Flower flies (Diptera, Syrphidae) of French Polynesia, with the description of two new species
Author
Ramage, Thibault
8DE31F66-13BF-4516-A205-60F2EA39E3DD
9 Quartier de la Glacière, 29900 Concarneau, France. Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université de Lyon, CNRS (UMR 5558), Université Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France. Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere, Adenauerallee 160, D- 53113 Bonn, Germany.
thibault.ramage@hotmail.fr
Author
Charlat, Sylvain
A9AE69C2-039D-47FD-9DD2-B34C4363CB71
sylvain.charlat@univ-lyon1.fr
Author
Mengual, Ximo
A509310D-B567-4830-B8A4-BCB139BB8768
x.mengual@leibniz-zfmk.de
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2018
2018-07-04
448
1
37
journal article
22322
10.5852/ejt.2018.448
0ba05318-1eec-44bc-8017-b6e2789b4811
3814059
413AE92E-862A-4879-B72F-1C0DCF1F7240
Allograpta amphotera
(
Bezzi, 1928
)
Figs 2A
,
3
A–B
Xanthogramma amphoterum
Bezzi, 1928: 74
(
holotype
: ♂, BMNH; type locality:
Cook Islands
, Rarotonga).
Differential diagnosis
Species with yellow face with a medial black vitta, scutum black with a continuous lateral yellow vitta from postpronotum to scutellum, scutellum yellow with a median black macula, terga 2 and 5 with two lateral yellow maculae and terga 3 and 4 with a broad yellow fascia. It differs from
A. nigripilosa
only in the wing microtrichia, as stated in the key.
Material examined
Holotype
FIJI
: ♂, “Holo- //
type
” [round, red margin], “
Rarotonga 9
//
1920
. //
H.W. Simmonds
” “
Xanthogramma
//
amphoterum
//
Type
Ƌg n.sp
.” [red ink], “Fiji Is. // Pres.by // Imp.Bur.Ent. // Brit.
Mus
. // 1929–1.” (
BMNH
).
Paratypes
FIJI
: 1 ♂, Movua,
Nov. 1920
, H.K. Simmonds leg. (
BMNH
);
1 ♀
, Lautoka,
Aug. 1919
, R. Veitch leg. (
BMNH
).
Other material
FRENCH POLYNESIA
: 1 ♂, Austral Islands, Rurutu,
Mar. 1925
, St. George Expedition (
BMNH
).
COOK ISLANDS
: 1 ♂, Rarotonga, Avatiu Valley,
28 Mar. 1999
, C. Wilkinson leg. (
BMNH
);
1 ♀
, Rarotonga, Avarua,
0–200 m
a.s.l.,
Nov.–Dec. 1979
, N.L.H. Krauss leg. (
BMNH
).
Geographical distribution
Cook Islands
,
Fiji
,
French Polynesia
(
Marquesas Islands
(?), Society Islands(?) and Austral Islands),
Samoa
.
Status in
French Polynesia
Present.
Flowers visited
No records (ferns?, see
Aubertin & Cheesman 1929
).
Genetics
There are five DNA barcodes for
Fiji
specimens of this taxon with the following BOLD Process ID numbers: CNCDB1923-11, CNCDB1924-11, CNCDB1925-11, CNCDB1926-11 and CNCDB1927-11 (all by J.H. Skevington). The Barcode Index Number (
BIN
) for them is BOLD:AAZ6685 (https://doi.org/10.5883/BOLD:AAZ6685).
References
Aubertin & Cheesman 1929: 172
(records);
Hull 1937: 83
(catalogue);
Vockeroth 1969: 129
(list);
Thompson & Vockeroth 1989: 441
(catalogue);
Mengual
et al.
2009: 15
(list).
Remarks
Aubertin & Cheesman (1929)
recorded this species for the first time from
French Polynesia
(Tahiti, Raiatea and Bora-Bora) and mentioned that it was abundant on fern-covered slopes.
Hull (1937)
listed this species from
Fiji
, the Marquesas Islands and Tahiti, while
Vockeroth (1969)
mentioned it from
Samoa
. We were not able to collect specimens during any field expeditions, even though it might be abundant. The only studied specimen from
French Polynesia
that has the same wing microtrichia pattern as the
holotype
of
A. amphotera
is a male from Rurutu in the BMNH.
This species and
A. nigripilosa
are extremely similar, and after the study of the
type
material by XM, it is still not clear whether they are the same taxon or two different species, one located in the western and southern parts of the south Pacific Ocean (
A. amphotera
) and the other (
A. nigripilosa
) restricted to the central part. In the BMNH, there is a male (
Cook Islands
: Rarotonga, Avatiu Valley,
28 Mar. 1999
, C. Wilkinson leg.) with the cell bm bare on the basal ¼. This male does not match the
type
of
A. amphotera
, indicating a potential intraspecific variability or some damage during preservation of this specimen. This specimen might also be a male of
A. nigripilosa
that reached the
Cook Islands
, broadening the distribution range of this species. At this point, we should consider the records from
French Polynesia
by
Aubertin & Cheesman (1929)
as doubtful, since they were reported prior to the description of
A. nigripilosa
by
Hull (1944)
. More specimens are needed to understand the variability of these Oceanic species of
Allograpta
, but the analysis of the available DNA barcodes, including the specimens of
Allograpta
from
Fiji
mentioned above, resolved Fijian and Polynesian specimens in the same cluster, with a bootstrap support value of
100 in
the Neighbour-Joining analysis. Moreover, BOLD groups all of these specimens in the same Barcode Index Number (BIN), BOLD:AAZ6685 (https://doi.org/10.5883/BOLD:AAZ6685). Although resolved in the same clade, the barcodes of Fijian and Polynesian specimens
form two
different clusters. In further studies we will try to collect more individuals of
Allograpta
to test the molecular variability of these two species; at the current stage, the synonymy of
A. amphotera
and
A. nigripilosa
seems plausible.