Pales cyanea ( Macquart, 1839 )

Cerretti, Pierfilippo, 2005, Revision of the West Palaearctic species of the genus Pales Robineau­Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae), Zootaxa 885, pp. 1-36 : 16

Pales cyanea ( Macquart, 1839) ( Fig. 29 )

Eurigaster cyanea Macquart, 1839: 111 . Type locality: Canary Islands [ Spain].

Phorocera aeneiventris Bigot, 1891: 277 . Type locality: Tenerife [Canary Is., Spain].

Material examined. SPAIN — Canary Islands, Tenerife, Arona, 21.III.1984, Tschorsnig leg., 2 ΨΨ ( SMNS); 24.III.1984, Tschorsnig leg., 4 ɗɗ, 1 Ψ ( SMNS); ditto, 25.III.1984, Tschorsnig leg., 6 ɗɗ, 1 Ψ ( SMNS); Canary Islands, Tenerife, Ifonche, Roque Imoque, 24.IV.1996, Tschorsnig leg., 2 ɗɗ, 3 ΨΨ ( SMNS); Canary Islands, Tenerife, Cabo Blanco, Roque Higara, 1.V.1996, Tschorsnig leg., 1 Ψ ( SMNS); Canary Islands, La Gomera, 1992, ex Cosmophila erosa Hübner [= Anomis flava ], M. Leipnitz, 1 ɗ (with puparium) ( SMNS).

Diagnosis. Palpus yellow. Microtrichosity of head usually yellowish. Tibiae yellow. Abdomen metallic green with blue, green, red or violet reflections ( Fig. 29 ). Male terminalia: cerci broad in posterior view (as in Fig. 24 ). Puparium: posterior spiracles with 3 openings.

For a complete description see Mesnil (1951: 127 as Ctenophorocera ).

Distribution. Canary Islands ( Spain) (cf. Herting 1984; Herting & Dely­Draskovits 1993).

Hosts. Lepidoptera : Anomis flava (Fabricius) (Noctuidae) .

Remarks. Species easily distinguished by the bright metallic colouration of the thorax and abdomen. A similar, but even brighter colouration is found only in Pales splendens Mesnil, 1970 , endemic to Madagascar, which however has entirely white to yellowish legs (including coxae and trochanters). The range of variability of the morphometric ratios of the head falls within that of P. processioneae , with which it also shares the number of spiracular openings of the posterior spiracle of the 3rd instar larva and the shape of the cerci.

Figures

FIGURES 27 – 30. Abdomen of Pales spp. in dorsal view. 27. Pales latifrons Kugler Ψ (Israel). 28. Pales murina Mesnil ♂ (Iran). 29. Pales cyanea (Macquart) ♂ (Spain, Canary Isalands). 30. Pales marae sp. nov. paratype ♂ (Italy, Sardinia, Cagliari prov.).

FIGURES 20 – 26. Male terminalia, scale bar 0.5 mm. 20 – 23. Pales pavida (Meigen). 20. (Italy, Latium), cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 21. Cerci and right surstylus in right lateral view (Germany, Baden­Württemberg). 22. (Germany, Baden­Württemberg), cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 23. (Italy, Latium), epandrial complex in lateral view. 24 – 25. Pales processioneae (Ratzeburg) (Germany, Baden­Württemberg). 24. Cerci and surstyli in posterior view. 25. Epandrial complex in right lateral view. 26. Pales latifrons Kugler (Israel), cerci and surstyli in posterior view.