F. M. Hull.
New American Syrphid Flies of the Subfamily Eristalinæ.
Psyche 56:120-138, 1949.
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NEW AMERICAN SYRPHID FLIES OF THE
SUBFAMILY ERISTALINX
BY FRANK M. HULL
University of Mississippi
A number of species of Syrphid flies from the Neo- tropical region have been studied by the author during the past year. This paper describes the members of the subfamily Eristalinae. The types are in the author's col- lection.
Eristalis Vera n. sp.
A large species related to scutellaris but distinguished by entirely black pile in front of the transverse mesonotal suture and by the polished black hind tibiae. Length 13 mm.
Female. Bead: face, front and cheeks shining black, the sides of the face with wide, thin, greyish white polli- nose bands which reach to the epistoma. Facial pile white; frontal pile, vertical pile black. The greyish white pollen of the face proceeds narrowly up along the frontal eye margin for two-thirds the length of the front. The upper portion of the front has an opaque black band extending from margin to margin which is acutely pro- duced forward in the middle of the front for a short dis- tance. The anterior margin of the black spot tends to be bordered by white pollen. The lower part of the front above the preantennal callus is slightly raised and mi- nutely punctate. The callus has diagonal, rugose furrows on either side. The antennae are black; the arista is red- dish sepia becoming a little lighter towards the base. Eyes bare. Facial concavity moderately deep above the tubercle. Thorax: mesonotum and scutellum entirely black pilose ; only the notopleura and the ventral scutel- lar fringe are whitish pilose. There is an indistinct grey band in front of the transverse suture. The anterior margin of the transverse suture itself is obscurely mar- gined with greyish white pollen. Behind the transverse 120
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19491 Hull-Syrphid Flies 121
suture there is a broad band of opaque black followed by a wider band of shining bluish black. In front of the scutellum there is a rnedially rounded, transverse band of opaque black extending forward at the postcalli to in- clude all of these structures. The pile of the postcalli is entirely black. The scutellum is clear, opaque yellow with the declivitous portion of the base and narrow lat- eral basal triangles black. The pleural pile is white but black on the pteropleura. Squamae white on the outer lateral basal corners, the remainder black or dark brown with blackish border and fringe. Legs: black, the basal third of the anterior and middle tibiae dark sepia brown but only when viewed anteriorly or posteriorly. Hind femora and tibise polished black, the former considerably thickened, especially in the middle, the latter with a low, short, apical, angular production. Tarsi black. Wings: not quite hyaline basally; they are heavily but diffusely tinged with dark brown beginning just before the end of the second basal cell and the beginning of the submar- ginal cell. The deep brown color extends a little beyond the anterior cross vein and includes the stigma1 area. Remaining apical half of wing pale brownish grey, partly due to the thick villi. Abdomen: shining black; very faintly bluish. There is a large, medial, posterior, hol- low-sided triangle on the apex of the second segment which in themiddle extends broadly to the base of the segment but quite narrowly to the posterior corners. Third segment with a posterior, .biconvex, medially notched, opaque band. Fourth segment similar, the band less convex and the medial notch minute. Fifth segment with a small, oval basal black spot on either side, the remainder shining. Abdomen elongate and charac- teristic of the species of the scutellaris group. Holotype: Female, Nova Teutonia, Brazil, Fritz Plau- mann. Jan. to April, 1948.
Eristalis Cora n. sp.
A dull obscure species with opaque rusty brown scu- tellum. Distantly related to obsolete, Bigot. Length 10 mm.
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122 Psyche [ Sept.
Female. Head: Face and front black, largely shining, the former with a very large, rounded, shining tubercle leaving the face deeply concave above. Upper portion of the face and narrowly along the sides of the eye mar- gin above the tubercle, together with a diagonal stripe from the lower eye margin to the epistoma all greyish white pubescent. Pile of face long and yellowish white. Lower frontal pile yellowish with some black hairs inter- mixed, the pile becoming entirely black on the upper part of the front and vertex. There is a narrow, complete band of pale brownish yellow to yellowish white pollen across the front before the anterior ocellus and a similar narrow band across the middle of the front. The inter- vening area is opaque black but the transverse margins of these pollinose bands are irregular. The front has a crescentic, transverse crease just above the low short callus. The antennaa are very dark sepia becoming black- ish on the dorsal half of the quite large third antenna1 segment. Third segment dark reddish below. Arista dark red and bare. Eyes with sparse, pale brown pile. Thorax: mesonotum dull in color and largely obscure yellowish grey pollinose.
There is a diffuse, obscure,
blackish spot in front of the suture on either side of the L
mesonotum.
There is a larger, subtriangular, similarly opaque black spot widely bordering the posterior margin of the suture; this spot is widely separated from the spot upon the other side of the mesonotum and each ex- tends posteriorly for a short distance towards the corners of the scutellum. This opaque black spot is rounded posteriorly but tends to fade out and become indistinct. From the posterior view the transverse suture is con- spicuously bordered by a linear, pale, yellow, pollinose stripe. Scutellum opaque reddish brown or rusty brown. pile of mesonotum -yellowish anteriorly becoming dis- tinctly brownish red on the posterior half of the meso- notum. Scutellar pile abundant, rather long and yellow, postcallar pile entirely reddish. Pleural pile entirely yellow to reddish yellow.
Legs: the femora are shining
black with the narrow apex of the anterior and middle pairs brown. The hind femora are considerably thick-
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Hull-Syrp71id Flies
ened in the middle and become obscurely reddish upon the outer fourth, but more clearly reddish towards the apex. The anterior tibiae are quite black except nar- rowly at the base where it is reddish brown to yellowish brown in color. The middle tibiae are yellowish brown becoming more reddish in color beyond the middle. The hind tibiae are somewhat flattened, slightly arcuate and entirely deep reddish brown; the apex is without spur, the anterior tarsi are blackish with the first and second segments narrowly brown at the apex. The middle and hind tarsi are light brownish red to yellowish brown ex- cept upon the last segment which is dark brown. Wings: tinged with pale brownish yellow throughout, the costal and subcostal and narrow posterior margin somewhat paler. There is a very strong stigma1 cross vein present. Abdomen : black and almost entirely shining with strong brassy reflections especially upon the second, third and fourth segments. The first segment is opaque grey and there is in the middle of the base of the second segment a rather large, opaque black, diffusely margined triangle which is bordered laterally by a wide, diagonal stripe of opaque grey pollen fading out before reaching the apex of the segment. Posterior margins of third, fourth and fifth segments with quite narrow, laterally attenuate, linear, opaque black margins followed by even wider, opaque, pale yellow margins ; the pale yellow margin on the fourth segment is especially wide and conspicuous. Fifth segment shining black and somewhat brassy but this reflection is less pronounced than upon previous segments.
Holotype : Female, Nova Teutonia, Brazil, Fritz Plau- mann. Jan. to April, 1948.
Eristalis claripennis n. sp.
A small species with opaque rusty brown scutellum, the eyes of the male narrowly separated and densely blackish pilose above. Related distantly to obsoleta Bigot. Length 8 mm.
Male. Head: face and front black, largely shining, the sides of the face widely greyish yellow pubescent
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124 Psyche [ Sept.
with long, sparse, yellowish pile.
The front is obscurely
brownish yellow pollinose above ; the eyes are separated by not quite twice the width of the anterior ocellus. Ver-
tex opaque black, the pile of front and vertex long and black. The upper ocular pile is long, abundant and very dark brown to almost black; the lower pile is more sparse and yellowish in color. The antennas are black, the third segment a little more elongate and perhaps from one and one-third to one and one-half times as long as wide. Arista dark reddish. The facial tubercle is well devel- oped but most abrupt below leaving the face gently con- cave above. Thorax: mesonotum dull opaque black with faint traces of a pair of brownish grey, submedial vittae anteriorly; the transverse suture is conspicuously bor- dered anteriorly by a linear band of yellowish white pollen. Behind the transverse suture the mesonotum is somewhat more obscurely opaque black fading away into very dark greyish black pollen. The mesonotal pile is yellowish on the anterior half becoming chiefly blackish posteriorly; the postcallar pile is almost entirely black with two or three yellow hairs. Scutellum opaque orange or rusty brown, the lateral corners narrowly blackish. The scutellar pile is long, erect and yellow except for a group of black hairs in each basal corner. Squamae dark brown. Legs: the femora are blackish becoming ob- scurely yellowish brown near the apex; the apex of the hind femora is subapically reddish. The hind femora are considerably thickened, the point of greatest thickness lies just beyond the middle. The anterior tibiae are blackish except the very narrow base which is yellowish brown. Middle tibiae light yellowish brown throughout. Hind tibise slightly flattened with very little pile, the apex transverse, the base and apex light brownish red, the middle diffusely blackish but divided, except upon the narrow dorsal margin, by a conspicuous, light yellow tri- angle. Anterior tarsi blackish. The middle and hind tarsi upon the first three segments are brownish yellow but the medial margin of the hind basitarsi is dark brown ; remaining segments of these tarsi dark brown. Wings: quite hyaline with a strong stigma1 cross vein. Abdo-
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1949 1 Hull-Syrphid Flies 125
men: black and largely shining, the first segment is chiefly opaque grey, the second is opaque black on the anterior and posterior margins and these fascia are joined in thb middle. Third segment with a moderately large, opaque, black triangle resting on the base of the segment in the middle and connected to a wide, black, posterior fascia which occupies fully one half the length of the segment. Fourth segment with a minute, basal, medial triangle narrowly connected to the wide, black, posterior fascia. Hypopygium entirely shining. Posterior margins of second, third and fourth segments quite narrowly brown- ish yellow.
Holotype: male, Nova Teutonia, collected by Fritz Plaumann. Jan. to April, 1948.
Mallota intermedia n. sp.
An aberrant species covered with light reddish brown pile upon the thorax and abdomen. Abdomen shining black, slightly metallic. Mesonotum brownish orange pollinose with obscure darker vittce. Length 12 mm. Female. Head: the face, cheeks and front are shining black, the face has a band of sparse, greyish white pile rather narrowly encircling the low tubercle and then pro- ceeding upward to the antennce. There is a narrow, wedge-shaped triangle of similar pubescence proceeding from the eye margin opposite the antenn~ towards the base of the antennce. The lower eye margins are also bordered narrowly with similar pollen, which does not extend upward upon the front. However, most of the frontal eye margins are narrowly bordered with brown- ish yellow pollen and the upper third of the front is broadly dark brown pollinose ; the lower part of the front is shining black and the vertex is shining black. The pile of the face is long, rather abundant and white. The frontal pile is long and black and white intermixed with a few yellow hairs along the eye margins and in front of the ocelli. The occipital pile is yellowish above with a few black hairs anteriorly along the eye margin. The occipital pile becomes almost white ventrally. The first
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126 Psyche r sept.
and second antenna1 segments are black, the third very dark brown with reddish base. The arista is slender, bare and yellowish brown with white apex. The third antenna1 segment is short oval. The eyes are rather thickly covered with shining yellowiih white pile. Thoraz: the mesonotum and humeri are black, feebly shining, heavily obscured with an orange brown pollen. There is a pair of submedial, rather wide, definite but indistinct? blackish vittz which run about three-fourths the length of the mesonotum; there is also a large spot anterior to the transverse suture and another wedge- shaped spot posterior to the transverse suture. These spots and vittz are also overlaid with brown pollen and they are only visible at certain angles. The scutellum is translucent, brownish orange with light brownish orange pile. The mesonotal pile is similar in color but seems to have less reddish tint and there are numerous fine black hairs interspersed upon the posterior half of the mesonotum.
Pleura black, thinly yellowish pubes-
cent on the posterior border of the mesopleura, the ster- nopleura and the anterior half of the hypopleura and all of the metapleura. Pleural pile orange above, nearly white below. Squamz yellowish brown, the halteres yel- low with brown stalk.
Legs: black? the tarsal segments
narrowly reddish brown in the middle of the apex. The
hind femora are only moderately thickened, ari long yel- low pilose medially and dorsally with a few reddish hairs along the middle of the lateral surface and with black pile or bristles ventrally on the apical half. The hind
tibiz are arcuate and flattened; they are black pilose on the apical half, medially? ventrally and dorsally but yel- low pilose throughout the entire length laterally. The pile of the anterior femora and tibiz is almost entirely black but is narrowly yellow along the anterior margin of each and posteriorly along the basal half of the femora. The middle tarsi are chiefly reddish brown with diffuse, central blackish areas on these tarsi dorsally. w~N.~s:
distinctly tinged with yellowish or reddish brown over the middle of the wing, more dilutely in the costal cell
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1949 1 Hwll-Syrp7xid Flies 127
and throughout the entire marginal cell, subcostal cell and all of the submarginal cell. The stigma1 cross vein is distinct and well formed. The marginal cell is widely open. Abdomem : black with a distinct metallic appear- ance ranging from brassy for the most part to patches of bluish or coppery color. The pile of the first segment is pale yellow; on the remainder of the abdomen the pile is long and thick and light reddish brown, and the ground color is not obscured. Along the lateral margins of the third and fourth segments ihe pile is pale yellow but along the lateral margin of the second segment and more widely towards the base there are numerous long black hairs and a few long black hairs on the lateral margin of the fifth segment. Sternites shining black with very long pale yellow hair.
Holotype: female, F. Sinchono District, Huanuco, Peru, Aug. 20, 1947, Jose Schunke.
Meromacrus matilda n. sp.
A dull black species with reduced quantity of yellow tomentum. Related to brumaeus Hull, it is a smaller spe- cies and the anterior diagonal band of tomentum upon the thorax ends at the inner end of the humeri and the sutural band of similar tomentum extends the length of the suture. Length 10-11 mm.
Female. Head: face and cheeks black, the former with a wide band of pale yellowish white or grey pubescence which extends across beneath the antennz. The pile of the face is pale yellow and extends together with the pubescence narrowly up the sides of the front. The front is black, shining on the lower half with extensive brown pollen across the upper half. The vertex is black, its pile and that of the front black except along the eye margins where the frontal pile is yellow. The antenn~ are black; the third brown becoming paler apically, and is somewhat thickened. The eyes are bare, the occiput conspicuously covered with pale, creamy yellow tomen- tum extending to the vertex. Thor-as: the mesonotum is black; there is a not very conspicuous, moderately wide band of pale yellow tomentum placed diagonally forward
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128 Psyche [sept.
to the anterior margin of the mesonotum. The trans- verse suture is bordered by a complete band of similar tomentum from its medial end to the edge of the meso- pleura. There is a similar band, rather narrow just be- fore the scutellum including the posterior border of the postcalli. This band is not wider in the middle. On the anterior half of the mesonotum there is a rather wide but not conspicuous, grey, medial, pollinose vitte. It is bordered on either side by a faint but wider blackish stripe with faint, brown pollen and outside of these sub- medial vitt~ there are large, triangular areas of a faint but still lighter pollen. The remaining lateral area of the mesonotum, the notopleura excluded, are dull, dead black. The pleura are black with pale yellowish grey pollen on the posterior border of the mesopleura. The pile of the pleura is yellowish white and not very long. Scutellum black becoming obscurely dark brown on the posterior third of the middle only. The scutellar pile is black and rather sparse. Squamz subtranslucent grey- ish brown with narrow black border and brownish yellow fringe. Halteres orange. Legs: black with the ventral apical half of the hind femora very dark reddish brown; this reddish color includes the whole of the extreme apex of the hind femora. The hind tibiz are very dark red- dish brown throughout and while the anterior and middle tarsi are nearly or quite black, the hind tarsi are very dark brown. Vings: the entire anterior margin of the wings including the costal, submstal cells and the stig- ma1 areas are rather uniformly reddish brown. This color includes all of the submarginal cell? except the loop, and it extends into the upper basal corners of the first posterior cell, into nearly a11 of the first basal cell above the vena spuria, except the outer lower corners, and it includes the posterior basal half of the first basal cell and more dilutely the basal half of the second basal cell. Abdomew entirely black with a thin, inconspicuous band of sparse, appressed, yellow tomentum in the mid- dle of the posterior border of the first segment. The pile of the second segment is entirely black setate and appressed except upon the lateral margin and the an-
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terior corners.
Third segment appressed, black pilose
except the lateral margins and except for an inconspicu- ous row of appressed yellow hairs on the extreme base of the margin. These yellow hairs are not tomentose. Fourth segment chiefly black pilose but an oblique view shows scattered, appressed? yellow hairs among the black ones. Fifth segment with sparse yellow hairs. The yellow pile upon the lateral margins of all of the seg- ments is comparatively short and inconspicuous. Holotype : female, Pucallpa, Peru, Nov. 8, 1947? Jose Schunke.
Meromacrus villosa n. sp.
A trim? black and yellow species? rather similar to aw4a Curran. Length 12 mm.
Male.
Head: face and cheeks black, the cheeks with a broad band of pale yellow pubescence in which however there is a peculiar dark spot best viewed from the side. This pollen also extends beneath the antenn~. The pile of the face is pale yellow together with the pollen ex- tending upon the sides of the front. Middle of front dully shining black with linear, medial depression ; the frontal pile is entirely yellow except for one or two black hairs. The antennz are entirely black ; second segment longer than the first? the third elongate oval, gently arched dorsomedially but not truncate. The arista is but little thickened, is brownish basally, becoming pale at the immediate tip. The vertex is shining black with pale pollen in front of the ocelli, short black pile be- tween the ocelli and yellow pile behind. The occiput has pale yellow tomentum which extends up to the vertex. The eyes are bare and narrowly touching. Thoras: mesonotum dull deep black with a fine, narrow, greyish white line of pollen medially which runs only a short dis- tance beyond the transverse suture. There is a band of rather wide, thick, well developed, pale, creamy yellow tomentum running inside the humeri directly across the notopleura almost to the wing base and anteriorly it runs diagonally forward towards but not to the midline where it ends in a sharp medial point. The posterior margin
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130 Psyche [Sept.
of this band is straight.
There is a minute, narrow patch
of similarly colored tomentum on the medial half of the transverse suture separated from the diagonal band by a distance equal to its own length. In an oblique light the anterior diagonal yellow band is bordered by a wide, extensive, jet black, opaque stripe which occupies the full width between this diagonal band and the slender, medial sutural band. There is a similar band of creamy yellow tomentum just in front of the suture covering the pos- terior ends of the postcalli and expanded medially but gradually until it is about twice as thick as laterally. The scutellum is deep black with short, dense, black pile and a few longer pale hairs. The extreme posterior mar- gin of the scutellum is yellowish brown but this can scarcely be seen from above. Pleura black, the posterior margin of the mesopleura and all of the remaining pleura except the posteroventral half of the hypopleura thinly yellowish white pollinose. There is a vertical middle band of only moderately long but thick white pile on the
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