Heteromeringia czernyi KE, 1903

Lonsdale, Owen & Marshall, Stephen A., 2007, Revision of the New World Heteromeringia (Diptera: Clusiidae: Clusiodinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (1), pp. 37-80 : 54-56

Heteromeringia czernyi KE, 1903

( Figs 8 , 31-35 , 48 , 59 , Map 4 )

Heteromeringia czernyiczernyi KERTESZ, 1903: 568 . MELANDERELANDER & ARGO, 1924: 29.

Sobarocephala subfasciatasubfasciatasubfasciata S URRAN, 1939: 2 .

Description ( Figs 8 , 59 )

Male

Body length 2.8-3.9 mm. Bristles brown. Two dorsocentral bristles, but several specimens (including holotype) with minute bristle in front of anterior dorsocentral. Ocellar bristle relatively long and well-developed. Anterior genal bristle vibrissa-like. Arista short-plumose. Anepisternum with additional upcurved bristle in posterodorsal corner. Thorax dark brown. Coxae white. Legs mostly yellow; fore tarsi and tibia brown (Central American specimens with fore tibia usually yellow with base and tip occasionally light brown); mid tibia often light brown to brown; hind tibia usually brown (sometimes excluding base); base of fore femur white; tip of hind femur sometimes brown. Frons brown centrally with anterior margin (occasionally anterior half or more) orange; back of head and occiput dark brown; first flagellomere brown with basal margin yellow (occasionally only apical 1/3 brown); face, gena, parafacial and mouthparts white; dorsal half of gena silvery tomentose; remainder of head yellow; anterior half of frons pilose. Abdomen dark brown. Wing dusky on distal 1/3 (fading posteriorly) and with cloud proximal to anterior cross-vein (sometimes restricted to first radial cell or forming distinct median band). M 1+2 ratio 6.5-7.5. Nine males from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador with fore tibia and tarsi dark brown; two of these males (Naranjo, Costa Rica) with yellowish transverse stripe on scutum.

Male terminalia ( Figs 31-35 )

Annulus well-developed, if somewhat thin. Epandrium nearly as long as high, with width 1/5 greater than height. Surstylus small and subquadrate with short internal process; bristles sometimes forming “hand-shaped” scales on inner-distal margin of surstylus and internal process. Cerci small, entirely united and quadrate. Hypandrium + pregonite with thin medial extension (apically with stout, pointed bristle), and distal portion long and thin with one short, rounded subapical bristle. Phallapodeme stout and 2/5 length of hypandrium + pregonite. Basiphallus fused to distiphallus and with wide diamond-shaped posteroventral plate. Distiphallus relatively short (no more than three times length of hypandrium + pregonite) with loose apical fringe.

Female

As described for male except as follows: fore tibia and tip of fore femur dark brown (one female from Venezuela with fore tibia yellow); hind tibia sometimes light brown; gena and sides of face often variably dark brown; clypeus dark brown; frons often dark brown excluding lateral margins. Five females from Costa Rica with femora entirely yellow, three of which (Naranjo) also with antenna pale orange (tip brown), and face, gena, parafacial and mouthparts dark yellow. One female from Brazil with femora yellow and tibiae brown .

All Argentinean females, most Bolivian females and several Peruvian and Venezuelan females further differ as follows: tibiae dark brown (several specimens with mid tibia somewhat mottled with yellow or light brown); fore and hind femora with distal spot; lower half of gena and face light brown to orange (darkest in Argentinean specimens); frons dark brown excluding lateral margins (tinted with orange). Specimens from Trinidad and Tobago as above, but face, gena and basal 2/3 of mid tibia brown.

Female terminalia ( Fig. 48 )

Spermatheca as long as tergite 6 and untelescoped, basal section long and cylindrical, and apex wide with shallow inverted tip. Spermathecal duct short and thin. Ventral receptacle approximately 1/3 length of spermatheca, thin basally, wide and rounded distally (ie. wedge-shaped) and with long convoluted subterminal flagellum.

Distribution

Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Tobago, Trinidad, United States (FL), Venezuela ( Map 4 ).

Holotype (H H.. czernyiczernyiczernyi): PERU. Callanga (1 , HNHM).

Holotype (S S.. subfasciatasubfasciatasubfasciata ): PANAMA. Barro Colorado Isld. Canal Zone, 5.i.1929, C.H. Curran (1 , AMNH).

Paratype (S S.. subfasciatasubfasciatasubfasciata ): PANAMA. Barro Colorado Isld. Canal Zone, 13.ii.1929, C.H. Curran (1 , AMNH) .

Additional material examined: 285   253  [ BMNH, CBFC, CNCI, CASC, DEBU, EMUS, INBC, INPA, IZAV, NHRS, QCAZ, ROME, USNM, ZSMC].

Comments

The external genitalia of Heteromeringia czernyi are most similar to those of H. flavipes ( Figs 36- 38 ), but the distiphallus, in which both ribs end in separate fringes, resembles that of H. flavifrons ( Fig. 39 ). The phalli of H. quadriseta and H. medianamediana ( Figs 42 and 45 ) also end in fringes, but the ends of the ribs are fused; furthermore, the ribs of H. quadrisetaquadriseta are poorly defined and the phallus of H. mediana is interrupted medially, creating basal and distal sections.

Heteromeringia czernyiczernyi and H. fumipennis are the most commonly collected HeteromeringiaHeteromeringia in Central and South America. Heteromeringia czernyi is relatively easy to identify, being the only member of the H. czernyi species group with three fronto-orbitals, a brown thorax and brown fore tarsi. Heteromeringia fumipennis is significantly larger and darker, the wing is darkly clouded, all of the genal bristles are poorly developed and the male has an anepisternal disc.

Figures

Map 4: Distribution of Heteromeringia czernyi KERTESZ.

Fig. 8: Heteromeringia czernyi KERTESZ, left lateral with detail of anepisternum and arrow indicating diagnostic upturned bristle. Fig. 9: H. fumipennisfumipennis MELANDER & ARGO, anepisternum with arrow indicating diagnostic lateral disc.

Figs 31-33: Heteromeringia czernyi KERTESZ, external terminalia. 31 left lateral; 32 posterior; 33 right surstylus, left lateral.

Figs 34-35: Heteromeringia czernyi KERTESZ, internal genitalia, basiphallus shaded. 34 anterior; 35 left lateral. Ejaculatory apodeme omitted.

Figs 48-50: Female internal genitalia (spermathecae and ventral receptacle). 48 Heteromeringia czernyi KERTESZ; 49 H. flavifronsflavifrons HENNIG; 50 H. lateralis sp. n.

Figs 54-63: wings; 54: Heteromeringia fucata HENDEL, 1936, female; 55: H. nitida JOHNSON, 1913, female; 56: H. nervosanervosa sp. n., male; 57: H. fumipennis MELANDERMELANDER & ARGO, 1924, female; 58: H. decoradecora sp. n., female; 59: H. czernyi KERTESZ, 1903, female; 60: H. lateralislateralis sp. n., female; 61: H. flavifrons HENNIG, 1938, female; 62: H. quadriseta sp. n., male; 63: H. medianamediana sp. n., male.

Figs 36-38: Heteromeringia flavifrons HENNIG, genitalia. 36 internal, left lateral; 37 external, left lateral; 38 external, posterior. Phallapodeme missing from dissected specimen.

Figs 39-41: Heteromeringia flavipes ((WIL WILLISTON), genitalia. 39 external, left lateral; 40 right surstylus, dorsal; 41 internal genitalia, left lateral. Ejaculatory apodeme omitted.

Figs 42-44: Heteromeringia mediana sp. n., genitalia. 42 internal, left lateral; 43 external, left lateral; 44 external, posterior. Ejaculatory apodeme omitted.

Figs 45-47: Heteromeringia quadriseta sp. n., genitalia. 45 internal, left lateral; 46 external, left lateral; 47 external, posterior. Ejaculatory apodeme omitted.