Geron vitripennis Loew

Hall, Jack C. & Evenhuis, Neal L., 2003, Review of the subgenus Geron (Geron) Meigen in the Nearctic Region (Diptera: Bombyliidae: Toxophorinae), Zootaxa 181, pp. 1-72 : 63-65

Geron vitripennis Loew

Geron vitripennis Loew, 1869:173 . Osten Sacken 1878: 94. Smith 1890: 378. Johnson 1894: 275. Aldrich 1905: 245. Painter 1932: 149. Brimley 1938: 342. Tabet 1974: 21. Evenhuis 1982: 19. Poole & Gentili 1996: 71. Mayfield 1998: 492. Evenhuis & Greathead 1999: 49. Skevington et al. 2000: [unnumbered web page]. Skevington et al. 2001: 105.

Description. Male. Head. Front silver­white tomentose, a few whitish hairs laterally; antennal scape and pedicel with black hair, scape with a few white hairs at base; first flagellomere linear, evenly tapering from base to acuminate apex; antennal ratio: 11:5:27; face cinereous pollinose, white pilose, bare medially; oral margin pale; proboscis projects beyond oral margin for a distance about two and one­half head height; gena white pilose and tomentose; occiput with lower half white pilose and tomentose, tomentum scattered, upper half with pale yellow pile, tomentum wanting; ocellar tubercle with dark brown to black hair.

Thorax. Mesonotum dull black, lateral and anterior margins narrowly cinereous pollinose; median longitudinal cinereous stripe divided, short, not reaching transverse suture; notum with white to yellow pile, shorter black hair medially behind transverse suture; posterior half of notum with scattered golden yellow tomentum; pleura white pilose and tomentose; halter with stem and knob yellowish; scutellum with yellow hair, tomentum wanting.

Wing. Hyaline, or at most slightly infumate; venation normal; crossvein r­m slightly beyond middle of cell dm; crossvein m­cu slightly sinuous; basicosta with yellow hair.

Abdomen. Dorsum pale yellow pilose, tomentum golden yellow, scattered; side and venter white pilose and tomentose; tergites with lateral margins narrowly pale; sternites with posterior margins narrowly pale.

Genitalia ( Fig. 56 ) in ventral view with gonocoxa with two depressions separated by a strong ridge; in lateral view, gonocoxa narrow, elongated, lower margin undulating, without protuberances; gonostylus narrow, rounded apically; lateral ramus narrow, acuminate apically, not as long as gonostylus; dorsolateral ramus elongate, narrow, nearly as long as lateral ramus; aedeagus not evident.

Female. As in male except as follows: Head. Eyes separated at vertex by twice width of ocellar tubercle; front cinereous pollinose, with yellow hair, tomentum golden yellow medially, silver laterally, along eye margin; scape with white hair on basal two­thirds, apical third with black hair; face with pale yellow to white hair; occiput with yellow hair and golden yellow tomentum on upper half; ocellar tubercle with black hair. Thorax. Mesonotum yellow pilose and golden yellow tomentose; median longitudinal stripe narrow, reaching beyond transverse suture; legs with white hair and white to pale yellow scales; Fore tibiae with black scales on anterior surface. Abdomen. Dorsum yellow pilose and golden yellow tomentose, the latter abundant. Genitalia with posterior projection of tergite VIII rounded black; vaginal furca ( Fig. 25 ) simple; upper half V­shaped; lower half with arms narrow, twisted, bent outward at base; outer lobe present or absent (shown as dashed lines in Fig. 25 ).

Types. Two syntype males (“Middle States”) in MCZ (No. 12713). The only label on each specimen says “Loew”, with no indication as to locality; the bottom label “ vitripennis ” is in Loew’s writing. The specimen in which the genitalia have been dissected, placed in a microvial attached to the pin, is herein designated as lectotype male.

Material Examined. United States. Arizona. Cochise County: 2, 5 mi. NE Portal, 5.ix.1969, in copula (J. Wilcox); 1, Montezuma Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, 2.ix.1958 (R.H. & E.M. Painter). Gila County: 1, 11 mi. S. Seneca, 27.viii.1964 (P.A. Rauch). Colorado. Pueblo County: 1, [no further data], 16.viii.1962 (N. Marston). Jefferson County: 1, [no further data], 24.viii.1961 (N. Marston). Florida. Levy County: 1, [no further data], 3.vii.1954 (H.V. Weems, Jr.). Highlands County: 1, Lake Annie, 10­26.iv.1969 (K.V. Krombein). Idaho. Bonneville County: 1, 11 mi. W. Idaho Falls, 7.vii.1958 (R.H. & E.M. Painter). Kansas. Riley County: 1, Manhattan, 14.vii.1963 (N. & B. Marston). Nevada. Elko County: 1, Elko, 9.viii.1958 (R.H. Painter); 1, Secret Pass, 9.viii.1958 (R.H. Painter). New Mexico. Hidalgo County: 1, 13 mi. N. Rodeo, 8.viii.1965 (G.R. Ballmer). Otero County: 1, Cloudcroft, 3.viii.1961 (R.H. Painter). Oklahoma. Comanche County: 1, Lawton, 3.vi.1930 (R.H. Painter). Utah. Sanpete County: 1, Oak Creek Canyon, 19.viii.1967 (E.M. & R.H. Painter). Virginia. Arlington County, 1, Glencarlyn, 22.viii.1913 (C.T. Greene); 1, Clarendon, 21.vii.1912 (B.A. Reynolds). Mexico. Nuevo León: 1, 13 mi. W. Linares, 26.ix.1963 (R.H. & E.M. Painter). Veracruz: 1, 17 mi. SE Jalapa, 19.viii.1963 (R.H. & E.M. Painter).

Variation. Scape and pedicel occasionally with white hair, sometimes scape with white hair on dorsal surface and black hair elsewhere, this is especially true in the southwestern specimens. The color of the pile varies from white to yellow and the tomentum may be golden yellow, yellow, or pale yellow. The middle and hind tibiae vary from brownish to testaceous and the patch of black scales on the anterior surface of the fore tibiae in the female is not always evident. The wing sometimes is lightly infumate in the more northern specimens.

Biology. Immature stages unknown. Adults have been taken at flowers of Veron i a sp., Polygonella gracilis , P. f i m b r i a t a, Chapmannia floridana , Heterotheca graminifolia , H. subaxillaris , Carberia fruticosa , Liatris tenuifolia, Baldwinia angustifolia, Palafoxia feavi, Eupatorium mohrii, Galectin regularis, Commilinae erecta, Richardia scabra, Dicerandra frutescens, Hypericum edisonianum, H. reductum, Barfaris racemosa, and Symeria pectinata .

Distribution: Canada (Ontario); United States (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia); Mexico (Nuevo León, Veracruz).

Figures

FIGURES 54 – 57. Geron male genitalia. 53, G. stenos Hall & Evenhuis, sp. nov.; a, lateral view; b, gonocoxa, ventral view. 55, G. subauratus Loew; a, lateral view; b, gonocoxa, ventral view. 56, G. vitripennis Loew; a, lateral view; b, tip of gonocoxa, ventral view. 57, G. weemsi Hall & Evenhuis, sp. nov.; a, lateral view; b, gonocoxa, ventral view.

FIGURES 25 – 26. Geron vaginal furcae. 25, G. vitripennis Loew. 26, G. weemsi Hall & Evenhuis, sp. nov.