Amapeza hyaloptera (Hendel)

Marshall, Stephen A., 2022, Amapeza and Nigripeza, new genera of Neotropical micropezid flies (Diptera, Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae), Zootaxa 5092 (3), pp. 251-272 : 259

Amapeza hyaloptera (Hendel)

Figures 4A–4E

Rainieria hyaloptera Hendel 1936:66

Description: Size 8–11 mm. Colour: Thorax and head mostly orange, proepisternum with a longitudinal black band, katepisternum orange-brown and abdomen brown. Epicephalon shining orange to brown; ocellar plate small and black. Lower face and subantennal areas very pale. Clypeus shining dark brown, microsetulose. Fore femur uniformly pale brown, fore tibia dark brown, fore tarsomeres 1–4 white, tarsomere 5 usually pale brown. Hind femur pale brown with a weak preapical pale band. Wing with an indistinct discal band, barely distinguishable from surrounding membrane. Abdomen of female with pleuron generally slightly blackened, pale ventrally on segments 3–5 only. Oviscape reddish brown dorsally and orange laterally except for a preapical dark ring and an orange apex. Male abdomen with pleuron slightly darkened, more so anteriorly in area of pleural sac; epandrium and S8 paler brown than other sclerites.

Head: Frontal vitta parallel sided behind ocelli, slightly broadened and elevated before ocelli, weakly tapered anteriorly, anterior margin 0.4X frons width in females, 0.3X in males.

Thorax: Cervical sclerite evenly convex in both sexes. Proepisternum with a marginal row of about 12 black setae. Postpronotal lobe evenly convex, microsetulose, sparsely setulose on posterior half. Two distinct dorsocentral bristles. Suprahumeral bristles very small to absent. Anepisternum mostly bare, sparsely microsetulose in posterodorsal quarter only. Posterior row of katepisternal bristles dark brown to black.

Female abdomen: Major (paired) spermathecal duct extremely broad, with a constriction and a sphincter-like ring distally, with thin, convoluted stems running from ring to 2 long, funnel-shaped spermathecae each with a deep distal invagination. Minor duct much smaller and shorter, with a small, elongate, parallel-sided spermatheca.

Male abdomen: Genital fork with arms slightly shorter than base of fork, strongly incurved; mesal surfaces of arms densely packed with short spurs and long hairs. Distiphallus elongate, more than twice as long as epandrium, with distal distiphallus posterodorsally recurved and with apex expanded into a strongly spinulose, broadly cylindrical glans. Ejaculatory apodeme larger than epandrium.Type material: HOLOTYPE (♂, not seen): BRAZIL Para, Belem, 11–26 May, H. Zerny ( NHMW? see comments)

Material examined: BRAZIL. Amazonas, Campus Universitario , Shannon trap, 29.viii–05.viii.1988, 28.vii– 5.vii, 21–30.ix, 04–11.viii, 07–21.ix, 13.iii, Marcia Castilho, J. Elias Binda (7♀, INPA) ; Reserva Ducke , 21.ii.1978, 25.vii.1978, 14.viii.1969, 20.ix.1978, 7.iii.1968, Malaise traps A. Faustino, Jorge Arias, (3♀, 2♂, INPA) ; Rio Pret nr. Padanaque , rainforest sweep, 9.iv.1994, M. von Tschirnhaus, debu 00256969 (1♀, DEBU) ; Manaus, ZF –03, BR 174 , km 41, Res. 1501, 15–25.xi.1995, Rocha & Silva L.E.F. col., suspensa, 0061323 (1♀, INPA) . Para Tucurui, Bagagem, 06.viii.1980, eq. Nunes de Mello , 5614 (1♀, INPA) . FRENCH GUIANA: Moantagne des Chevaux. xi.2009, window trap, 90m. (5♀, 3♂, BMNH) . Roura Road D6, rainforest trail, 17–23.xi.2018, human dung, G. B. Ferro (1♀, DEBU) . Mitaraka , MIT-DZ, 306m, tropical moist forest, FIT, 6–10.iii.2015, J. Touroult and E. Poinier, Mitaraka /198 (1 ♀, NMHN) ; Mitaraka , MIT-E savane roche, 471m, open/partially open areas, 13–20.viii.2015, MT, P.H. Dalens, Mitaraka /230 (1 ♂, NMHN) ; GUYANA: Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, Surama , 4°9’N, 59°3’W 14–18.Jan.2013, J. Klymko (several specimens in 95% alcohol in freezer, DEBU) ; Reiva Lodge , 23.i.12, P. Careless (2♂, 4♀, DEBU, in alcohol) ; TRINIDAD. “ 3–4-1961 ”, N. Gopaul Coll. (1♂, USNM) .

Comments: Amapeza hyaloptera is externally similar to the closely related A. plicata , from which it can be distinguished by its smooth postpronotal lobe and by its distinctive male and female terminalia (see also comments under A. plicata ). Although A. hyaloptera differs from A. amazonica in several distinctive features (including the number of dorsocentral bristles), three of the above specimens bear labels " Grallipeza amazonica Enderlein det. L. Albuquerque". It is therefore possible that previous published records of A. amazonica from Brazil are this species. Several of the types were taken in Shannon traps or Malaise traps, and the species seems to be common in Amazonia.

Although the type specimen should presumably be in NHMW, I was not able to find it in 2002 when I made notes on the Micropezidae types there. The original description, however, leaves little doubt about the identity of this species, especially in the explicit mention of two dorsocentral bristles.

Figures

FIGURES 4A–4E. Amapeza hyaloptera (Hendel). A, male sternite 5 (genital fork); B, male terminalia; C, distal part of distiphallus; D, spermathecae and associated structures; E, living male, Brazil. Abbreviations: bdp—basal distiphallus, ddp— distal distiphallus, pb—phallic bulb, ps1 and ps2—paired spermathecae, ss, single spermathecal duct.