Ocyptamus melanorrhinus (Philippi, 1865)

Mengual, Ximo, Miranda, Gil Felipe G. & Thompson, F. Christian, 2018, Unraveling Ocyptamus and the Baccha legacy (Diptera: Syrphidae): redefinition of groups and new species descriptions, Zootaxa 4461 (1), pp. 1-44 : 12

Ocyptamus melanorrhinus species group

Figs 85, 87 .

Baccha victoria species group, in part. Hull (1949a).

Ocyptamus parvicornis species group. Thompson (1981).

Ocyptamus mentor species group. Mengual et al. (2012).

Ocyptamus melanorrhinus species group. Miranda et al. (2016).

Diagnosis. Facial tubercle more dorsally positioned (except for O. parvicornis and related species, where it is more ventrally inserted). Dorsal lobe of calypter with short pile. Wing bare on base of cell c, basal 2/3 of cell r and most of cell bm. Alula absent. Abdomen narrow and elongated (2nd abdominal segment ± 6 times longer than wide), slightly spatulate. Male postgonite elongated and tapering towards the apex, or short and with dorsal and ventral apical acute extremities, or very short.

Biology. Larvae of O. mentor ( Curran, 1930a) feed on mealybugs ( Hemiptera : Pseudococcidae ) and whiteflies ( Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae ) ( Rojo et al. 2003). Immatures of O. sativus ( Curran, 1941) have been reported feeding only on Aleyrodidae , but larvae of O. parvicornis ( Loew, 1861) feed on Aleyrodidae , Pseudococcidae and Fulgoridae ( Hemiptera : Auchenorrhyncha ) ( Rojo et al. 2003).

Comments. Mengual et al. (2012) named this group the O. mentor species group. Miranda et al. (2016) resolved in a clade two morphospecies related to O. attenuatus and O. melanorrhinus , which share an overall similar morphology. Preliminary morphological analyses also placed O. parvicornis close to both species based on the bare pattern on the wing shared with them. However, the three have very distinct male and female genitalia, furthermore O. parvicornis , and the related species O. ferrugineus ( Thompson, 1981) , have a distinct overall orange color. This group needs further study to ascertain its component species and subdivisions.

Species list (12): O. attenuatus ( Williston, 1891) , O. duida ( Hull, 1947a) , O. ferrugineus ( Thompson, 1981) , O. laudabilis ( Williston, 1891) , O. lugubris ( Philippi, 1865) , O. melanorrhinus ( Philippi, 1865) , O. mentor ( Curran, 1930a) , O. parvicornis ( Loew, 1861) , O. sagittiferus ( Austen, 1893) , O. sativus ( Curran, 1941) , O. selene ( Hull, 1949a) , O. variegatus ( Macquart, 1842) .

Figures

FIGURES 85–91. 85: Ocyptamus parvicornis (Loew) [male, CNC_Diptera237922], habitus, dorsal view. 86: Ocyptamus fascipennis (Wiedemann) [female, USNM], habitus, dorsal view. 87: Ocyptamus melanorrhinus (Philippi), female, habitus, dorsal view, by Steve Marshall. 88: Ocyptamus fascipennis [female, USNM], habitus, lateral view. 89: Pelecinobaccha adspersa (Fabricius) [female, ZFMK-DIP-00028704], habitus, dorsal view. Note: a blurry pinhead covers part of the scutum; check couplet 30. 90: Pelecinobaccha brevipennis (Schiner) [male, MPEG-DIP12170496], habitus, dorsal view. 91: Pelecinobaccha cubensis (Macquart) [male, USNMENT 01288157] habitus, dorsal view. Scale = 2 mm.