Asiobaccha loriae ( de Meijere, 1908 ) Mengual, Ximo, 2016

Mengual, Ximo, 2016, A taxonomic revision of the genus Asiobaccha Violovitsh (Diptera: Syrphidae), Journal of Natural History 50, pp. 2585-2645 : 2603-2607

Asiobaccha loriae ( de Meijere, 1908) comb. nov.

( Figure 6a, b, e )

Baccha loriae de Meijere, 1908: 324 . Holotype lost. Neotype: ♂, MSNG, here designated. Type locality: Papua New Guinea, Moroka. Brunetti 1915: 218; Sack 1926: 574; Sack 1932b: 231; Hull 1936: 196; Knutson et al. 1975: 324.

Allobaccha loriae of Thompson and Vockeroth 1989: 441; de Jong 2000: 120.

Description of the neotype

Male: Head. Face with facial tubercle, yellow, yellow pilose, yellow pollinose except on tubercle; gena yellow, darker posteriorly; lunule yellow; frons yellow on ventral 1/3, black on dorsal 2/3, yellow pilose, yellow pollinose except basomedially; vertical triangle narrow, black; antenna yellow, yellow pilose; arista brown, bare; eye bare, holoptic; occiput white pollinose, yellow pilose on basal 3/4, brown pilose on dorsal 1/4 ( Figure 6e ).

Thorax. Scutum brown to black on central part, with short, pale pile; mesonotal fringe absent; postpronotum yellow, bare; notopleuron yellow, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose; postalar callus lighter (tawny) in background colour, as well as scutum in front of scutellum; scutellum yellow, yellow pilose, subscutellar fringe with yellow pile ( Figure 6a, b ). Pleuron yellow with two dorsoventral black vittae: one from wing base to mesocoxa (central part of anepimeron, area between katepisternum and meron and ventral part of katepisternum black), and another vitta on metaepimeron, metaepisternum and metacoxa, all black; yellow pilose, anterior anepisternum pilose dorsally; metaepisternum pale pilose ventrad to spiracle; metasternum bare; calypter yellow; plumula almost absent; halter: pedicel yellow-brown, capitulum dark brown; posterior spiracular fringes yellow. Wing: membrane infuscated, dark, entirely microtrichose except alula bare. Alula triangular, narrower than costal cell, mostly bare with a few microtrichia. Legs: proleg completely yellow; mesoleg yellow except mesocoxa black; metaleg yellow with black metacoxa, metafemur with a dark subapical annulus, and brown tarsus.

Abdomen. Petiolate, unmargined. Tergum 1 yellow, yellow pilose; tergum 2 yellow with a diffuse brown fascia on posterior margin; tergum 3 yellow on anterior 1/2 – 3/5, shiny black on posterior 2/5 – 1/2, with a diffuse, narrow brown fascia close to the anterior margin; terga 4 and 5 shiny black ( Figure 6a, b ); sterna with the same pattern as terga without brown fascia on terga 2 and 3; genital segments 7 – 10 yellow.

Female. Similar to male except normal sexual dimorphism and as follows: lunule yellow; frons mostly black, white pollinose with a medial, bare, shiny vitta.

Variation. The colouration of the pleuron and metaleg is quite variable: darker specimens having katepisternum blacker on ventral side and darker annulus on metafemur, and lighter specimens with a yellow metaleg. The abdominal pattern is similar in all studied specimens, with the broad fasciae on terga 2 and 3 more or less visible. The wing colouration is also variable and some specimens with apical part hyaline. The wing is completely microtrichose, but a very few specimens have very small areas (not well defined) in the very basal part of the cell BM (less than 1/20 of the cell).

Length (N = 4). Body, 9.0 – 14.5 (12.5) mm; wing, 7.5 – 12.0 (10.5) mm.

Geographical distribution

Species known from New Guinea Island, Sumbawa Island* and Philippines (Luzon)*.

Differential diagnosis

Species with yellow face, alula bare, narrower than costal cell, wing entirely microtrichose and infuscated, and without mesonotal fringe. The abdominal pattern is identical to another two species with tergum 4 entirely black, A. bicolor and A. tripartita , but differs by the wing microtrichia as stated in the key.

Original type locality

Papua New Guinea: Paumomu (river), unknown coordinates ( de Jong 2000).

Neotype locality

Papua New Guinea: Central Province , Moroka, 1300 m, 09°25 ’ S, 147°35 ʹ E ( de Jong 2000).

Material examined

Type material. Neotype, male, deposited in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale ‘ Giacomo Doria ’ (Genova, Italy) and labelled: ‘N. GUINEA S. E. // Moroka, 1300 m. // LORIA VII– XI 93 ’ [handwritten] ‘ Museo Civ. // Genova ’, ‘NEOTYPE // Asiobaccha // loriae ( Meij.) // des. X. Mengual 2014’ [red, handwritten].

Nontype material. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Central Prov ., Moroka , 1300 m, July – November 1893, L. Loria [1♀, MSNG] ;..., Darade Plantation , 80 km N of Port Moresby, 500 m, 7 September 1959, T.C. Maa [1♂, BPBM; 1♂, ZFMK, ZFMKDIP 00011913 ]; Northern Prov ., Kokoda , 1200 ft., April 1933, L.E. Cheesman [1♂ 1♀, BMNH; 1♂ 1♀, CNC; 1♂, ZFMK, ZFMKDIP 00011910 ] ;..., Buna District , Monda, August 1943, W.G. Bodenstein [1♂, CNC]; West Sepik Prov., Telefomin District , Eliptamin Valley, 1200 – 1350 m, 1 – 15 September 1959, W.W. Brandt [1♂, BPBM]; Madang Prov., Finisterre Range , Saidor, Aiyawa village, 16 – 23 June 1958, W.W. Brandt [1♂, BPBM] (specimen photographed);..., Saidor , Gabumi village, 1 – 21 July 1958, W.W. Brandt [1♂, ZFMK, ZFMKDIP 00011912 ]; Morobe Prov., Lae , July 1944, F.E. Skinner [1♀, BPBM];..., Nadzab , Markham, River val., along E. fork Ngafir Creek , 25 June 1944, K.V. Krombein [1♀, USNM, USNMENT 00890742 ];..., 2 July 1944,... [1♀, USNM, USNMENT 00890747 ]; Brown River (?), 12 – 23 October 1968 [1♂, BPBM]. INDONESIA: West Papua Prov., Fak Fak, S coast of Bomberai , 10 – 100 m, 11 June 1959, T.C. Maa [1♀, BPBM];..., Waigeo Island , 25 – 26 October 2012, J.H. Skevington [1♀, CNC, ‘ J. Skevington Specimen # 25733 ’];..., Kebar Valley , W of Manokwari, 550 m, 4 – 31 January 1962, S. Quate [1♀, BPBM];..., L.W. Quate [1♀, BPBM];..., S. and L.W. Quate [1♀, ZFMK, ZFMKDIP 00011936 ];..., trail Sucumi to Ransiki, 300 – 10 m, 7 August 1957, D.E. Hardy [1♀, BPBM]; Papua Prov., Waris , S of Hollandia (Jayapura), 450 – 500 m, 1 – 7 August 1959, T.C. Maa [1♀, BPBM];..., Cyclops Mts , Sabron, 900 ft., May 1936, L.E. Cheesman [1♀, CNC]; Papua Prov., Jayawijaya Regency , Bernhard Camp, Jayawijaya central mountains, 50 m, 03°29 ʹ S, 139°13 ʹ E, 6 October 1938, J. Olthof [1♀, ZFMK, ZFMKDIP 00011933 ; 1♀, RMNH];..., 1 October 1938,... [1♀, RMNH];..., 13 September 1938,... [1♀, RMNH]; Klamong Oilfds , 18 – 24 August 1948, M.A. Lieftinck [1♂ 1♀, RMNH]; Alkmaar Bivak , Lorentz River, December 1909, 04°40 ’ S, 138°43 ʹ E, Elland [1♀, RMNH] .

Remarks

de Meijere (1908) described Baccha loriae using a single female specimen from Paumomu ( Papua New Guinea). Additionally, he referred to another female from Bujacori (Bujakori, south of Papua New Guinea) with some differences, mainly the darker colouration of the scutellum and metaleg. de Meijere (1908) opened the question as to whether this second female belongs to another species, but mentioned that both specimens are similar to Baccha sulica Austen, 1893 . Again, he listed the differences with sulica and these were only about colouration.

The type material of Baccha loriae , which belongs to the MSNG, was destroyed/lost in a fire at the HNHM during the 1956 uprising in Budapest ( de Jong 2000; and confirmed by current personnel of both institutions: Maria Tavano, MSNG; and Zoltán Soltész and Eszter Ágnes Lazányi-Bacsó, HNHM). The second female from Bujacori was found at the MSNG and identified as Asiobaccha bicolor .

The colour variation mentioned by de Meijere (1908) is in the normal variation range of A. bicolor , and it might be possible that Baccha loriae is a junior synonym of A. bicolor . The problem is that there are three very closely related species with the same external appearance (see below) and the type of loriae is destroyed. Accordingly and in order to give a name to a taxon close to A. tripartita and A. bicolor , a neotype for Baccha loriae de Meijere, 1908 is here designated to fix and ensure the universal and consistent interpretation of the name.

Asiobaccha loriae belongs to a species group within Asiobaccha that lacks a mesonotal collar and has similar abdominal pattern, including A. bicolor , A. tripartita and A. loriae . This group might be a complex of more species with significant differences in the wing microtrichia pattern, or they might belong to a single, variable, widespread species. Male genitalia of the three recognised species are identical, as well as general external morphology and colouration. The variation occurs in the wing microtrichia, and the author has been able to separate the three taxa mentioned above. In the author ’ s opinion, another source of characters, such as DNA, will be needed to solve this doubt, although the wing microtrichia pattern serves to separate well all three recognised species.

The two specimens from Nadzab were identified as Episyrphus 87–1 Thompson, in litt.

Figures

Figure 6. Asiobaccha loriae (Meijere). a–b, e, ♂. (a) Dorsal view; (b) lateral view; (e) frontal view. Asiobaccha maculosa Mengual & Thompson sp. nov. c–d, f, holotype ♂. (c) Dorsal view; (d) lateral view; (f) frontal view. Scale bars: a–d = 2 mm; e, f = 1 mm.