Stipomorpha tenuicauda (Curran, 1925)

Reemer, Menno, 2013, Taxonomic exploration of Neotropical Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) mimicking stingless bees, Zootaxa 3697 (1), pp. 1-88 : 70-72

Stipomorpha tenuicauda (Curran, 1925)

Figs 212–215 , 248 .

Microdon tenuicaudus Curran, 1925: 339 .

Studied type specimens. HOLOTYPE. PERU. Female. Label 1: "El Campamiento. Col. Perene. PERU. Jult '20"; label 2: "Cornell Univ. Expedition Lot 607"; label 3 (red): " Type Microdon tenuicauda Curran "; label 4 (red): " Holotype Cornell U. No. 1736"; label 5: " Microdon tenuicauda Curran Det. C.H. Curran ". Coll. CU.

Additionally studied specimens. BOLIVIA: 1 male, La Paz Prov., Mapiri, Arroyo Tuhiri, 15°17’26”S – 68°15’46”W, 12.IV.2004, leg. & coll. M. Hauser; 1 male with same locality info, but 13.IV.2004, coll. RMNH; BRAZIL: 1 male, Belém, Pará, 26.IV.1967, leg. Y. Sedman, coll. USNM; COSTA RICA: 4 females, Puntar, Golfo Dulce, 3 km SW Rincón, 10 m, 1989-1990, leg. Hanson, coll. USNM; ECUADOR: 1 female, Napo, Jatun Sacha Res., 6 km E Misahualli, 450 m, 30.IV–8.V.2002, leg. S.A. Marshall, DNA voucher specimen no. S259, G. Ståhls, FMNH Helsinki, coll. USNM; FRENCH GUYANA: 1 male, Patawa, 4°32.658’N – 52°9.132’W, leg. O. Morvan, coll. CNC; PERU: 1 female, Cusco, River Ceosnibata, 12.XII.1951, leg. Woytkowski, coll. CNC; 1 female, Avispas, Madre de Dios, 400 m, 20–30.IX.1962, leg. L. Pena, coll. USNM.

Redescription (based on holotype)

Adult female. Body size: 9 mm.

Head. Face occupying almost 1/3 of head width in frontal view; shining yellow with yellow pilosity, a little longer around oral margin. Gena yellow. Oral cavity with lateral margins produced and notched anteriorly. Frons black; yellow pilose, except for yellow bare triangular part posterior to lunula. Vertex black; yellow pilose; convexly produced. Occiput black; yellow pilose. Eye very sparsely and short pilose, appearing bare under low magnification. Antennal fossa about as wide as high. Antenna yellowish brown, pedicel and basoflagellomere a little darker. Antennal ratio 4:1:5; basoflagellomere parallel-sided with narrowly rounded apex, with sensory pit located at apical 1/4. Arista slender, about 3/4 of length of basoflagellomere.

Thorax. Scutum shining black, except yellow along margins, widely so around postpronotum and postalar callus; appressed golden yellow pilose, except erect along anterior and posterior margin and with lateral fasciae of half-erect black pile along transverse suture. Postpronotum and postalar callus yellow and yellow pilose. Scutellum yellow; yellow pilose anteriorly, otherwise black pilose. Pleurae yellow, except katepimeron posteriorly and katatergum anteriorly blackish. Anterior and posterior part of anepisternum not differentiated, more or less convex; anterior part yellow pilose, posterior part yellow pilose along posterior margin. Anepimeron yellow pilose dorsally. Katatergum and anatergum long and short microtrichose, respectively. Other pleurae bare. Metanotum shining blackish, except yellow on dorsal 1/3. Calypter and halter yellow.

Wing: hyaline, tinged yellow, especially on anterobasal 1/2; microtrichose except bare on basal 1/2 of cell br, posterobasal 1/4 of cell bm, basal 1/4 of cell cup and on at least 90% of alula.

Legs (including coxae and trochanters) yellow and yellow pilose, except: hind tibia whitish pilose on basal 3/5 and with black ground colour and black pilose on apical 2/5; hind tarsus with first two tarsomeres black and black pilose. Metatibia strongly widened, widest point around 1/2.

Abdomen. Yellow and yellow pilose. Second tergite about as wide as thorax, widest at posterior 1/3; other tergites clearly narrower. Sternite 1 narrow and bare, separated from sternite 2 by a membrane of about the width of sternite 1. Sternite 2 pilose, laterally twice as wide as medially, separated from sternite 3 by a membrane of about twice the median width of sternite 2. Sternite 3 and 4 pilose, not separated by membrane. Genitalia as in fig. 248.

Male. As female, except for usual sexual differences.

Diagnosis. Distinguishable from the very similar S. mackiei reliably only by the male genitalia. The character of the distribution of microtrichia on the alula, as mentioned in the key, could be verified in a few males only. Whether it works for all specimens (including females) is uncertain.

Distribution. Known from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guyana and Peru.

Figures

FIGURES 212 – 221. 212 – 215. Stipomorpha tenuicauda female (holotype). 212. habitus dorsal; 213. habitus lateral; 214. head frontal; 215. head dorsal. 216 – 219. Stipomorpha trigoniformis male (holotype). 216. habitus dorsal; 217. habitus lateral; 218. head frontal; 219. wing. 220 – 221. Stipomorpha wheeleri male (paratype). 220. habitus dorsal; 221. habitus lateral.

FIGURES 246 – 251. Stipomorpha, male genitalia latera. 246. S. simillima (holotype); 247. S. spuria (holotype); 248. S. tenuicauda (Bolivia, coll. RMNH); 249. S. trigoniformis (holotype); 250. S. wheeleri (paratype); 251. S. zophera (holotype).