Callicera scintilla, Smit, John, 2014

Smit, John, 2014, Two new species of the genus Callicera Panzer (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Palaearctic Region, Zootaxa 3779 (5), pp. 585-590 : 588-589

Callicera scintilla sp. nov.

( Figure 2 )

Type material. Holotype: ♀. Label 1: “ Giordania; 17/10/67.” Label 2: “ HOLOTYPE ♀; Callicera ; scintilla Smit ; Det. J.T. Smit 2014.”

The female holotype is in good condition, though the abdomen has clearly been wet and is therefore less lustrous than it should be, given the lustre of the head and thorax, also the hairs on the abdomen are stuck to the tergites. The holotype is deposited in RMNH.

Description. Body length (excluding antennae): 17 mm. Head. Entirely shining, metallic golden bronze, all hairs golden-orange. Face with ad-pressed hairs, thinly dusted below, a bare line in the middle, between the antennae and the mouth-edge and broader ones on the genae. Frons less densely haired than face and hairs not adpressed. Above the lunule bare from eye to eye. Vertex with two bare spots between the ocellar triangle and the eyes. Ocellar triangle clearly haired. Frons with some inconspicuous dusting underneath the hairs. Occiput heavily dusted in lower half. Eyes haired, arranged in bands of different shading, giving the appearance of having two hairbands, very much like Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus) . Antenna entirely orange. Style long, base orange, otherwise whitish. Antennal ratio: 1; 1; 1.9; 1 (scape; pedicel; basoflagellomere; style). Thorax. Entirely shining metallic golden bronze, hairs predominantly orange-red except on notopleuron and posterior anepisternum and scutellar rim, where the hairs are much paler, yellowish white and contrasting with the rest. Scutum in the middle with two faint, silvery, shining lines reaching about ¾ of the distance to the scutellum. Wings. Hyaline but with a clear yellow tinge anteriorly, reaching into cell r and narrowly into cell r4+5. All veins yellow-orange. Legs. All legs with only the coxa dark brown, the trochanter, femur, tibia and all tarsomeres entirely red, the claws bicoloured, red basally and black apically. Coxae and trochanters entirely orange haired, only coxa 3 with a few dark brown hairs on its anterior surface. Abdomen. Entirely dark metallic bronze. It has clearly been wet and is probably much less shining than it should be. On the third tergite there seems to have been a dull band across the entire width of the segment in the posterior half, but it is difficult to see. Whether the second tergite has had any dull markings at all is impossible to determine, due to the hairs sticking to the tergite.

Diagnosis. Differs from all other known Callicera species with entirely red legs, as well as all other species described from the Palaearctic, by the entirely bright, orange-red antennae. Superficially it resembles most C. spinolae , the latter having a different antennal ratio (1: 0.7; 1.9; 1), black antennae, black trochanters, partially black tarsi and a black scutum which is by far not as lustrous and metallic as in C. scintilla sp. nov.

Etymology. The specific epithet is the Latin noun “ scintilla ” (= glimmering or shining) in apposition, which refers to the extravagant lustrous metallic sheen of the fly, present in nearly all Callicera species, but this one seems to top them all.

Distribution. Jordan.

Habitat. The habitat of this species is unknown but given the saproxylic biology of the immature stages it is most likely found near trees, thus restricting the possibilities greatly in this predominantly desert country. Moreover, it is uncertain if the larvae can develop in palm trees, reducing the possibilities even further. This is only the second saproxylic species recorded from Jordan ( Waitzbauer & Katbeh-Bader 2002). Additional fieldwork is needed in order to ascertain the exact location or localities where this species might occur.

Remarks. This is the first species of Callicera described from this region. Three species have been recorded previously from the Middle East: C. aenea , C. aurata and C. macquartii ( Saribiyik 2014; Tóth 2013) and a fourth is known from a photographic record: C. rufa (http://diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=5528&pid=24686), all from Turkey. From Jordan’s neighbouring country Israel no species have been recorded but several specimens belonging to different species are present in the collection of TAUI (pers. comm. A. Freidberg & E. Morgulis), none of which resembles C. scintilla sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Female holotype Callicera scintilla sp. nov.: A: head in dorsal view. B: head in lateral view. C: dorsolateral habitus. D: dorsal habitus.