvein; r-m crossvein at or slightly beyond middle of cell dm; no crossvein between R4 and R2+3; cell r5 slightly narrowed at wing margin; first section of vein CuA1 twice the long of r-m crossvein, second section one and a half the long of r-m crossvein, third section one and a half the long of first two sections combined; cell a as wide as cell cup; alula well developed.

Abdomen: Abdominal dorsum black and white pilose on tergites one to four, rest black pilose; black tomentum overall except for a crossband of white tomentum on posterior margin of first tergite, some white or pale yellow scales scattered on lateral margin of abdomen, more abundant on sixth and seventh tergites; on well preserved specimens it is distinguishable a thin band of pale yellow scales on first, second and third and two spots of pale yellow scales at center of third and fourth tergites; sides of abdomen with first, second and basal half of third tergites whitish pilose, abundant black mix with some yellow hairs on rest. Venter black and white pilose, whitish tomentose. Genitalia brown with black hairs. Epandrium in lateral view, rectangular, lower margin concave in middle, basal corner narrowed; gonocoxite narrow, basal half enlarged; gonostylus small, hooked apically; epiphallus in lateral view narrow ( Fig. 69 ) slightly curved, cap-shaped, apex swollen, rounded; with a ventral extension broad at base with apex acuminate, portion of the epiphallus behind ventral extension longer than aedeagus; epiphallus in ventral view broad ( Fig. 70 ), lateral margins straight, with scattered spines in the middle and dense spines at apex; aedeagus broad at base narrowed at apex, not swollen dorsally; gonopore terminal.

Female. Nearly identical to male. Eyes separated by twice width of ocellar triangle.

Distribution: Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, Saskatchewan), Mexico (Sonora), USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming).

Specimens examined: Canada. Alberta: Cowley, 26-VI-1918, R.N. Chrystal (1 male genitalia; USNM). Quebec: Mt. St. Hilaire, June, G. Chagnon (1 male genitalia; USNM). USA. Arizona: State Mtn. Loop Rd. 20 mi NW Flagstaff Coconino Co., 18-VI-1964, Franclemont and Poole (1 female; USNM). Idaho: Craters of the Moon Nat. Mon., 19-VI-1965 (1 female; USNM). Moscow Mt., 5-VII-1919 (1 female; USNM), 8-VII-1919 (1 male genitalia; USNM), A. L. Melander; Moscow Mt., 9-VII-1911 (1 female; USNM). Utah: Dividend, VII-1911, Tom Spalding (1 male; USNM). Miners Peak Iron Co., 9-VII-1919 (1 male, 1 female; USNM), 2- VII-1919 (1 female; USNM); Maple Canyon San Pope Co., 24-VIII-1923, Shaler Aldous (1 male; USNM). Washington: Fields Spring St. Pk. 9-VI-1965, Roger D. Akre (2 females; USNM). Tellgate RS Blue Mt., 26- VIII-1922, V. N. Argo (1 female; USNM); Pullman, 11-VII-1912 (1 female; USNM). Wyoming: 10 mi SW Landers, 14-VI-1963, R. H. and E. M. Painter (3 males, 3 females; USNM); 12 mi W Landers, 3-VII-1966, R. H. and E. M. Painter (1 male, 1 female; USNM).

Remarks: Osten Sacken (1886b) separated H. seminigra from H. eumenes by the color of legs and the shape of cell r5, being yellow and not narrowed in H. eumenes . Osten Sacken did not examine any specimens of H. seminigra , instead he relied on the original description of Loew (1869) who describe H. seminigra as having black legs with white tomentum and the cell r5 narrowed. With respect to H. eumenes Osten Sacken (1886b) comments: “This is certainly not A. morioides Say, Compl. Wr. ii p. 58 (Missouri), because Say distinctly describes the aureoles on the cross-veins, nor can I recognize Hemipenthes seminigra Loew, Centur. vii no. 44 (Saskatchewan), in the present species; the description on the abdomen and of the legs (“pedes nigri” andc.) does not agree, nor the ‘cellula posteriori prima anguste aperta;’ the first posterior cell of A. eumenes , although coarctate after its expansion at the end of the discal cell, has a rather broad opening; Loew’s species is smaller.” Loew (1869) indicated the shape of cell r 5 in H. seminigra , which is narrowed, to distinguish it from H. morio . However, the exact shape of the cell is not accurately described by Loew and cannot be used to separate H. eumenes from H. seminigra . The specimens examined for this revision identified as H. eumenes and those identified as H. seminigra all have fulvous legs with mixed yellow and black tomentum, the cell r5 narrowed at wing margin and the genitalia are identical. With these evidence the synonymy between H. seminigra and H. eumenes is proposed.

Hemipenthes seminigra is similar to H. morioides and H. morio . Can be distinguished from H. morioides by the lack of aureoles in the wings and from the European specimens of H. morio by having the cell r5 narrowed at wing margin and the margin epiphallus straight in ventral view. But the specimens identified as H. morio from North America are identical to those from H. seminigra even in its genital characters. The epiphallus in lateral view of H. morio is strongly curved downward ( Fig. 77 ) while in H. seminigra is slightly curved ( Fig. 69 ); in ventral view epiphallus in H. morio is narrowed before apex ( Fig. 78 ) in H. seminigra epiphallus is straight in central view ( Fig. 70 ). H. morio has been considered to be Holarctic in distribution but the evidence shown here indicates that H. morio is in fact Palearctic; and the specimens determined as H. morio in North America are really specimens from H. seminigra . Hemipenthes seminigra has been collected in most of the USA and some parts of Canada and North of Mexico.

Figures

FIGURES 69 – 70. Hemipenthes seminigra male terminalia. 69, lateral view; 70, ventral view.

FIGURES 77 – 78. Hemipenthes morio male terminalia. 77, lateral view; 78, ventral view.