Ceraturgus (Ceraturgus) aurulentus (Fabricius)

Barnes, Jeffrey K., 2008, Review of the genus Ceraturgus Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) in North America north of Mexico, Zootaxa 1766, pp. 1-45 : 25-28

Ceraturgus (Ceraturgus) aurulentus (Fabricius)

( FIG. 7 )

Dasypogon aurulentus Fabricius, 1805: 166 . Ceraturgus aurulentus: Macquart 1834: 289 .

Type material examined. Holotype, sex unknown, UNITED STATES: “ Type ” (orange label), “D: aurulentus , ..New York [?Bohr]” (handwritten label), ZMUC.

Additional material examined. UNITED STATES. DELAWARE. “Del.”, Ψ, ANSP. GEORGIA. Union County: Blood Mountain, 17 September 1939, Ψ, P. W. Fattig, USNM.

MASSACHUSETTS. Norfolk County: Wellesley, 31 July 1966, ɗ, F. C. Thompson, CAS.

MICHIGAN. Washtenaw County: Ann Arbor, 17 August 1925, Ψ, W. W. Newcomb, UMMZ.

NEW JERSEY. Camden County: Lucaston, near Lindenwold, 3 September 1987, 3 Ψ, C. S. Bergson, ANSP. Gloucester County: Westville, 21 August 1892, Ψ, C. W. Johnson, MCZ.

NEW YORK. Westchester County: Van Cortlandtville, Ψ, USNM.

NORTH CAROLINA. Burke County: Table Rock, 7 August 1937, Ψ, D. L. Wray, NCSU. Macon County: Highlands, 3865 feet, 11 August 1958, 2 ɗ, J.G. Franclemont, CUIC, FSCA.

PENNSYLVANIA. Centre County, Ferguson Township, 22 August 1968, Ψ, D. L. Bierlein, CSCA.

RHODE ISLAND. Washington County: Shannock, 27 August 1969, Ψ, UGCA.

SOUTH CAROLINA. Oconee County: Cherry Hill Recreation Area, Route 107, 2000 ft., 7 September 1958, Ψ, J. G. Franclemont, CUIC.

VIRGINIA. Fairfax County: near Plummers Island, Maryland, 18 September 1924, Ψ, A. Busck, USNM.

Female. Body length: 9.4–11.2 mm (mean ± S.D.: 10.4 ± 0.7).

Head. Width 1.5 times eye height. Face golden tomentose. Frons, vertex except for ocellar tubercle, postcranium, and gena golden pollinose. Face with sparse mystax of golden setae confined to lower fifth; upper face with sparse, short golden setae reaching to antennal bases, these setae much shorter than scape. Frons laterally with few fine, short golden setae. Ocellar triangle tuberculate, black, with 8 golden setae. Postocular setae golden, stout. Postgena and stipes with dense vestiture of long, slender, apically crinkled, golden hairlike setae. Proboscis short, black, nearly cylindrical, more or less parallel-sided in lateral view, about 5 times as long as deep, not reaching far beyond level of face. Palpal segments about equal in length, black, both segments with long golden setae. Antenna 2.5–3.0 mm long; scape shining, with golden ventrolateral setae; pedicel and flagellomeres dull black; pedicel with golden lateral setae; antennomere:scape ratios 1.0:1.0:2.4:0.8:2.2.

Thorax. All sclerites black in ground color, mostly covered in dense golden pollen. Cervical sclerites densely golden pollinose, with dense vestiture of long, slender, apically crinkled, golden hair-like setae. Pronotum sparsely golden pollinose, with sparse pile of long, slender, golden setae covering antepronotum and lateral corners of postpronotum; postpronotal lobe with sparse golden pollen, covered with erect golden. Propleuron with dense vestiture of long, declinate, golden hair-like setae on proepisternum and reclinate hairlike setae on anterior portion of proepimeron. Prosternum golden pollinose except along midline, lacking setae. Scutum black in ground color, golden pollinose except for wide black vitta extending from pronotum nearly to scutellum and pair of broad posterolateral patches, each divided by narrow line of golden pollen along transverse suture, reaching from behind postpronotal lobes almost to scutellum; with sparse, short, reclinate golden hair-like setae throughout, including non-pollinose areas, and with prescutellar patch of longer, reclinate golden hair-like setae; setae of anterior portion of scutum shorter than scape. Lateral margin of scutum with 3 strong, golden, presutural bristles and 3 strong, golden, postsutural bristles in addition to smaller setae. Postalar callus with 3–4 golden bristles and many short hair-like setae. Scutellum golden pollinose along posterior margin, with short, sparse, golden hair-like setae on disc and 6–8 longer, weak, golden setae and several fine hair-like setae along margin. Mediotergite shining black. Anatergite and katatergite golden pollinose; katatergite with a fan of long, slender, apically crinkled, golden hair-like setae. Mesopleural sclerites mostly densely golden pollinose. Anepisternum and dorsal portion of katepisternum covered with fine, golden, apically crinkled hair-like setae. Anterior and posterior basalare densely golden pollinose. Anepimeron, katepimeron, and meron lacking setae. Basal swelling of pleural wing process densely golden pollinose. Subalar sclerite black. Metepisternum and metepimeron densely golden pollinose; metepimeron with long, fine, apically crinkled, golden hair-like setae.

Legs. Coxae densely golden pollinose; prothoracic and mesothoracic coxae densely covered with long, slender, golden hair-like setae on anterior and lateral surfaces; metathoracic coxa with similar hair-like setae anteroventrally and posterolaterally. Trochanters dark brown or black. Femora yellow on basal third to twothirds, dark brown or black to apex, lacking circlet of stout setae near apex. Prothoracic femur covered with short, hair-like setae on most surfaces, the setae longer dorsally near base and ventrally on basal half or more. Mesothoracic and metathoracic femora similar to prothoracic tibia, but with 3–4 stronger, stout setae dorsally near apex. Tibiae yellow, with dark brown or black apices. Prothoracic tibia with posterodorsal row of short golden setae and anteroventral and posteroventral row of long golden setae; mesothoracic tibia with anterodorsal, anteroventral, and posteroventral rows of long golden setae, posterodorsal row with weaker setae; metathoracic tibia with dorsal, anterior and anteroventral rows of long golden setae. Tarsi mostly yellow, each tarsomere with dark apex; first tarsomere longer than second and third combined; all claws black with brown bases. All pulvilli yellow.

Wing. 7.7–9.1 mm long (mean ± S.D.: 8.3 ± 0.4). Almost uniformly hyaline, lightly fumose in cells c and in cell sc near apex of vein Sc, at base of cells r1 and r2+3, and around crossvein r-m. Halter light yellowish brown. Cell cu p open to wing margin.

Abdomen. Tergites 1–6 black, with broad golden pollinose bands at posterior margins; bands not extending forward at lateral margins; pollinose bands of tergites 2–6 V-notched in middle; tergites 1–2 with long, slender, apically crinkled, golden, lateral hair-like setae; remaining tergites with shorter lateral hair-like setae; tergites 6–7 black, shining. Sternites 1–6 predominantly golden pollinose; sternites 1–2 bearing sparse, long slender, apically crinkled, golden hair-like setae; sternites 3–6 bearing sparse, long, slender, predominantly straight, golden hair-like setae; sternites 6–7 dark brown to black, shining.

Male. Similar to female except as follows:

Body length: 9.4–10.0 mm.

Head. Face above oral margin and long mystax bristles with golden hair-like about as long as scape. Antenna 2.6–2.8 mm long; antennomere:scape ratios 1.0:1.0:2.4:0.8:2.1.

Thorax. Hair-like setae of anterior portion of scutum about as long as scape; hair-like setae of prescutellar area of scutum dense and long.

Wing. 6.6–7.5 mm long.

Abdomen. Sternites 1–6 bearing dense, golden, hair-like setae.

Distribution ( FIG. 7 ). Massachusetts to Georgia and Michigan.

Discussion. C. aurulentus is a distinctive species, readily recognized by its small size, rich golden pollen, bicolored femora and tibiae, and short, thin, parallel-sided proboscis.

Most of the holotype of D. aurulentus has been destroyed. All that remains is a scrap of the right side of the thorax measuring about 2 mm high by 1.2 mm wide. It includes a small portion of the scutum, extreme base of the wing, anterior and posterior basalares with an attached fragment of the anepisternum, and the basal swelling of the pleural wing process with an attached fragment of the anepimeron. The scutal fragment has a lateral, golden, pollinose stripe, about 0.6 mm wide, that bears several pale setae. The portion of mesonotum above the stripe is black. The other structures mentioned are heavily golden pollinose. The basalares together measure 0.4 mm high and 0.4 mm wide at the widest point. The specimens that I identify as C. aurulentus match this holotype. The only other species from the vicinity of New York with such small basalares is D. similis , and it does not have the heavy golden pollen found on the D. aurulentus holotype.

C. R. W. Wiedemann had access to the Fabricius collection ( Stone 1980), and he probably worked with the type specimen when he redescribed and figured this species ( Wiedemann 1828). No other specimens were known to exist until Dr. C. W. Johnson (1903) collected one in 1892. Wiedemann (1828) stated that the species measures 4 lines long, or 8.5 mm.

In addition to the localities cited above, specimens have been reported from Connecticut (Stamford, 2 August 1936) ( Bromley 1946, 1950b), Georgia (Blood Mountian, 17 September 1939) ( Bromley 1950b), New York (New York City, Van Cortlandt Park) (Anonymous 1919), Ohio (Jackson County, Washington Township, male) ( Bromley 1950b), and Pennsylvania (Delaware County, Castle Rock; Lehigh Gap, 11 July) ( Johnson 1903). None of these specimens have been located in museums, despite extensive searches.

C. aurulentus is a remarkably rare species. Apparently fewer than two dozen specimens have been collected in the past 200 years. Nonetheless, it is known to range from New England south to Georgia and west to Michigan. Specimens have been collected from late July to early September. Bromley (1946) found the Connecticut specimen, a teneral female, resting on a freshly cut black birch stump in a woodland clearing. He had visited the area regularly for many years, and searched intensively after finding this specimen, but he failed to find any others.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Ceraturgus aurulentus by county.