Copestylum louisae, Rotheray & Hancock & Marcos-García, 2007

Rotheray, G. E., Hancock, E. G. & Marcos-García, M. A., 2007, Neotropical Copestylum (Diptera, Syrphidae) breeding in bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) including 22 new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150 (2), pp. 267-317 : 285-292

011. COPESTYLUM LOUISAE SP. NOV.

HANCOCK & ROTHERAY

Diagnosis – male holotype: Face uniform yellow, mostly black haired, upper part of face dusted, sides of face coated in whitish pruinosity leaving a cleared vitta from base of antennae to mouth (view from front), genae also pruniose (oblique view) ( Fig. 16 ); eyes with yellow hairs reaching lower margin; mesonotum metallic greenish-blue with short yellow and long black hairs (side view), when viewed from behind, these hairs form a complex reflective pattern of yellow and dark blotches and vittae; posterior margin of mesonotum with a row of six black bristles; anepisternum with two black bristles, otherwise coated in yellow and black hairs and lightly dusted; scutellum hypandrium, ventral view; 40. surstylus, ventral view.

yellow with mixed length black hairs and without preapical depression; wings without brown maculae and coated with extensive microtrichia; cell R1 open; abdomen dark brown with white hairs in first and second tergites, and black haired posteriorly; sternites dark yellow; genitalia – surstylus rectangular-shaped with tapered apex; epandrium with projection at point of articulation with hypandrium; hypandrium with windows and superior lobes, and aedeagus spatulate in lateral view, and apically expanded in ventral view ( Figs 59, 60, 61 ); postanal plate bearing well-defined pair of crescentic sclerotized regions; female – abdominal hairs reclined backwards (upright in male); frons dark yellowish with lateral furrows coated with white pruinosity; width of vertex about 12% of width of head. Length: body, 8.50–9.00 mm; wing, 8.80–10.00 mm (N = 5).

Diagnosis – larva and puparium ( Fig. 86 ): Subcylindrical in cross-section; basal projection bearing antennomaxillary organs smooth; dorsal lip with tuft of setae; lateral lips with spicules basally and long, fine setae apically, not meeting apically; feeding channel (furrow between lateral lips) deep and conspicuous because of large size of lateral lips; thorax broad, wider than abdomen; anterior fold with a band of between seven and nine rows of brown spicules, spicules shortening posteriorly and not reaching sensilla on prothorax; anterior spiracles short, about as long as wide, with six openings across the apex; vestiture of fine, long setae ( Fig. 91 ) coating dorsum and lateral margins of the body, and forming microspicules on the ventral surface; vestiture of prothorax short with long setae intermingled at posterior margin; margins of mesothorax and metathorax without spicules; segmental sensilla on long projections, longer then vestiture, with beween one and eight long, thick, often dark coloured, apical setae and pale, shorter setae at base of projection, apical setae almost as long as transverse folds across the dorsum; mesothoracic prolegs spherical in shape and well developed, with five rows of black-tipped crochets, eight primary crochets central, not so clustered at inner margin of proleg; prolegs on abdominal segments 1–6 spherical, well developed with five curved rows of black-tipped crochets ( Fig. 86 ); sensilla 5–8 of abdominal segments 5–7, and sensilla 9 of anal segment, on conspicuously elongate, more so than on segments 1–4, parallel sided, fleshy projections; projections with inconspicuous, fine setae; anal segment extended up to more than 1.5 times as long as the sixth abdominal segment; lappet 1 on dorso-lateral margin of anal segment and much shorter than lappet 2, less then half as long; lappets 2 and 3 on dorso-ventral margin; lappets parallel sided with fine setae; posterior breathing tube long ( Fig. 102 ), about twice width of prothorax, parallel sided, yellow and dark orange to black above indistinct transverse ridge; numerous short spiracular openings arranged round the cuticular scars ( Fig. 106 ); pupal spiracles short, about as long as wide apart, yellow, nodulate basally with openings clustered about widened apex ( Fig. 110 ); head skeleton – ventral cornu less than ten times as long as dorsal cornu; dorsal cornu more than half as wide as ventral cornu; dorsal bridge present; sclerotized tentorial bars narrow apically beyond ventral bridge; mandibles and mandibular apodeme as narrow as tentorial bars or narrower.

Material examined – holotype: Male with puparium, British West Indies , Trinidad, Northern Range, Cumaca, 28 July 1998, ex water tank of bromeliad ( Bromeliaceae ), EGH ( NMS) .

Material examined – paratypes: One male and four females, as follows: one male and three females with puparia, same data as holotype (NMS); one female with puparium, British West Indies, Trinidad, Northern Range, Simla, 7 July 1996, ex water tank of Gravisia sp. (Bromeliaceae) , EGH (HM).

Material examined – additional material: One larva, British West Indies , Trinidad, Northern Range, Lopinot, 6 July 1998, ex water tank of bromeliad, EGH & GER ( NMS) .

Etymology: The name ‘ louisae’ is descriptive of the name of one of my daughters (EGH).

Taxonomic notes: On adult characters, C. louisae is most similar to Copestylum cordiae (Townsend, 1897) among a large group of species including Copestylum macquarti (Curran, 1926) , Copestylum procteri (Curran, 1939) , Copestylum rafaelaneum (Townsend, 1897) , Copestylum verdigaster (Hull, 1943) , and Copestylum viridigaster (Hull, 1943) . All these species share a general appearance, which includes: pointed to squarish, dusted, pruniose, either yellow or black faces, hairy eyes, iridescent and reflective thoracic pile, and a more or less elongate abdomen with large, either yellow or white, paired markings on tergite 2, and sometimes on tergite 3. C. louisae differs from C. cordiae in having clearer wings, which are yellow infusicated in C. cordiae , and a more yellow abdomen. The early stages of C. louisae are distinct among those considered here in having spherically shaped prolegs on abdominal segments 1–6, with black crochets arranged in five curved rows. Spherical not transverse prolegs on segments 1–6 distinguish this species from puyarum , which it otherwise resembles.

Biology: Reared from water tanks of Gravisia sp. and other bromeliads ( Bromeliaceae ). It is only known from Trinidad.

012. COPESTYLUM OTONGAENSIS SP. NOV.

ROTHERAY & HANCOCK

Diagnosis – male holotype: Face scarcely extended, with gena almost at right angles to the occiput, upper half of the face black and white dusted, lower part yellowish with medial vitta from mouthedge to tubercle, and gena black ( Fig. 17 ); eye hairs black at top of head and orange elsewhere; antenna dark; very long labella; mesonotum mainly black (only the postpronotum and postalar callus are yellowish), with complex pattern of groups and stripes of long, black, reclined hairs, and shorter grey hairs; scutellum black and black haired; wings extensively microtrichose and costal margin darkened, R1 open; legs entirely black and densely black haired; abdomen matt black with grey hairs on tergites 1 and 2, and extreme margins of tergites 3 and 4, otherwise hairs black on other tergites; sternites with shorter grey hairs and much longer yellowish hairs; genitalia – surstyli square-shaped, about as broad basally as tall with tapered apex; hypandrium broad in ventral view; superior lobes delicate with spinose ventral edge, aedeagus elongate and tube-like ( Figs 62, 63, 64 ); female – similar to holotype male except eye hairs all orange; hairs on frons black posteriorly reclined; width of vertex about 16.5% width of head. Length: body, 9.50–10.80 mm; wing, 9.50–10.50 mm (N = 7).

Diagnosis – larva and puparium: Larva dorso-ventrally flattened ( Fig. 82 ); projections bearing antennomaxillary processes elongate, and joined medially by a lightly sclerotized plate; dorsal lip flat, smooth, and not projecting over the mouth; lateral lips coated in fine setae and touching medially; anterior margin of prothorax highly modified, and deeply bissected to form a pair of long, fleshy, tapering processes bearing sensilla, and coated apically, dorsally, and on the inner margin in setae ( Fig. 83 ); these processes overlying the mouth and the anterior fold; anterior fold coated with transluscent microspicules; lateral margin of mesothorax with two pairs of anteriorly projecting lobes; larger, ventral lobe bearing sensilla 4 and 5 projecting forward each side of the prothorax with a short, out-curved, tapering, apical projection; the smaller dorsal lobe above coated in setae and overlying base of larger, ventral lobe and dorsolateral margin of the prothorax, the anterior spiracles are present but hidden within the space so formed; vestiture – dorsum of abdominal segments 1–6 with three equally wide, transverse bands of backwardly directed microspicules, posterior row of spicules larger than other rows in all three bands, and bands tapering and not reaching lateral margins; integument smooth and clear between these bands; bands absent on abdominal segment 7 and anal segment, but dorso-lateral margins of these segments with numerous groups of larger spicules; dorsum of mesothorax and metathorax smooth and clear of vestiture; lateral margins of metathorax and abdominal segments 1–7 from sensilla 3 on the dorsum almost to sensilla 7/8 on the ventral surface coated with dark, blotch-like papillae, and with a narrow band of spicules and setae about sensilla 5 and 6; lateral margin of metathorax with one lobelike extension bearing sensilla 5 and 6, these lobes, plus an additional smaller, anterior lobe without sensilla, continuing on abdominal segments 1–7 so that the larva appears to have a marginal band; margin of anal segment with spicules; lappet 1 reduced to sensilla and setae; lappets 2 and 3 on margin of segment and apex with hook-like projections; mesothoracic prolegs small with up to 12 crochets; prolegs on abdominal segments 1–4 only, absent on segments 5 and 6, small and inconspicuous with up to five each of primary and secondary crochets; ventral surface of metathorax and abdominal segments 1–6 with almost continuous coating of rows of microspicules, except for intersegmental boundaries; ventral surface of abdominal segment 7 smooth, lacking spicules; ventral surface of anal segment with medial groups of larger spicules; posterior breathing tube dorso-ventrally flattened ( Fig. 100 ), orange, corrugated at base, smooth and shiny above; numerous, short spiracular openings round the margin of the spiracular plates ( Fig. 104 ); pupal spiracles yellow and elongate, being longer than the distance apart, slightly curved with spiracular openings to halfway point ( Fig. 108 ); head skeleton ( Fig. 94 ) – dorso-ventrally flattened; area where dorsal and ventral cornu joined elongate, longer than ventral cornu and sclerotized black; ventral cornu less than ten times as long as dorsal cornu; dorsal cornu narrow and sclerotized black, about half as wide as ventral cornu; dorsal bridge present; sclerotized tentorial bars narrow apically beyond ventral bridge; mandibles wider and mandibular apodeme as narrow as tentorial bars.

Material examined – holotype: Male with puparium, Ecuador, Pinchincha, Otonga Reserva, 21–26 August 2000, ex water tanks of Bromeliaceae, EGH & GER (PUCE) .

Material examined – paratypes: Three males and three females with puparia, same data as holotype ( NMS) .

Material examined – additional material: One larva, same data as holotype ( NMS) .

Etymology: The name ‘ otongaensis’ is in reference to the type locality in Ecuador, Otonga, near Quito.

Taxonomic notes: This is a highly distinctive and remarkable species distinguished in the adult stage by the shape of the face, overall black colour of the thorax and abdomen, and the setulate superior lobes in the male genitalia, and in the larval stage, by the extreme dorso-ventral flattening, which includes the head skeleton, posterior breathing tube, and the bissected prothorax. In addition, C. otongaensis appears distinct among other species of Copestylum . It has a general similarity to Copestylum fumosum (Hull, 1943) described from Mount Roraima in north-east Brazil. Both species are black and have legs coated densely in setae. However C. fumosum has maculae on the wings, a longer face, and longer antennae that are yellow at the base.

Like the tank group, the larva of C. otongaensis has a marginal band, but the lobes are neither as developed nor separated from the body by integumental folds. Two additional samples of preserved larvae similar to C. otongaensis were studied. They were not reared to the adult stage. Three larvae were collected by parataxonomist D. Gutiérrez from live bromeliads in Costa Rica (JDG.057), and four larvae were collected from live bromeliads by J. Louton at Esperanza, Cuzco, Peru, in June 1993. Differences between these larvae suggest they belong to separate species. The larvae from Peru are separated from the others by having spicules, not setae, coating the lobes of the marginal band. The larvae from Costa Rica are similar to C. otongaensis in having setae coating the lobes of the marginal band, but, in addition, the larva of C. otongaensis has blotches.

Biology: Adults were reared from larvae in water tanks of epiphytic bromeliads ( Bromeliaceae ), and are known only from Ecuador, but similar larvae of related but different species were studied from Costa Rica and Peru.

Copestylum species reared from decaying bromeliads

Boqueronense group

Diagnosis – adult: Face wide with tubercle barely projecting, so that, in side view, the face appears almost straight from below antennae to mouth, face elongate so that length of face from lower eye margin to edge of mouth half length or more of length of eye (view from side); face dusted below antennae; central vitta variable in length and brightness, but always present; genae with black markings; mesonotum with mixed length setae and prescutellar bristles; scutellar depression and apical ridge absent; wings with sharply defined brown maculae and extensive microtrichia; abdomen either with extensive yellow bands or black; genitalia – surstyli narrow and elongate with some very long setae, particularly on the inside surface, longer than width of the surstylus; epandrium rectangular-shaped, almost as long as basally broad, and projection at point of articulation with the hypandrium not developed; hypandrium with windows; superior lobes broad and flat apically with a distal hook and either one or two teeth on the apical margin; apex of aedeagus large and well developed, about as wide apically as width of hypandrium.

Diagnosis – larva and puparium: Basal projection bearing antennomaxillary organs nodulate; dorsal lip without tuft of setae; lateral lips with spicules basally, and long, fine setae apically, not meeting apically; feeding channel not deep because of small size of lateral lips; thorax broad, wider than abdomen ( Fig. 84 ); anterior fold with a band of between seven and nine rows of pale, brown-tipped spicules, spicules shortening posteriorly and reaching anterior sensilla 3 of prothorax; anterior spiracles short, about as long as wide with either three or four openings across the apex; vestiture of short, upright setae coating dorsum and lateral margins of the body ( Fig. 90 ), setae shorter between folds and forming microspicules on the ventral surface; vestiture of prothorax without longer setae at posterior margin; large spicules along the longitudinal folds of the prothorax; lateral margin of mesothorax with a pair of large, conspicuous brown hooks sharing the same sclerotized basal plate, margin of basal plate with tiny hooks; lateral margin of metathorax with one hook, as large as those on the mesothorax ( Fig. 85 ); antero-ventral margin of metathorax with two groups of up to four large spicules; segmental sensilla on short projections, about as long as vestiture, with between one and five thick, pale coloured, apical setae; these setae much shorter than transverse folds across the dorsum; mesothoracic prolegs commashaped with two rows of brown crochets; either four or five primary crochets clustered at inner end of proleg; prolegs only on abdominal segments 1–5 and much less developed on segments 4 and 5; transverse in shape with three straight rows of brown crochets; sensilla 5–8 of abdominal segments 5–7, but not sensilla 9 of anal segment, on particularly elongate, more so than segments 1–4, fleshy projections; projections tapering and coated in inconspicuous fine setae; abdominal segment 7 and anal segment tapering, and extended up to more than 1.5 times as long as sixth abdominal segment; lappet 1 on dorso-lateral margin of anal segment and barely projecting, lappet 2, more than four times as long; lappets 2 and 3 on mid-lateral margin; lappets tapering and coated in inconspicuous fine setae; posterior breathing tube long, about 1.25 times width of prothorax, parallel sided, orange, shiny with light punctures above transverse ridge; three pairs of sinusoidal spiracular openings; pupal spiracles long, longer than distance apart, yellow, slightly curved, shiny, nodulate basally with openings close to base, below halfway point, not widened; head skeleton ( Fig. 95 ) – ventral cornu less than ten times as long as dorsal cornu; dorsal cornu more than half as wide as ventral cornu; dorsal bridge present; sclerotized tentorial bars narrow apically beyond ventral bridge; mandibles and mandibular apodeme either as narrow as tentorial bars or narrower.

Taxonomic notes: This group is named after the first species reared. On adult characters the boqueronense group is similar to such species as Copestylum brunnigaster (Hull, 1943) , Copestylum melleum (Jaennicke, 1867) , and Copestylum pubescens (Loew, 1861) in being large with dusted faces, thoracic pile of mixed size, prescutellar bristles present and usually with extensively, yellow-marked abdomens. The boqueronense group differ from these species by their wide, flattened faces. The larvae have an elongate anal segment, lateral sensilla on abdominal segments 5–7 on long, fleshy tapering projections, and prolegs only on the first four or five abdominal segments, not on the first six, and are easily distinguished by the possession of large hooks on the lateral margins of the thorax.

Boqueronense species breed in decaying bromeliads and all four species we reared are from Mexico. However, we encountered similar hook-bearing larvae, but did not rear them, from decaying bromeliads in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras.

Figures

Figures 15–18. Adult Copestylum, lateral view of the head; scale line = 3.5 mm. 15. Copestylum joei sp. nov., male holotype; 16. Copestylum louisae sp. nov., male holotype; 17. Copestylum otongaensis sp. nov., male holotype; 18. Copestylum puyarum sp. nov., female holotype.

Figures 59–64. Adult Copestylum, male genitalia; right- and left-hand figures scale line = 0.50 mm, for middle column figures, left-hand scale line = 0.85 mm. Copestylum louisae sp. nov., male holotype: 59. genitalia and associated structures, lateral view; 60. hypandrium, ventral view; 61. surstylus, ventral view. 62–64. Copestylum otongaensis sp. nov., male holotype: 62. genitalia and associated structures, lateral view; 63. hypandrium, ventral view; 64. surstylus, ventral view.

Figures 86–92. Third stage larvae of Copestylum. 86. Copestylum lousiae, whole larva, head to the right, ventral view, length = 14 mm. 87. Copestylum tapia, whole larva, head to the right, dorsal view, length = 11 mm. 88. Copestylum barbara, crenate papillae from the dorsal surface of the anal segment. 89. Copestylum xalapensis, dentate spicules from the anterior fold of the prothorax. 90. Copestylum mamorum, vestiture of stout setae from the dorsal surface of the second abdominal segment. 91. Copestylum louisae, vestiture of long, fine setae from the dorsal surface of the second abdominal segment. 92. Copestylum puyarum, tapering spicules from the anterior fold of the prothorax.

Figures 99–110. Early stages of Copestylum, respiratory structures. 99–102. Posterior breathing tubes of third stage larva, dorso-lateral view, apex to the left; tr, transverse ridge; scale line = 2 mm. 99. Copestylum emeralda; 100. Copestylum otongaensis; 101. Copestylum elizabethae; 102. Copestylum louisae. 103–106. Spiracular plates of posterior breathing tubes of third stage larva, dorsal view; so, spiracular openings; scale line = 0.6 mm. 103. C. emeralda; 104. C. otongaensis; 105. C. elizabethae; 106. C. louisae. 107–110. Pupal spiracles from puparia, posterior view; scale line = 1 mm. 107. C. emeralda; 108. C. otongaensis; 109. C. elizabethae; 110. C. louisae.

Figures 82–85. Third stage larvae of Copestylum. 82–83. Copestylum otongaensis: 82. whole larva, head to the right, ventral view, length = 13 mm; 83. thorax, dorsal view, width = 3.7 mm. 84–85. Copestylum triunfense: 84. whole larva, head to the right, dorsal view, length = 21 mm; 85. thorax, dorsal view width = 5 mm.

Figures 93–98. Third stage larvae of Copestylum, head skeletons, lateral view, anterior end to the right, scale line = 1 mm. 93. Copestylum joei; 94. Copestylum otongaensis; 95. Copestylum mamorum; 96. Copestylum galantei; 97. Copestylum conabioi; 98. Copestylum albertoi.