Romaleosyrphus woodi Moran, 2021

Moran, Kevin M. & Skevington, Jeffrey H., 2021, Taxonomic revision of Romaleosyrphus Bigot (Diptera, Syrphidae), including descriptions of seven new species, ZooKeys 1075, pp. 1-32 : 1

Romaleosyrphus woodi Moran sp. nov.

Figs 5A , 7A

Type locality.

Mexico: Chiapas: 16 mi. west of San Cristóbal, Chiapas, 16.7262, -92.8802.

Types.

Holotype female, pinned. Original label: "San Christobal. // 16 mi W., Chiapas // MEX., VII-16-57" "UC Berkeley // EMEC // 354663 // [BARCODE]" (EMEC).

Differential diagnosis. Scutellum only partly yellow pilose, black pilose anteromedially. Tergite II black pilose in posterolateral corners. Tergite III black pilose except yellow pilose anteromedially. Cell r2+3 bare along margin of vein R4+5 starting from 2/5 of length of cell and ending at cross-vein r-m.

Description. FEMALE. Body length: 13.1 mm. Wing length: 9.1 mm.

Head. Face non-pruinose; anterior tentorial pit black pilose; frons, black pilose and brown pruinose on lateral margins; vertex black pilose and brown pruinose; postocular setae black; occipital setae black; antenna reddish orange.

Thorax. Matte black; postpronotum mixed black and yellow pilose; scutum black pilose, except yellow pilose along lateral margins; scutellum yellow pilose, except black pilose anteromedially; postalar callus yellow pilose; proepimeron black pilose; posterior anepisternum yellow pilose; katepisternum yellow pilose posteriorly with broadly separated patches; metasternum mixed black and yellow pilose; anepimeron with anterior portion yellow pilose; lower calypter with long black pile.

Legs. Coxae black; femora black except extreme apex of femora; remainder of legs reddish; fore and mid-coxae black pilose; hind coxa mixed black and yellow pilose; fore femur black pilose, except small mix of yellow pile basally; mid femur black pilose, but with stretch of yellow pile on posterior side; hind femur black pilose; tibiae and tarsi black pilose.

Wing. Microtrichia absent in following areas: cell c along margin of vein Sc running from 2/5 of length and ending at 4/5 of length of the cell, anterior 1/5 of cell r1, r2+3 along margin of vein R4+5 starting from 2/5 of length and ending at cross-vein r-m, cell br except along spurious vein and the part right below the start of cell r2+3, all of cell cua except extreme posterior, cell bm, cell cup along the margin of vein CuP in the anterior third of cell, cell m4 from cross-vein m-cu to end of vein M4 and cell dm in ventral 1/3 of cell and along broad margin following vein M2.

Abdomen. Tergites shiny to subshiny black; tergite I with scattered, yellow pile medially, except with short black pile in lateral corners; tergite II with dense yellow pile which runs diagonally from anterolateral corner until it reaches the posterior margin at a point which is ca. at 1/3 of the width of the tergite, remainder of tergite is black pilose; tergite III with black pile except mixed yellow pile anteromedially; tergite IV with black pile; tergites not distinctly pruinose; sternites I-III yellow pilose and not pruinose; sternite IV black pilose; pile of postabdomen black.

MALE. Unknown.

Distribution.

Mexico.

Habitat.

Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion.

Remarks. The specimen failed to barcode. Most similar in appearance to Romaleosyrphus drysus sp. nov. but R. woodi sp. nov. differs in having a scutellum which is only partly yellow pilose, instead having black pile anteromedially. Additionally, cell r2+3 is bare along the margin of vein R4+5 starting from 2/5 the length of cell and ending at cross-vein r-m.

Etymology.

Named after dipterologist Monty Wood to honor his passion for flies and whose collecting trips throughout Central and South America provided many critical Syrphidae for this as well as other future studies.

Figures

Figure 5. Romaleosyrphus dorsal habitus (cont.) A Romaleosyrphus woodi sp. nov. B Romaleosyrphus drysus sp. nov. C Romaleosyrphus nephelaeus sp. nov. D Romaleosyrphus argosi sp. nov.

Figure 7. Romaleosyrphus lateral habitus (cont.) A Romaleosyrphus woodi sp. nov. B Romaleosyrphus drysus sp. nov. C Romaleosyrphus nephelaeus sp. nov. D Romaleosyrphus argosi sp. nov.