Elachiptera attenuata (Adams)

Wheeler, Terry A. & Forrest, Jessica, 2002, A new species of Elachiptera Macquart from the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, and the taxonomic status of Ceratobarys Coquillett (Diptera: Chloropidae), Zootaxa 98, pp. 1-9 : 5-6

Elachiptera attenuata (Adams) ( Figs. 6­10 )

Crassiseta attenuata Adams, 1908: 152 .

Elachiptera pilosa Duda, 1930: 81 (syn. Sabrosky 1938: 424).

Elachiptera attenuata ; Sabrosky, 1938: 424.

Diagnosis.­ Similar to Elachiptera cultrata except as follows: arista strongly tapering distally, very slender on distal one­fourth ( Fig. 8 ); legs entirely yellow; abdominal tergites mostly pale brown. Male postabdomen: surstylus evenly recurved ( Fig. 10 ); cercus with short, rounded ventral projection, with single long seta on ventral projection and a few shorter setae; cerci widely separated by broadly rounded cleft ( Fig. 9 ); distiphallus weakly sclerotized, almost straight, blunt­ended ( Fig. 10 ).

Type material.­ Holotype M: COSTA RICA: San José, ix.1904, P. Biolley (holotype lost, see Comments).

Material examined.­ JAMAICA: 1M, 3F, Blue Mountain Peak , Whitfield Hall, 1300m, 10.ix.1988, T.A. Wheeler, swept at roadside ( LEM) ; 1M, same data except sweep puddles along road ( LEM) .

Comments.­ Adams (1908) described this species from a single specimen from Costa Rica. In 1938, Sabrosky was unable to locate the holotype of E. attenuata . It was subsequently found to have been destroyed in the mail in 1967 (C.W. Sabrosky, unpublished notes in LEM). The identity of the species is not currently in doubt and designation of a neotype would only become necessary if future revisionary work on the New World species of Elachiptera revealed additional species closely related to E. attenuata in the northern Neotropical region. Sabrosky (1938) recorded this species from Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala. Published records of E. attenuata from the southern United States probably refer to E. willistoni Sabrosky (Sabrosky 1948) .

Figures

FIGURES 6 ­ 10. Elachiptera attenuata. 6. hind tibia, and basal tarsal segment (lateral); 7. scutellum; 8. antenna; 9. male genitalia (posterior); 10. male genitalia (lateral). Scale bar = 0.1 mm (Figs. 9 ­ 10).