Johnrichardia vockerothi Perez­Gelabert & Thompson, 2006

Perez-Gelabert, Daniel E. & Thompson, F. Christian, 2006, A new genus and species of Richardiidae (Diptera) from Hispaniola, Zootaxa 1259, pp. 25-31 : 28-30

Johnrichardia vockerothi Perez­Gelabert & Thompson , sp. nov.

Yellow with black maculae on first 5 terga; wing hyaline except for enlarged brownish black stigmal and apical maculae.

Head. Clypeus yellow; palpus yellow; face yellow, slightly more brownish on ventral 1/2; parafacial stripe yellow, white pollinose; gena yellow, orange pilose; lunule yellow; frons light yellowish brown except narrowly yellow along eye margin; occiput yellow, orange pilose; antenna yellowish orange, orange pilose; basoflagellomere elongate, about twice as long as broad, about 3 times as long as pedicel, with small basoventral round sensory pit on lateral surface; arista long, slightly more than twice as long as rest of antenna.

Thorax. Prothorax yellow; setae black except orange postpronotal and anepisternals; meso­ and metathorax orangish yellow; calypter white with margin yellow; halter white. Legs: yellow except tarsi orange, pale pilose. Wing: hyaline except costal cell yellow, stigma and adjacent area of cell R1 and apex brownish black, with apical dark macula extending basad of apex of vein R2+3; microtrichose except for bare costal cell except apex, cell R, cell BM, basal 1/3 of cell DM, cell BCU, basal 1/3 of cell CU1, basal 1/2 of anal lobe, alula.

Abdomen. Sterna yellowish white, pale pilose; syntergum 1+2 yellow except narrow black medial vitta, pale pilose except black pilose apicomedially; 3rd–5th terga yellow on lateral 1/4, black on medial 1/2, pale pilose laterally, black pilose medially; 6th tergum yellow, pale pilose laterally, black pilose medially; oviscape orange, pale pilose.

Length: body, 15 mm; wing, 11 mm.

Holotype female: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. La Vega: Parque Nacional Armando Bermúdez, La Ciénaga—Los Tablones, 1,100–1,270 m, 19° E 04.044° N 70° E 51.789° W, 17 July 2004, D. Perez (USNM ENT 00038283); deposited in United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Paratype female: Dominican Republic, La Vega, La Ciénaga de Manabao, 3,000 ft., 3–5 July 1999, R. E. Woodruff (USNM ENT 00033202) deposited in Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Gainesville.

Etymology: The epithet, vockerothi , is a noun in the genitive case and derived from the last name of the distinguished dipterist, John Richard Vockeroth (1928).

As the only known species of its genus, vockerothi is not likely to be confused with other species. Obviously, the division of generic and specific characters is arbitrary and based merely on what are usually generic / species characters in other groups of Richardiidae .

The type­locality is near the trail to Los Tablones, just across the bridge for pedestrians at La Ciénaga. This is the most visited trail in Parque Nacional Armando Bermúdez as this is the most accessible route to Pico Duarte. At this site (1,100 m), the humid mountain forest consists of large pines ( Pinus occidentalis ) mixed with a dense lower layer of other trees and shrubs. The proximity of the Rio de los Guanos and its confluence with the Yaque del Sur make the area especially humid. Although large portions of the trail are heavily shaded, the fly was collected in a forest clearing on low shrubs.