Eulonchus marialiciae Brimley, 1925

Borkent, Christopher J., Gillung, Jessica P. & Winterton, Shaun L., 2016, Jewelled spider flies of North America: a revision and phylogeny of Eulonchus Gerstaecker (Diptera, Acroceridae), ZooKeys 619, pp. 103-146 : 114-116

Taxon classification Animalia Diptera Acroceridae

Eulonchus marialiciae Brimley, 1925 Figs 6, 7, 16E, 17C, 18C, 19C

Eulonchus marialiciae Brimley, 1925: 77

References.

Brimley 1938: 335 (North Carolina); Sabrosky 1948: 388 (key ref.); Schlinger 1965: 404 (catalogue); Coyle 1971: 281 (host Antrodiaetus unicolor , distr.); Poole 1996: 36 (checklist); Adler et al. 1997: 190 (biology, abundance).

Common name.

Mary-Alice’s Emerald.

Diagnosis.

Antennal flagellum elongate, basally broad and flattened laterally; proboscis straight, relatively short (~half body length); ocellar tubercle trifurcate; legs yellow; calypter margin brown; body colour metallic green.

Redescription.

Body length: 9.9-12.0 mm, Wing length: 9.1-10.2 mm. Head. Flagellum dark brown, male flagellum laterally compressed and variable in amount of distal tapering, longer than head height (pendulous in pinned specimen); scape and pedicel light brown to yellow; clypeus elongate, extending beyond oral cavity, rounded with raised ridge dorsally, surface black-brown, glossy with sparse pubescence; labial palp brown or yellow, length not extending beyond proboscis at point of attachment; margin of oral cavity (parafacial) glabrous or pilose, admixed with pubescence; proboscis straight, shorter than thorax or reaching middle of abdomen; ocellar tubercle trifurcate with processes relatively short and subequal (posterolat eral processes often rounded), tubercle height shorter than width; median ocellus present; occiput metallic green-blue or blue, pile densely white or yellow. Thorax. Metallic green, blue or purple, setal pile yellow; coxae black with metallic blue and/or green sheen; femora yellow; tibiae dark yellow; tarsi dark yellow; calypter margin brown, membrane translucent, with suffused brown marginally; haltere stem dark brown, knob lighter brown. Abdomen. Metallic green or blue-violet, vestiture yellow, dominant setae erect. Male genitalia (Figs 17C, 18C, 19C). Epandrium ovate, thinned at the apex, with posterior margin straight; gonocoxite taller than wide, with broad fenestrae; aedeagus broad at the apex, bilobate in posterior view, not heavily sclerotized laterally.

Type material examined.

Holotype male, USNM, "Andrews Bald/ IVIT.5 700ft/ Swain Co N.C./ VI.26.23" [white]; "JC Crawford/ Coll" [white]; "Type No./ 55797/ U.S.N.M." [red]; " Eulonchus / marialiciae / TYPE Brimley" [pink]; specimen condition: poor, all legs missing except left front and right mid leg, right wing missing, abdomen and a leg glued to a paper triangle on pin. Body length: ~12.0, (this is an approximation due to the disarticulation of the specimen), wing length: 10.2 mm.

Other material examined.

Listed in Table 3 (Suppl. material 1).

Distribution

(Fig. 20). Nearctic: North Carolina: Great Smoky Mountains: Macon, Swain and Hayward Counties (USA).

Ecology.

Flowers visited: Rosaceae : Rubus canadensis L., Rubus sp. (Table 2).

Biology.

Host: Antrodiaetus unicolor ( Antrodiaetidae ) ( Schlinger 1987).

Comments.

Eulonchus marialiciae is the only disjunct species in the genus, with a relatively small distribution in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina (USA); all other species are found in contiguous distributions in the far western part of the continent. This species is the sister species to the north-western Eulonchus sapphirinus and both have characteristic bright green metallic colouration, short proboscis, yellow legs and similarities in the male genitalia shape. Eulonchus marialiciae has the shortest proboscis of any species in the genus, as well as a much more elongated and laterally compressed flagellum.