Craspedochaeta pleuralis ( Williston, 1896 ) Lonsdale & Marshall, 2006

Lonsdale, Owen & Marshall, Stephen A., 2006, Revision of the New World species of Craspedochaeta (Diptera: Clusiidae), Zootaxa 1291 (1), pp. 1-101 : 44-47

Craspedochaeta pleuralis ( Williston, 1896) comb.nov

( Figs. 8 , 21 , 24 , 57, 58 , 64 , 67 , Map 8)

Heteroneura pleuralis Williston, 1896: 387 . Czerny, 1903: 102.

Sobarocephala pleuralis, Melander & Argo, 1924: 45–46 .

Redescription ( Figs. 8 , 21 , 24 )

Body length 3.1–3.3 mm. Bristles light brown to yellow (including bristles on basal section of costa). Acrostichal bristle present. Notum yellow with distinct to irregular cruciate pattern; pattern occasionally faded or absent centrally; holotype with postpronotum brown anteriorly. Scutellum and laterotergites brown. Pleuron white to light yellow with vertical brown stripe in posterodorsal corner of anepisternum. Legs white to light yellow. Head yellow to light yellow with frons light brown to orange posteriorly, ocellar spot brown and back of head with one pair of brown stripes; face sometimes light brown on lower half (holotype with face yellow); gena and parafacial white and silvery tomentose. Abdomen predominantly dark brown with tergite 1 yellow and with cerci and surstylus white. Wing lightly infuscated along distal ¼ of R and R (darkest along R 2+3), distance between crossveins distinctly greater than length of posterior cross­vein.

2+3

4+5

Female

Externally as described for male except as follows: anterior half of tergite 2 yellow; anterior corners of tergites 3 and 4 yellow; terminalia yellow.

Male terminalia ( Figs. 57, 58 , 64 )

Annulus well developed. Epandrium slightly higher than wide; height ¾ length. Cerci large and plate­like, as long as epandrium and shallowly emarginate. Surstylus smooth, relatively long (compared to others with cruciate pattern), and strongly curved posteriorly. Pregonite with one long and numerous minute bristles; anterodistal margin with rounded protuberance. Phallapodeme small and triangular with apex curled backwards. Basiphallus elongate (slightly less than length of hypandrial arm). Distiphallus small and pointed; subequal in length to phallapodeme. Ejaculatory apodeme small with “stem” shorter than width of “cap” (cf. fig. 59).

Female terminalia ( Fig. 67 )

Spermatheca subcylindrical with distal 1/3 strongly tapered (“jalapeno­shaped”). Spermathecal duct thin and 1/3 length of spermatheca. Ventral receptacle ovate and poorly sclerotized. Subterminal flagellum very thin, approximately four and a half times length of ventral receptacle and slightly swollen distally with apex pointed.

Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Venezuela (Map 8).

Holotype: ST. VINCENT. W.I., Leeward side, H.H. Smith (1♂, BMNH).

Additional material examined: 257♀♀ 268♂♂ [ CNCI, DEBU, EMUS, INBC, INPA, IZAV, QCAZ, NHRS, ROME, USNM]

Comments: Craspedochaeta pleuralis can sometimes be difficult to separate from C. transversa , C. synneura , and paler specimens of C. pollostos because their colouration can be quite similar, the characters of the wings are subtle, and the distance between the crossveins is slightly reduced in some specimens. The most reliable way to separate these species is by examining the shape of the surstylus (see Figs 45–58 ).

One aberrant specimen from Brazil (Amazonas: S. Gabriel Cachoeira, Morro 6 Lagos, 28.ix–6.x. 1990, 800m, arm. Malaise, J.A. Rafael & J. Vidal (1♀, INPA)) agrees with the above description but the transverse stripe is not continuous with the longitudinal stripe, the laterotergites are yellow (excluding the lateral margins and a small sub­scutellar spot) and the apex of the scutellum is extensively yellow .

While several species of Craspedochaeta are found in the Caribbean, C. pleuralis is by far the most frequently encountered. Craspedochaeta pleuralis is also one of the most commonly collected species throughout the neotropics, along with C. pollostos , C. concinna and C. annulipes .

Craspedochaeta sasakawai nomen nov. is provided here as a replacement name for the Pacific C. pleuralis ( Curran, 1936) , a junior homonym of the neotropical C. pleuralis ( Williston, 1896) . The name honours Dr. Mitsuhiro Sasakawa, who revised the Oriental Craspedochaeta in 1971.

Figures

FIGURES 7–9: heads; outline drawing, left lateral (arista and bristles removed, excluding vibrissa and fronto­orbital bristles); 7: Craspedochaeta concinna (Williston, 1896) (C. concinna species group); 8: C. pleuralis (Williston, 1896) (C. transversa species group); 9: C. argoniae spec. nov. (C. biseta species group).

FIGURES 10–23: Head and thorax, dorsal colouration of the New World Craspedochaeta without an entirely dark notum; 10: C. xanthonotum spec. nov.; 11: C. festiva (Sóos, 1962); 12: C. loreto spec. nov.; 13: C. trivittata (Sóos, 1962); 14: C. weemsi spec. nov.; 15: C. pacaraima spec. nov.; 16: C. candida spec. nov.; 17: C. apsilutea spec. nov.; 18: C. ornata (Hennig, 1938); 19: C. transversa Czerny, 1903; 20: C. synneura (Hennig, 1938); 21: C. pleuralis (Williston, 1896); 22: C. pollostos spec. nov; 23: C. chela spec. nov, male.

FIGURES 24–26: Left wing, ventral (arrows indicate diagnostic characters mentioned in the key); 24: Craspedochaeta pleuralis (Williston, 1896); 25: C. synneura (Hennig, 1938); 26: C. transversa Czerny, 1903.

FIGURES 53–58: Male terminalia, external: Figs. 53–54: Craspedochaeta transversa Czerny, 1903; Fig. 53: left lateral; Fig. 54: posterior; Figs. 55–56: C. synneura (Hennig, 1938); Fig. 55: left lateral; Fig. 56: posterior; Figs. 57–58: C. pleuralis (Williston, 1896); Fig. 57: left lateral; Fig. 58: posterior.

FIGURES 61–66: Hypandrial complex, left lateral; Fig. 61: Craspedochaeta transversa Czerny, 1903; Fig. 62: C. chela spec. nov.; Fig. 63: C. pollostos spec. nov.; Fig. 64: C. pleuralis (Williston, 1896); Fig. 65: C. weemsi spec. nov.; Fig. 66: C. candida spec. nov.

FIGURES 67–70: Internal female genitalia; Figs. 67: Craspedochaeta pleuralis (Williston, 1896); Figs. 68: C. pollostos spec. nov.; Figs. 69: C. weemsi spec. nov.; Figs. 70: C. synneura (Hennig, 1938).

FIGURES 45–46: Craspedochaeta candida spec. nov.; Fig. 45: external male terminalia, left lateral; Fig. 46: external male terminalia, posterior.

FIGURES 47–52: male terminalia, external: Figs. 47–48: Craspedochaeta pollostos spec. nov.; Fig. 47: left lateral; Fig. 48: posterior; Figs. 49–50: C. chela spec. nov.; Fig. 49: left lateral; Fig. 50: posterior; Figs. 51–52: C. weemsi spec. nov.; Fig. 51: left lateral; Fig. 52: posterior.