Achradocera femoralis Becker, 1922

Quevedo, Lucas, Capellari, Renato S. & Lamas, Carlos José E., 2024, Taxonomic revision of Achradocera Becker (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), with description of two new species, Zootaxa 5519 (3), pp. 301-344 : 323-326

Achradocera femoralis Becker, 1922

( Figs 13 , 14 , 26 )

Achradocera femoralis Becker, 1922: 208 .

Type-locality: Colombia, Barranquilla. Lectotype male, MfN [see Remarks section].

Diagnosis (male). Postpedicel longer than arista-like stylus; lower postoccipital setae dense. Legs mostly yellow, except for FIII, dorsal surface of FI, and distal tarsi, which are all brown infuscated; leg I simple; TII bulged ventrally in the middle, with two ventral rows of setae along the swelling, then constricted from apical 1/3 to the apex, forming excavation; IIt 1 arched, with ring of setae at basal 1/3 and anteroventral tubercule within ring; FIII bulged on basal half and concave below, bearing cluster of strong, long setae near middle of anterior surface; IIIt 3–4 concave ventrally. Hypopygium small; surstylus subtriangular, tapered and bearing 1 apical and 1 strong subapical seta; postgonite enlarged and covered by small setae.

Redescription. Similar to A. angustifacies stat. rev., except as noted. Male. Body length: 2.68 mm. Wing: 2.24 mm long, 0.78 mm wide. Antenna. Postpedicel longer than arista-like stylus; FAr ratio, 1.35. Thorax. Bearing 10 ac and 5 dc pairs of setae. Wing. Lower calypter yellow with fan of about 6–7 brownish setae; CuAx ratio, 0.45; RMx ratio, 1.43. Leg I. 40, 35, 15, 7, 5, 4, 4. F bearing posterior row of about 4 setae at apical 1/4 apical; T with distinct apicoventral seta. Leg II. 45, 50, 23, 14, 6, 5, 4. F yellow, with anterior and posterior row of about 5 setae at apical 1/4; T bearing anterior seta on basal 1/4, and 4 setae apically (1 av, 1 pv, 1 ad and 1 pd); T ( Fig. 13E ) bulged ventrally in middle, with two ventral rows of setae along swelling, constricted at apical 1/3 to apex, forming excavation; t 1 ( Fig. 13E ) arched with small av tubercule on basal 1/5 with some spines apically, carrying ventral and posterior row of strong decreasing setae, with ad row making circlet of conspicuous setae. Leg III. 32, 35, 10, 6, 4, 3, 3. F with anterior and posterior row of about 3 setae at apical 1/5; bulged on basal half and concave below, bearing cluster of strong anterior setae near middle; T bearing 3 pd, 2 ad, and 3 apical setae (1 av, 1 ad and 1 pd); T yellow; IIIt 3–4 concave ventrally. Hypopygium. As in Fig. 14A–D , similar to that of A. angustifacies stat. rev.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Colombia and Curaçao ( Fig. 26 ).

Type material examined. LECTOTYPE [here designated] ♂, labelled: “ Columbia | Ujhelyi”, “ Baranquilla | 1912.III.”, “ Achradocera | Beck.” [handwritten], “ femoralis | Beck.” [handwritten], “Typus”, “ MFN URI | http:// coll.mfn- | berlin.de/u/ | 09c83f” [MfN, based on photo].

Additional material examined. Curaçao. 1♂, “ CURAÇAO | Savonet | 12 February 1987 | W. E. Steiner & | J. M. Swearingen ” [ SMNS] .

Remarks. According to Becker (1922), the types of A. femoralis were collected from Paraguay, Trinidad and Colombia and were housed at the Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM, Budapest), whose collection was set on fire during a bombing in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution ( Evenhuis 2006) and, as such, the types should be considered as lost. Nevertheless, a male specimen of Achradocera from Colombia, labeled as “typus” and with Becker’s handwritten label “ femoralis ”, was later found in the MfN holdings in Berlin. This male type in Berlin clearly does not fit Becker’s (1922) original description (stated as having unmodified legs), as the specimen has modified TI, FII, IIt 1, FIII and IIIt 3–4. It is not unexpected that specimens from distant localities such as Paraguay, Trinidad and Colombia were not conspecific. We assume that Becker probably overlooked salient differences among the specimens of his type series, as he did before with Chrysotus pictipes Becker (see Capellari & Almeida (2024)) and, in similar way, regarded as conspecific specimens from distant localities, such as Paraguay and Argentina with New York, U.S.A. (for Condylostylus erectus , see Bickel (2003)) and Paraguay with Georgia, U.S.A. (for Mesorhaga jucunda , see Bickel (2007)). Even though the remaining type does not fit Becker’s original description, it still is the name-bearer specimen of A. femoralis and we are herein designating it as the lectotype to ensure proper identification of the species.

It is worth mentioning that Becker’s original concept for this species (based on the 1922 description) was the same used by Robinson (1970) for a subsequent designation of a type-species for the genus. We see no need to shift the type species of the genus, despite the change in concept of A. femoralis (which was maintained as the type-species of Achradocera ). A concept similar to Becker’s A. femoralis is applied below to describe the new species A. gimli sp. nov. and the species may correspond to Becker’s specimens from Paraguay and Trinidad (HNHM, destroyed).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Achradocera femoralis. A. Habitus, left lateral. B. Head, frontal. C. Thorax, dorsal. D. Legs, left lateral. E. Legs, focused on TII excavation. Scale bar: A, 1 mm; B–E, 0.2 mm.

FIGURE 14. Achradocera femoralis, male genital structures. A. Hypopygium, left lateral. B. Hypopygium, ventral. C. Phallus, ejaculatory apodeme and postgonite, left lateral. D. Postgonite, ventral. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 26. Distribution map of the genus Achradocera.