Copestylum joei, 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 : 302-304

019. COPESTYLUM JOEI SP. NOV. ROTHERAY &

HANCOCK

Diagnosis – male holotype: Face black, elongate, and narrowing below tubercle, with both yellow and black hairs ( Fig. 15 ); cheeks and space between base of antennae and tubercle coated in whitish dust and scattered pruinosity; basoflagellomere excavated dorsally; arista with very long plumes dorsally, and very short plumes ventrally; frons black and black haired; eyes coated in black hairs; mesonotum, pleurites, legs, and abdomen black; scutellum dark yellow; mesonotum, pleurites, and abdomen densely coated in black hairs; scutellum coated with black hairs of mixed length; three anepisternal bristles; wings with microtrichia only along costal margin and at apex of cell R2+3; R1 closed; black marks at apex of cell Sc, and where the spurious vein crosses the crossvein r-m; genitalia – surstyli elongate with bulbous apex; epandrium narrow with finger-like projection articulating with base of surstyli, and no projection at point of articulation with the hypandrium; superior lobes hammer-shaped with a medial finger-like, dorsal projection; upper lateral margins of epandrium with setae ( Figs 56, 57, 58 ); female – unknown. Length: body, 14 mm; wing, 12 mm (N = 1).

Diagnosis – puparium: Unable to describe dorsal lip and base of antennomaxillary organs, which are obscured within the dried prothorax of the puparium; 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 as wide as abdomen; anterior fold with a band of between seven and nine rows of brown spicules, spicules larger medially and just reaching sensilla 3 of prothorax; anterior spiracles short, about as long as wide, with either two or three openings across the apex; vestiture of short, stout setae coating dorsum and lateral margins of the body; setae shorter on ventral surface; vestiture of prothorax all the same length; lateral margin of mesothorax with two groups of nine and five spicules, respectively, and bands of spicules on the antero-ventral margin of the metathorax; segmental sensilla on short projections, wider than long with inconspicuous apical setae; mesothoracic prolegs comma-shaped with three rows of brown-black crochets; primary crochets spread across the proleg, not clustered to inner side; transverse prolegs on segments 1–6 with three rows of crochets; sensilla 5–8 of abdominal segments 5–7 not on long projections; abdominal segment 7 and anal segment extended four or more times the length of segment 6, and not particularly tapered at apex, and about half as broad as base of segment 7; lappet 1 on dorso-lateral margin of anal segment, and about the same length as lappet 2; lappets 1 and 2 aligned one above the other on a shared projection of the anal segment; lappet 3 on the mid-lateral margin; posterior breathing tube short, about as long as prothorax is wide, orange, matt at base, shiny above transverse ridge, lightly punctured; three pairs of sinusoidal openings; pupal spiracles short, only about half as long as distance apart; straight, nodulate below shiny apex with openings clustered at apex; head skeleton – ventral cornu less than ten times as long as dorsal cornu; dorsal cornu more than half as wide as ventral cornu and projecting almost at right angles to ventral cornu; dorsal bridge present; sclerotized tentorial bars broad apically beyond ventral bridge; mandibles and mandibular apodeme either as wide as tentorial bars or wider ( Fig. 93 ).

Material examined – holotype: Male with puparium, Costa Rica, Cartago P.N. Cerro de la Muerte, February 1999, ex wet decay between basal leaves and base of dead flowering spike of Puya dasylirioides Stanley, 1927 ( Bromeliaceae ), GER ( INB0003056077 ) ( INBio) .

Etymology: The name ‘ joei’ is descriptive of my son (GER).

Taxonomic notes: This species is easily recognized from other bromeliad species by its almost completely black appearance. C. otongaensis is also black, but among other characters that species has a very different facial profile ( Figs 15, 17 ). Among Copestylum species in general C. joei is most similar to Copestylum anna (Williston, 1887) , but differs from that species in having black, not orange, eye hairs and antennae, a broader less tapering face, and a lack of pruniose patches on the gena. The early stages of C. joei share with C. louisae and Copestylum puyarum an extended posterior end, but the extension is much broader in C. joei . It has transverse prolegs like C. puyarum , but in C. joei they are equally developed on all first six abdominal segments. C. louisae has spherical prolegs. The vestiture of the thorax is much shorter in C. joei than in C. puyarum , and none of the segmental sensilla are on long projections. The close approximation of lappets 1 and 2, which lie one above the other and share a common base, also separates C. joei from other bromeliad Copestylum .

Biology: A larva was collected in wet decaying leaves at the base of a dead flower spike of a puya plant ( Bromeliaceae ) in Costa Rica. Larvae of C. puyarum were also present.

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 56–58. Adult Copestylum joei sp. nov., male holotype, male genitalia; right-hand scale line = 0.50 mm, for left and right column figures; left-hand scale line = 0.85 mm, for middle figure. 56–58. C. joei sp. nov., male holotype: 56. genitalia and associated structures, lateral view; 57. hypandrium, ventral view; 58. surstylus, ventral view.

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.