Ceratophya scolopus (Shannon, 1927)

Reemer, Menno, 2013, Taxonomic exploration of Neotropical Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) mimicking stingless bees, Zootaxa 3697 (1), pp. 1-88 : 22-23

Ceratophya scolopus (Shannon, 1927)

Figs 48–54 , 57 .

Microdon scolopus Shannon, 1927: 20 . Type locality: Amazon region. Microdon (Ubristes) scolopus Shannon in Thompson et al. (1976)

Studied type specimens. HOLOTYPE. Male. Label 1 (small, round, red-bordered): " Holotype "; label 2: "Amazon. 66 53"; label 3: " Microdon scolopus Snn. ". Coll. BMNH.

Adult male. Body size: 7 mm.

Head. Face occupying about 1/3 of the head width in frontal view; parallel-sided; laterally weakly depressed; pale yellow, with blackish median vitta from antennal fossa to oral margin, where it is at its narrowest; entirely short yellow pilose. Face in profile straight, produced downward at anterior oral margin. Gena black. Frons and vertex black, short pilose. Occiput black. Eyes bare. Antennal fossa about as wide as high. Antenna brown, except scape yellowish basally; antennal ratio approximately 5:1:8; arista slender, slightly longer than half the length of the basoflagellomere.

Thorax. Scutum black; short pilose. Postpronotum and postalar callus brown (perhaps yellow in better preserved specimens); short pilose. Scutellum yellow, with basal 1/3 and apical 1/4 blackish; apicomedially sulcate. Anterior and posterior part of anepisternum not differentiated; short pale pilose except on ventral 1/3. Anepimeron entirely white pilose. Katepisternum white pilose dorsally (ventral part not visible in type specimen). Calypter greyish brown. Halters missing in type specimen.

Wing: hyaline; microtrichose, except bare on costal cells, on basal 1/3 of cell r1, on cell br except for traces of microtrichia around vena spuria , on cell bm, posterobasal 1/3 of cell r4+5, on basal 1/6 of cells DM and CuA1, on anterobasal 1/2 of cell cup.

Legs: Blackish, with tarsi of pro- and mesolegs yellow. Hind leg with first tarsomere black, second tarsomere yellow (other tarsomeres missing in type specimen). First tarsomeres of all tarsi with strong basoventral tooth. Coxae and trochanters brownish, with pale pile.

Abdomen. Blackish brown, with yellow posterior margin of tergite 4; mostly whitish pilose. In profile with tergite 4 almost perpendicular to tergite 2. Sternites 1-3 brown, sternite 4 yellow; short pale pilose. Genitalia as in fig. 57.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. This species is unique among Ceratophya -species in the presence of a strong basoventral tooth on the first tarsomeres of all tarsi. Furthermore, it's the only known Ceratophya -species with an almost black abdomen (except for the yellow posterior margin of tergite 4).

Notes. When Shannon (1927) described this species, he mentioned the similarity in general appearance to the stingless-bee mimics which he described in the subgenus Ubristes . Nonetheless, he did not place it in Ubristes , as Thompson et al. (1976) did. Examination of the type revealed that it has all the characters of the genus Ceratophya . The specimen is a little dirty and greasy, so colours and pilosity are not always easy to assess.

Distribution. Only known from the holotype from the Amazon region, probably from Brazil.

Figures

FIGURES 42 – 54. 42 – 47. Ceratophya panamensis. 42. male holotype (above) & female paratype (photo: American Museum of Natural History); 43. female, head frontal; 44. female, head lateral; 45. male, wing; 46. male, scutellum; 47. male, hind tarsus. 48 – 54. Ceratophya scolopus male (holotype). 48. habitus dorsal; 49. habitus lateral; 50. abdomen posterodorsal; 51. head frontal; 52. wing; 53. scutellum; 54. apex of hind tibia with basitarsus, lateral.

FIGURES 55 – 62. 55 – 57. Ceratophya, male genitalia. 55. C. notata (holotype); 56. C. panamensis (holotype); 57. C. scolopus (holotype). 58 – 62. Hypselosyrphus amazonicus male (Peru, coll. RMNH). 58. habitus dorsal; 59. habitus lateral; 60. head frontal; 61. head lateral; 62. wing.