F. M. Hull.
Some Flies of the Genus Volucella from the New World.
Psyche 56:26-40, 1949.

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SOME FLIES OF THE GENUS VOLUCELLA FROM
THE NEW WORLD
BY F. M. HULL
University of Mississippi
Recent studies of American Syrphid flies have dis- closed a number of species of Volucella which appear to be undescribed. This paper presents the descriptions of these species. The types are in the author's collec- tion.
Volucella splendens n. sp.
This bright purplish to bluish species is related to macula Wiedemann. It is distinguished by the general color of the abdomen and the rusty orange red face with conspicuous lateral flattened areas on either side of the tubercle. Length 14 mm.
Male.
Head: the face, cheeks and the front, except for a small brown triangular callus, are entirely pale rusty orange in color. The facial tubercle is large and elongate, more abrupt below, with a patch of blackish pile in the middle and the remainder of the facial pile red. The frontal pile is reddish in the middle and the sides but with some black pile in the junction of the eyes. Anten- use light brownish orange, the third segment elongate, narrow upon a little more than the apical half and this apical portion with parallel sides in the male. Eyes holoptic for a long distance, flattened above with the up- per facets greatly enlarged and the ocular pile dense and long and pale brownish yellow. Vertical pile black. The pollen of the face is restricted to the upper portion be- neath the antennae and is distinctly pale brownish yellow. The sides of the upper portion of the face on either side of the tubercle are distinctly flattened leaving a rather sharp ridge laterally and a corresponding well marked crease beside the tubercle; the intervening area is flat- tened. TJioraas: the mesonotum is shining black, becom- ing diffusely brown on the notopleura, the humeri, the intervening area, the margin above the wing and the 26
Pu&e 56:26-40 (1949). hup Ytpsychu einclub org/S(i/56-026 html



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19491 Hull-Genus Volucella 27
post calli. This marginal color is moderately light brown ; the mesopleura, pteropleura and upper metapleura, are similarly brown, but ventrally the pleura becomes black- ish. There are some bluish reflections upon the posterior half of the mesonotum in the middle and a pair of faint sub- lateral shining coppery vittse.
The m&onotal pile is
chiefly black with five longitudinal stripes of shorter yel- low pile which are restricted to the anterior half of the mesonotum and are best seen in the posterior view. The bristles of the thorax and scutellum are black; the meso- pleura with one bristle, the bulbous notopleura with four, the post calli with six, the supraalae region with three, the prescutellar region with eleven,. the scutellar margin with fourteen, all of which are strong and more or less tuberculate. t he scutellum is somewhat flattened and concave before the apex but without definite crease. The color of the scutellum is dark brown, over the disc which is also microgranulate, the base of the scutellum and the margin hyalhe yellowish brown.
Scutellum upon the
disc with purplish reflections and the disc with very fine black hairs, rather long, which seem to proceed from the granulations but these hairs are scarce and scattered in all of my specimens whereas the granulations are very dense. Squamae dark brown with brown fringe and bor- der. Le.qs: the femora are dark reddish brown, the an- terior
and middle pair becoming lighter incolor on the apical half.
The hind pair are almost black especi-
ally on the dorsal margin. All of the tibiae light coffee brown, the hind tibiae somewhat darker and with a sug- gestion of a blackish brown post medial band. First
three segments of anterior and middle tarsi light reddish brown, the remaining ones black. Hind tarsi similarly colored but the color a little dark. Pile of legs black. Ventral tarsal mats blackish and upon the hind pair deep reddish sepia. Wings: with a large, quadrate, dark sepia brown spot in the middle of the anterior half, the costal and the first basal cells, the subcostal cell brownish yel- low. Marginal cell closed with a short stalk. Abdomen: first segment black, the remaining segments brilliant metallic blue with traces of purple reflections in the mid-



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28 Psyche [Mar.
die and very faint traces of green mixed in the blue along the lateral margins. Abdominal pile entirely black ex- cept upon the first segment and narrowly along the base of the second where it is yellowish. Sternites metallic bluish black; not so brilliant as the tergites. The pile chiefly yellow becoming black beyond the middle of the third sternite.
Female. Similar to the male in every respect with the front entirely light reddish chestnut brown divided down the middle with faint linear impressions. The pile of the eyes is more sparse but is of the same color as in the male. Third antenna1 segment slightly concave in the middle above, the apical portion not with parallel sides. Arista pale yellow with about twenty-five long rays. Holotype : male, allotype female and one paratype fe- male from Nova Teutonia, Brazil, collected by Fritz Plaumann, Jan.-April 1948.
This species traces to macula Wiedemann or to pana- mena Curran in Curran's key.
Volucella liriope n. sp.
A small species related to macula Wiedemann and obli- quicornis ~hrran, the tibia are entirely reddish and the abdomen beyond the first segment is entirely black. There is a large brown spot upon the wings. Length 7 mm. Male. Head: the face, cheeks and front are light yel- lowish brown.
The tubercle is low with a patch of stiff black hairs in the middle ; face otherwise with a few scat- tered yellow hairs and sparse yellow pollen beneath the antennae. The frontal callus is dark brown, the frontal pile and the vertical pile black. The antennae'are elongate and entirely light brownish orange with the arista yellow- ish on the basal half but darker apically and with about twenty-one long rays. The eyes have the upper facets somewhat enlarged but not flattened; the ocular pile is light brownish to reddish yellow and quite thick upon the upper half. Tlwrax: mesonotum with opalescent strong greenish reflections and a coppery reflection where the light strikes. The sides of the mesonotum and the an- terior margin and the upper part of the pleura are light



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1949 I Hull-Genus VolucetIa 29
reddish or yellowish brown in color.
The mesonotal pile
is black with a few pale hairs behind the humeri. The
humeri are pale yellow. All pleural pile black. The bristles of the thorax and seutellmu are black; there is one bristle upon the mesopleura, three on the notopleura, three above wing, three upon the post ealli, six in front of the scutellum and six upon the scutellar margin. The scutellmn is dark brown h color, the disc subopaque with- out posterior depression; the disc also has bluish to cop- pery reflections and is apparently devoid of pile, although fine granulations suggest that there may have been pile. There are also a few slender black hairs on each bmo- lateral margin. Squamae brown with dark brown border and fringe. Legs: the femora are brown, the hind pair quite dark, the anterior pair somewhat yellowish brown. Anterior and middle tibiae brown, the hind pair deep sepia. First three segments of all of the tarsi rather light brownish yellow but black pilose, the mat pile on the hind tarsi light reddish, yellow; terminal segments of tarsi blackish.
Wings : distinctly greyish hyaline with
a prominent, large, quadrate, sepia brown spot in the mid- dle anteriorly; the remainder of the first basal cell is also blackish except at the base and except just in front of the large brown spot. The posterior cross-veins and the margin of the anal vein are blackish ; the stigma1 cell is yellow beyond the quadrate brown blotch then becomes blackish for a short distance and beyond this for nearly half of its length the stigma1 cell is light brownish grey. Marginal cell closed with a rather long stall?. Abdomen: first segment is dark sepia brown, more or less shining; the remaining segments are black with strong opalescent bluish reflections; there is a faint brassy cast where the light strikes them.
Female.
Similar to the male; the front is shining light coffee brown on the lower half becoming opalescent blackish on the upper half. There is a medial, linear im- pression on the upper half of the front and in the middle of the front the slightly raised portion is longitudinally striate with some of the striae curved.
Holotype : male, allotype, female, Nova Teutonia, Bra- zil, Jan. to April 1948, collected by Fritz Plamam.



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30 Psyche [Mar.
Volucella impressa n. sp.
This species is related to pinkusi Curran and aster Curran but is easily distinguished by the wholly black abdomen besides other differences. There is a diffuse brown tinge in the middle of the wing, and a narrow brown stripe between the face and cheeks. Length 10 mm. Male.
Head: the face, except the region beneath the antennae, and cheeks, except the posterior part, light cof- fee brown in color without any medial black stripe. There is, however, a slender brown stripe from the eye margin to the epistoma.
The lower face is somewhat conical and
slender. The low tubercle is thickly black pilose, the pile upon the sides of the face reddish yellow. Beneath the antennae the face is blackish with pale yellow pollen which continues thinly but widely down to the epistoma. The front is sepia brown becoming black near the junc- tion of the eyes with thin, pale brownish yellow pollen. The frontal and vertical pile is black. The eyes are not flattened, the upper facets scarcely enlarged, the ocular pile dense and sepia brown in color, not black. The an- tennae are reddish brown throughout, the third segment more narrow on the apical half; the arista is yellowish basally, blackish apically, with about seventeen rather short rays. Thorax: the mesonotum and scutellum, ex- cept for the humeri and post calli, are entirely black with strong greenish to bluish opalescent color and coppery reflection where the light strikes. The humeri and post calli are light brownish yellow. The mesonotal, pleural and scutellar pile is black and rather dense and fine ex- cept for four longitudinal stripes of nearly white pile on the mesonotum which is most readily seen in posterior view. These stripes of pile extend fully three-fourths the length of the mesonotum with the outer pair wider. There are a very few pale hairs at the extreme base of the scutellum, but its ventral fringe is black. The bris- tles of the thorax are black; there is one bristle upon the mesopleura, three on the notopleura, three above wing, three on the post calli, none in front of the scutellum and ten upon the margin of the scutellum. The scutellum is concolorous with the mesonotum with a very deep, trans-



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19491 Hull-Genus Volucella 31
verse, preapical depression extending the entire apical width of the scutellum. The squamse are pale brown, the outer border, the margin and the fringe very dark sepia brown. Legs: black, only the extreme base of the an- terior and middle tibias and the extreme apex of their femora yellowish brown. Pile of legs black, the ventral mat of the hind tarsi very nearly black but actually red- dish sepia in the middle. Wings: pale brownish hyaline with more distinct but diffuse yellowish brown tinge in the middle of the wing in the whole of the stigma1 portion of the subcostal cell and in the outer half of the costal cell. Marginal cell widely open. Abdomen: the first seg- ment is shining black, the remaining segments black and shining with very strong opalescent greenish color and coppery reflection where the light strikes them. Hypo- pygium black. Sternites shining black with less conspic- uous opalescent reflections. The pile of the first and sec- ond sternites widely white through the middle with a few black hairs laterally. Third and fourth sternites with more restricted white pile in the middle. Female.
Similar to the male, the front shining black throughout except upon the preantennal callus which is narrowly reddish. Frontal and vertical pile of the fe- male black. Pile of the abdomen broadly whitish on the basal portion of the second, third and fourth segments, becoming black narrowly on the posterior border of the second segment, black upon the posterior half of the third segment and the posterior half of the fourth seg- ment except in the posterior corners.
Holotype : male, allotype, female, one paratype female, Nova Teutonia, Brazil, collected by Fritz Plauniann, Jan.-Apr., 1948.
Volucella tripunctata n. sp.
A small species characterized by the three brown spots in the middle of the wing, the broad yellow translucent base to the abdomen. Related to fracta Curran. Length 7.5 mm.
Male.
Head: face and the anterior half of the cheeks light yellowish brown.
There is an indistinct medial




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Psyche [Mar.
stripe upon the face which is blackish, a distinct wide stripe from eye margin to epistoma and the posterior half of the cheeks are black. Face with yellowish white pile and the yellow pollen is restricted to the area below the antennae.
The front is black with only a little pollen along the eye margins ; its pile is yellowish. The pile of the vertex is black. The eyes are not flattened but the upper facets are considerably enlarged and thickly dark reddish brown pilose ; the pile extends more thinly almost to the bottom of the eye. The antennae are light brown, the arista yellowish but black apically with about fifteen short rays. Thorax: the mesonoturn and scutellum are shining black, the former with rather distinct purplish reflections which are "not opalescent. The scutellum is slightly opalescent in reflection with a strong, complete, transverse, preapical depression which is microgranu- late. The post call! and humeri are light brown; pleura black and black pilose. The mesonotal pile and scutellar pile black but with some scattered shorter yellow pile on the rnesonotmn which extends almost to the scutelhnn and is not arranged in rows. The bristles of the thorax are black; there is one bristle on the mesopleura, two on the notopleura, three above the wing, two upon the post call;, none in front of the scutellum and eight upon the scutel- lar margin. Squamse very dark sepia throughout. Legs: the femora are black becoming obscurely dark reddish brown near the apex; the tibk are black, very narrowly reddish sepia at the base of the first and second pairs. Anterior tarsi black, their basitarsi brown upon the sides. Middle tarsi black with the basitarsi brown. First two segments of hind tarsi rather light reddish brown, the remaining segments black. Pile of legs black, reddish however, beneath the hind tarsi. Wings: very strongly tinged with yellowish brown especially upon the anterior half from which it fades and becomes paler and less yel- lowish posteriorly. The whole stigma1 cell is rather deep brownish yellow beyond the end of the costal cell and with a slightly darker brown spot across this cell at the end of the costa. There are deep, distinct, small brownish spots on the anterior cross vein, the base of the



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19491 Hull-Genus Volucella
33
third vein and at the base of the discal and third poste- rior cells. Marginal cell closed in the costa. Abdomen: first segment and a little more than the basal half of the second segment light yellowish and translucent. The translucent area laterally extends almost to the posterior corners but is narrowly divided in the middle by a medial blackish vitta which reaches nearly to the base of the second segment; the remainder of the second and the whole of the third and fourth segments are shining black. The pile is yellow upon the yellow areas of the first seg- ments, widely yellow on the third segment, except imme- diately along the posterior margin, and yellow upon the fourth segment. Second sternite and narrow base of the third light translucent yellowish ; sternal pile yellowish white.
Female.
Similar to the male, the front black and shin- ing .- with - pale yellow pile.
The marginal cell rather
widely open.
Holotype: male, allotype, female and one paratype female, Nova Teutonia, Brazil, Jan. to April 1948, col- lected by Fritz Plaumann.
Volucella palmyra n. sp.
A small species related to zephyrea Curran but dis- tinguished by the yellow pilose pleura and the entirely black front tarsi. Moreover, the entire hind tibiae are unicolorous brownish black, not half brown. The de-
pression of the scutellum is very shallow and oval. Length 6 rnm.
Female.
Head: the face is rather deeply conical, the tubercle moderate but the face very deeply excavated above. The face and cheeks are pale yellowish brown with a faint trace of a slender brown stripe from epi- stoma to eye margin. The facial pile is sparse and short and yellow, the yellow pollen restricted to the area be- neath the antennae. The front is shining black with only the area about the preantennal callus reddish brown. The pile of the front and ocellar region is sparse, short and yellow, the upper occipital pile behind the ocelli black. Eyes with sparse, short yellowish white pile.



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34 Psyche [Mar.
The antennae are light brownish orange, the third seg- ment rather short hut broad on the basal half and nar- rowing but little apically; the dorsal margin is flat and straight except at the base and apex. Arista yellow, black at the apex, with about fifteen rays. Thorax: the memnotum is very dark sepia brown across the middle with strong bluish to purplish reflection; the blue color is arranged in faint obscure stripes. The sides of the mesonoturn, the anterior margin and the post calli are light brown. The upper half of the pleura is lighter and more yellowish brown. Pleural pile brownish to reddish yellow. The mesonotal pile is short and sparse; from posterior view it appears to he chiefly light yellow with some brownish or black pile intermixed, especially in front of the scutellum; from anterior view this pile appears to be almost entirely brown to black. The bristles of the thorax are black; there is one upon the mesopleura, two upon the notopleura, three aliove wing, two on post calli, none in front of scutellum and six upon the scutellum margin. The scutelimn is brown; it is somewhat paler down the middle and in the basal corners but with baso-lateral flattened granulate areas which show a blue reflection and which areas are not longer than wide. Beyond these flattened areas on either aide the scutellum has a purplish reflection. The preapical depression is large, quite short-oval, and extremely shal- low and granulate. Squamse pale brown with rather darker reddish brown fringe. Legs: the femora are blackish becoming yellowish to reddish brown apically. All of the tibise are extremely dark sepia brown and almost black throughout. Anterior tarsi black ; the middle basitarsi'dark brown, the remainder of the seg- ments black. Hind basitarsi rather light reddish brown, the remaining segments black. The pile of the legs is black. Wings: tinged with brown which is faintly yel- lowish; the brown tinge is a little darker on the apical half. There is a large quadrate brown spot restricted to the subeostal cell at the end of and hduding the tip of the costal cell.
The marginal cell is widely open.
Abdomen: the first




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1949 I Hull-Genus VoZuceZZa 35
segment is dark brown, the second shining black with a pair of diffusely margined yellow triangles on the base of the segment which are subtranslucent and divided in the middle by a diffuse blackish vitta. Third and fourth segments extremely dark sepia but appearing chiefly blackish especially in the middle. The pile of the second, third and fourth segments is abundant, very fine and ac- tually entirely very pale yellowish white ; in some lights it appears to be blackish.
Holotype : female, Nova Teutonia, Brazil, Fritz Plau- mann ; Jan.-Apr., 1948.
Volucella nigropoda n. sp.
A yellow and black species.
Related to corrects Cur-
ran, the legs are quite black instead of reddish. More
than three-fourths of the mesonotum is black with a purplish reflection. Length 7 mm.
Male. Head: the face and the posterior portion of the cheeks and the front are pale yellow.
The face has a
brownish black middle stripe becoming evanescent be- tween the tubercle and theantennae. There is a very wide polished black stripe from the lower eye margin to the epistoma. The pile of the front and face is pale yellow; the antennae are pale brownish orange. The arista are pale, becoming dark only at the extreme tip; it has seventeen rays. The eyes are widely touching, the upper facets only slightly enlarged; the upper ocular pile is very dense, longer than that on the lower half and nearly black in color. This upper pile becomes thinner dorsally and posteriorly beyond the area of the enlarged facets. The lower ocular pile appears to be reddish to yellowish brown. Vertex black with a few black hairs. The eye facets extend to the posterior rim of the head upon the upper one-f ourth ; the occiput which is yellowish or greyish white pollinose stops at this point. Pile of the occiput very short, sparse and pale yellow. Thorax: the mesonotum is widely shining black with an opalescent bluish and strong coppery or purple reflection. The lat- eral margins are broadly pale yellow but the black medial area is considerably wider than the scutellum and occu-



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36 Psyche [Mar.