Cambridge Entomological Club, 1874
PSYCHE

A Journal of Entomology

founded in 1874 by the Cambridge Entomological Club
Quick search

Print ISSN 0033-2615
This is the CEC archive of Psyche through 2000. Psyche is now published by Hindawi Publishing.

C. T. Brues.
New Neotropical Phoridae.
Psyche 51(3-4):151-161, 1944.

This article at Hindawi Publishing: https://doi.org/10.1155/1944/32946
CEC's scan of this article: http://psyche.entclub.org/pdf/51/51-151.pdf, 964K
This landing page: http://psyche.entclub.org/51/51-151.html


The following unprocessed text is extracted automatically from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

New Neotropical Phoride
NEW NEOTROPICAL PHORIDE
BY CHARLES T. BRUES
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Most of the material dealt with in the present communication was contained in a collection belonging to the Entomological Department of Cornell University. This was sent to me for identification and the holotypes of the new species have been returned to the Cornell museum.
Several of the species were collected on the western slope of the Andes in central Peru by Professor J. C. Bradley when he visited the region with an expedition from Cornell University in 1920. Others were obtained during the same year, on the very interesting Chiloe Island, which lies in the Pacific Ocean, just off the Chilean coast.
One species collected some years ago in Cuba by the writer is included also.
Diploneura Lioy
Diploneura (Dohrniphora) pyricornis sp. nov. 8 , Length 2.5 mm. Brownish testaceous; front black above, shading to pale yellowish brown below at the frontal margin; abdomen honey yellow with the extreme sides of the third and fourth tergites black; antenn~ very pale, clear yellow; palpi and legs concolorous with the body. Front fully one-third wider than high, its surface smooth and noticeably shining but not punctate. Postantennal bristles very close together; lower transverse row of four bristles straight, the median bristles equidistant from one another and from the eye margin, the lateral bristles removed from the eye by a short distance; upper frontal row of four with the median pair very slightly higher than the lateral ones, each directly above the lower median bristles) but the lateral ones are very close to the eye-margin; ocellar row of four bristles, with the median ones much nearer to one another than to the lateral bristles. Ocelli in a very low triangle or curved line. Antenn~ pyriform or conical) really more or Iess crescent-shaped, as the edge next the face is con-



================================================================================

Psyche
cave and the outer one convex) about twice as long as wide; apex pointed and extending well beyond the lowest lateral frontal bride, not noticeably enlarged. Arista clearly sub- ' apical, considerably thickened at the base, not much longer than the antenna. PostocuIar cilia small, the cheeks each with a very strong bristle; palpi not enlarged, densely beset with strong bristles below7 near to, and at, the apex. Thorax very stout, the rnesonotum very broad and weakly convex, consider- ably broader than long; its surface dining? with very sparse black hairs; one pair of widely separated dorsocentral bristles. kutehm very short, more than three times as wide as long; with four marginal bristles of equal length) the median ones very widely separated. Pmpkura with a large brisde below the spiracle. Mesopleura entirely bare, Abdomen with the sixth tergite lengthened, its upper surface dull) without hairs except for four bristIy ones near apex. Hypopygium very inconspicu- ous, its lamella strongly bristIy. Front tibia with the usual four bristles, placed at the bad third, middle, apical third and near apex on the anterior surface; their tarsi shpIe, moderately slender.
Middle tibiz with a hair-seam that extends to its middle as a very thin line; apical half of the tibia with five or six indistinct transverse comb-like rows of minute, white bris- tles; a pair of bristles, one on each side of the s m , near the base and an antemventral one near the apex, Hind tibk with a single dorsal hairseam? weaker toward the apexI and a similar weak series of comb-like bristles, with a seriei of four rather small bristles on the anterior face between the basal and apical fourth, Hind femora with a series of rather conspicuous curved hairs on the apical third of the lower edge. Wings slightly yell~~vish; veins brown) the third vein paler. Costa extending somewhat beyond the middle of the wing, its bristles short and c10sdy placed; first section of costa two and one-half times as long as the second and third together; third less than half as long as the second (25 : 7: 3 1 ; fork of third vein very acute; fourth vein weakly curved; fifth nearly straight; sixth very weakly hiskuate. Halteres yeI1ow.
Type from 'TJpper Reaches" of Pachitea, Peru, Jdy 21, l92OI Come11 University Expedition. Type in the Cornell Col- lection, a 5econd male from the same locality has the abdomen darker above? with the third, a~d fourth tergites successive~y



================================================================================

19441 New Neotropical Phoyidce 153
more infuscated and with sharply pale bands along their pos- terior margins. I
This species resembles D. ante~ospinalis Borgm., but differs in the wider front and conspicuously elongated, pointed antennz of the male.
Diploneura (Dohrniphora) opposita Borgmeier. Arch. Mus. Nac., Rio de Janeiro, vol. 25, p. 107 (1925) A single female from La Sombre, Peru, August 22, 1920 (Cornell Univ. Exped.), agrees closely with Borgmeier's de- scription of this species which is based on material from Pe- tropolis, Brazil.
Diploneura (Dohyniphora) monticola Borgmeier. Arch. Mus. Nac., Rio de Janeiro, vol. 25, p. 103 (1925) One female from Be110 Horizonte, Minas Geraes, Brazil, November 19 19 (Cornell Univ. Exped.) .
Conicera Meigen
Conicera chiloensis sp. nov.
8. Length 1.4 mm. Dark brown or piceous, the abdomen black. Pleurz lighter, distinctly brown above and yellowish brown below. Legs quite uniformly dark brown. Wings slightly infuscated on the apical half; veins dark brown. Front consid- erably more than twice as broad as long, with only ten bristles, as the postantennals and lower laterals are absent. Antial bris- tles almost equidistant from one another and the eye-margin, slightly nearer to the latter; curved medially so that they cross one another, directed almost horizontally forward, as strong as the other frontal bristles. Four bristles in the lower frontal line placed near to the lower frontal margin and forming a trans- verse line that is slightly concave; the bristles equidistant, with the lateral one barely separated from the eye-margin. Ocellar row of four equidistant bristles. Surface of front subshining, slightly pollinose, without median groove. Third antenna1 joint broad at base, conical, with the upper surface concave so that the tip is crescent-shaped, not extending quite to the level of the top of the eye; arista long, pubescent, thickened basally. Eyes microscopically hairy, cheeks each with three rather weak bris-



================================================================================

tles; postocular cilia strong. Palpi sdl, with the usual bristles present, but of sm11 size. Mesonoturn rather dull, clothed with we11 deve10ped sparse hairs; much narrowed behind; one pair *
of long, but not shut, dorsocentrd bristles. Scute~lum with two very long brides, Mesopleura entirely bare. Surface of abdomen dull, the hypopygium shining, polkme along the lower part of the sides. Wings hyaline, with a slight brownish tinge at the base and with distinct infuscation apically. Costa extending to -45 of the wing length; first section more than twice as long as the second (27: 12 1. Costa1 cilia long, rather closely placed, fully as lung as the width of the costal cell, the cilia of the upper series not extending beyond the tip of the first vein. Third vein simple; no indication of a fork. Legs rather slender? the tibis all clothed with minute bristly hairsf front tibiz with a small, but distinct bristk on the anterior side at the basal third; middle tibiz with an anterior bristle at the basal fifth and a dorsd one barely farther from the base; with a third anterior bristle just before apex. Hind tibke with four bristles; one posterodord, at bas4 iourth and mother at apical third; one anterdorsa1 at basal fifth and another before the middle; in addition to these there is a dorsal bride just before tip, Hakeres piceow .
Type 8 from And, Chiloe Island, Chile, April 2-7, 1920 (Cornell Univ. Expedition).
This is a very unusual species? but agrees rather closely with two described by Schmitz from Patagonia These he has placed in a separate group on account of the complete absence of post- antenna1 and lower lateral bristles, long decussate antis! bris- tles and extensive bristling of the hind tibiz. The present spe- cies differs strikingly by the longer second section of the costa which is much longer in the male than in males of the Pa&- gonian forms.
Megaselia Rondani
Megaseh (sms= sfr.) adcola sp, nov,
8 . Length 1.4 mm. Black; lower portions of pIeure piceous or very dark brown; mtemx piceous, with the inner surface of the third joint yellowish; palpi pale yellow; legs testaceow, dthough appearing darker on account of the black hairy cover- ing, corn dzrker basaIly. Halteres pale yellowish brown. Wings hyaline, the heavy veins rather pale brownish. Front slightly, *




================================================================================

19441 New Neotropical Phoridg 155
but distinctly wider than high; four postantennal bristles, the lower pair not much shorter than the upper; antia! bristles close to the lowest laterals, scarcely below them but much farther from the eye-margin; lower transverse row of four equidistant bristles slight bowed downwards medially; ocellar row as usual, large like the other frontal bristles. Ocellar tubercle and median frontal line well defined) the surface of the front sub-shining) distinctly white pollinose. Postocular cilia stout) of moderate length; cheek just below the eye with two stout downwardly directed bristles; three above these toward the antennz small and delicate. Palpi small, flat, with moderately long bristles below toward apex. Third antenna1 joint large, but not notice- ably swollen, rounded, the arista one-half longer than the front) with short pubescence. Proboscis very short, stout? bluntly pointed at its tip. Mesonotum shining, with fine pubescence. One pair of dorsocentral bristles set very close to the scutellar suture. Scutellum narrow) triangular) with two bristles. Pleurze shining, but noticeably pollinose above, entirely without hairs or bristles) except two small bristles at the lower anterior corner of the propleura. Abdomen dull black) segments of approxi- mately equal length, with a few weak, bristly hairs at the sides and a marginal row on the posterior margin of the sixth tergite. Hypopygium simple, cylindrical, appearing quadrate or some- what tapering posteriorly in lateral view. Legs slender, includ- ing the hind femora which are three times as long as broad. Front tarsi slender. Middle tibiz with the dorsal black line distinct at apex) with about eight weak setulz just inside the dorsal line. Posterior femora slender, exactly three times as long as their greatest length. Dorsal hair-line of hind tibiz complete, straight except for a slight angulation very near to the base; with a single posterio-dorsal series of eight bristles) each about the width of the tibia. All tarsi very slender. Wings narrow, costa less than half the wing-length (70: 3 1) ; its bris- tles delicate? moderately long and rather closely placed; first section of costa as long as the other two sections together; second section three times the length of the third (28: 2 1 : 7). Third vein absolutely straight except beyond the very narrow cell formed by the very oblique second vein; fourth vein strongly curved at base) but nearly straight beyond; fifth vein curved near base, very slightly sinuous beyond; sixth sinuous; seventh practically straight.




================================================================================

156 Psyche lSept.-Dec.
One male from Matucana, Peru, May 2 7,1929 (Cornell Uni- versity Expedition).
Among the Neotropical species this is related to M. obscwata Enderlein to which it will run in Borgrneier's key (Rev. Entom., vol. 5, p. 441) but differs in the frontal chaetotaxy. In Borg- meier's earlier paper [Arch. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires, vol. 25, p, 139) it falls near M. stephanoidea- Borgm. and M. concava Borgm., from either of which it may be distinguished by the lengths of the costal divisions and it lacks the bristles present on the sixth abdominal tergite in M. stepkanoidea, although this may be a secondary sexual character. It resembles also M. opilionidis Borgmeier, but the ovipositor is not chitinked and there are only two scutellar bristles.
Mega& (sem. sir.) rimacensis sp. nov.
9 . Length 1.7 nun. Front and abdomen black; thorax above dark fuscous; pleurae lighter brown below; front legs and all coxse pale yellowish; four hind legs brownish yellow with the hind femora indistinctly blackened at tips. Antennse black; yellow-brown at the base of the third joint; palpi light brown. Wings hyaline, the heavy veins light fuscous; halteres honey yellow. Front subshining, not polished, with a deep median groove. Four postantennal bristles, the lower pair half as long as the upper ones and very much more slender; antial bristles inserted at the same level as the lowest lateral bristles and sep- arated from them by less than one-third the distance to the upper postantennals; middle row of four bristles equidistant, curved downwards medially, the median bristles midway be- tween the ocelli and postantennal bristles; third joint of an- tennffi much enlarged and flattened, at least as broad as two- thirds the height of the front. Palpi slightly flattened, with five or six rather small bristles. Mesonotum strongly convex, shin- ing; one pair of dorsocentral bristles very close to the semi- circular scutellum, which bears one pair of widely separated long bristles and a single pair of minute hairs. Propleura with several bristles above and below, near the posterior margin. Mesopleura entirely bare, slightly roughened and dull on its upper portion behind. Surface of abdomen opaque above; sec- ond to fifth segments slightly decreasing in length; sides of second tergite with half a dozen bristly hairs at each side; all the tergites with a series of minute, bristly hairs along the a




================================================================================

19441 New Neotropical Phoridce 157
posterior margin, noticeably longer on the more- apical tergites. Hypopygium small, its surface pruinose; rounded, with scat- tered, stiff, bristly hairs below and apically above; apical lamella pale yellow, with very weak scattered hairs. Legs slender) ex- cept the front tarsi which are comparatively stout although not really thickened. Hair seam on middle tibise distinct only on basal half; the row of setulse extremely delicatei Hair seam of hind tibiae complete, straight, the setolse distinct, but very weak and closely placed. Costal vein slightly less than one-half the wing length (46:100); costal cilia moderately long, about equalling the length of the third section of the costa. First sec- tion of costa slightly more than twice as long as the second; third half as long as the second (35 : 17 : 9) ; fourth vein weakly curved, fourth and fifth each feebly Insinuate; seventh distinct, slightly curved.
Type and one paratype from Matucana, Peru, May 27,1920. Matucana is in the valley of the Rio Rhnac, about 4000 feet above sea level. Type in the collection of Cornell University. This species is from the same locality as M. andicola, but is not very closely related. The tibia1 setulae are minute and the wing venation is very different. In Borgmeier's key (Arch. Mus. Nac. Rio de Janeiro, vol. 25, p 139, 1925) it runs to M. ste- pkanoidea Bcirgm. from which it differs by color and the much longer third costal section, while the entire costa is less than half the length of the wing. Among Endedein's species as tabulated by Borgmeier, it resembles M. obscuratu and'related species, from which it differs at once by the more nearly equal first and second sections of the costa.
Megasella (s. str.) =vita sp. nov.
9. Length 2.2 mm. Head and thorax yellow, the ocellar triangle black and the front strongly infuscated, except the sides and the front margin. Abdomen black, suffused with fulvous over the medial portions of the second, third and fourth tergites; sixth tergite with a similar large pale area at each side. Legs and hypopygial projection testaceous. Wings faintly brownish, with strong dark, venation. Halteres piceous. Front slightly, but distinctly wider than long, its-bristles stout, but not espe- cially long, surface rather shining; ocellar tubercle and median groove well developed. Two large postantenna1 bristles placed very dose together; lower pair absent, Antial bristles on the



================================================================================

158 Psyche [Sept.-Dec.
lower margin of the front, twice as far from the eye as from the postantennals and dividing the margin into three equal parts. Lowest lateral bristle far above the antial and much farther from the eye than usual. Upper transverse row of four bristles equidistant, forming a line that curves downward rnedially. Antemse greatly enlarged, oval or slightly pyriforrn, as long as half the eye-height, considerably longer than wide; arista stout, as long as the head-height. Palpi small, flattened, with five moderately long bristles along the apical half of their outer edge. Two large downwardly directed bristles on the cheek, but none above these in front. Postocular cilia of moderate size. Meso- notum rather shining, with one pair of dorsocentral bristles. Scutellum broad, fully twice as wide as long, the posterior margin gently arcuate; four equal scutellar bristles. Propleura with several weak bristly hairs, next to the front coxa, and a few similar ones at the upper angle. Mesopleura entirely bare and shining above. Abdomen entirely devoid of any noticeable bristly hairs above, except for a few exceedingly minute ones at the sides of the second tergite, and a weak fringe at tips of the sixth and seventh tergites. Second to fifth tergites of about equal length; sixth noticeably longer. Hypopygium small, re- tracted, its median projection with unusually weak bristly hairs. Legs slender, including the front tarsi. Middle tibiae with a very feeble dorsal line and a corresponding weak series of postero- dorsal setulae; hind tibiae with dorsal hair-line and a postero- dorsal series of 10-12 weak setulse the longest of which are much shorter than the width of the tibia; hind femora slender, with no noticeable bristly hairs below, Costa reaching beyond the middle of the wing ( 100 : 5 7), its bristles closely placed, very short, not much longer than the width of the costal vein; first section of costa one-half longer than the second; third very short (48 : 32 : 5 ) ; cell formed by the second vein very small and narrowly ovate. Third vein widely separated from the costa at its middle as it is curved posteriorly and the first section of tfie costa is noticeably curved forward. Fourth vein evenly arcuate, not recurved at either base or apex; fifth vein sinate; sixth very slightly so; seventh strong. Base of the third vein without bristles.
Type from the San Juan Mts., near Cienfuegos, Cuba, Jan. 192 7 (C. T. and 3, B. Brues).
M. cavita is conspicuous by the much enlarged antennae of the



================================================================================

19441 New Neotropical Phoridos 159
male which are longer than wide, differing in this respect from M. amplipennis Borgm. in which they are widened! From M. jurcella End., also with enlarged antennae, it differs by the near1 y quadrate front and in the disposition of the frontal bristles. It resembles several other Neotropical species in the long costa, short fringe and the presence of four scutellar bristles. Among these it differs from M. op-Uionidis Borgm. by the bristling of the front; from M. bradiemis Borgm. by the large antennae; from M. vnembranosa Borgm. by the different wing venation; from M. pmltergata Borgm. by the absence of the lower pair of postantennal bristles. From the common N. xanthina Speiser and M. scalaris it is readily distinguished by the enlarged an- tennse of the male.
Megaselia (5. str.) fernoralis Enderlein I collected a large series, representing both sexes in the San Juan Mountains in southern Cuba. Described from Brazil, M. jemoralis has previously been taken in Panama and as far north as Costa Rica. The present record shows that it extends also into the West Indies. In some Cuban specimens the thorax is quite brownish above and the abdomen is very pale dorsally at the base, with suffused brown on the third to fifth tergites. The front may be brownish below, but always shows the highly pol- ished steel-blue color above.
Megaselia (Aphiochceta) asthenichaeta sp. nov. S . Length 1.5 mm. Black or very dark piceous, the anterior corners of the mesonotum and the anterior part of the propleura reddish brown; palpi and antenna entirely black; mesopleura and metapleura irregularly stained with reddish brown; wings slightly, but distinctly infuscated; veins very dark brown. Legs strongly infuscated, especially the middle legs which have the extreme tip of the femora and tibiae pale; trochanter testaceous; front tibiae and base of hind femora yellowish testaceous. Hal- teres very light brown. Front narrow, one-fifth higher than wide, with distinct ocellar tubercle and unusually deep median frontal groove. Four postantennal bristles, the lower pair close together as usual; upper and stronger pair widely separated, as far from the median line as from the eye-margin, placed slightly higher than the antial bristles which are directly below the lowest lateral bristles, next to the eye and at the lateral angle



================================================================================

160 Psyche Kept .-Dee.
of the front; middle transverse row of four equidistant bristles forming a practically straight line, its lateral bristles placed midway between the lower and upper lateral bristles. Surface '
of front slightly shining, but not polished, sparsely clothed with short hairs, the frontal bristles large and stout. Antennae small, with long, pubescent arista. Palpi very small, with three or four large bristles below. Cheeks each with three stout downwardly directed bristles below and a series of smaller ones extending upward to the antennee. Postocular cilia of normal length, Mesonoturn narrow, its surface shining, clothed with dense short hairs; one pair of dorsocentral bristles. Scutellum subtrim- gular, with four well developed bristles. Propleura with two stout bristles at the lower anterior angle and one just below the spiracle. Mesopleura with a patch of hairs above and a con- spicuous bristle of moderate size, clearly smaller than the frontal bristles; also with a smaller bristle just below the edge of the mesonoturn. Abdomen narrowed apically, none of the tergites lengthened, without any bristly hairs above except just before the small, retracted hypopygium; sides of abdomen with sparse bristly hairs, larger on the second segment, Front tibise bristly on the dorsal surface, but without any distinct linear series; front tarsi stout, but not conspicuously thickened. Middle tibiae with a dorsal hair-seam extending almost to the apex, and a posterodorsal series of setwiae, about eight in number, each ap- proximately as long as the width of the tibia; a few antero- dorsal setulse for the basal half. Hind tibik with complete dorsal hair-seam and a series about eleven postero-dorsal setulse, these large and stout, as long as the width of the tibia, except the several ones at the base which are very small and weak; no anterodorsal setulse. Wings narrow, nearly three times as long as wide (64:23); costal vein long, extending be- yond the middle of the wing (55 : 100) ; first division nearly as tong as the second and third together, third more than one-third as long as the second (30:24:9). Fringe moderately long, the bristles about equal to the second vein in length. Fourth vein feebly, evenly curved, except for a sharper bend near the base. Fifth vein sinuous, more distinctly bent just before the middle; sixth sinuous; seventh very slightly so. Third vein with a single bristle at the extreme base.
Type from Puerto Bermudez, Ria Pichla, Peru, July 18-19, 19 2 0 ( Cornell University Expedition).



================================================================================

19441 New Neotropical Phoridce 161
This species differs from most of the Neotropical species of the subgenus Aphiochseta by the presence of four scirtellar bris- tles in combination with a large bristle on the mesopleura. It resembles M. luteicauda Borgm. and M. pteryacantha Borgm. in having a bristle at the base of the third vein, but differs by the black palpi, entirely black abdomen and narrower front. From M. pilipleura Borgm. it differs in color, size and frontal chsetotaxy . From M. angustif urcate it differs particularly in wing venation and also by the black antennae and palpi. In general habitus M. asthenichceta resembles M. minor Zett. al- though structurally very different.




================================================================================


Volume 51 table of contents