Rudimentary halteres of some flightless female Phoridae (Diptera) reassessed, and some taxonomic implications
Author
Disney, R. Henry L.
text
Zootaxa
2005
1042
39
54
journal article
50961
10.5281/zenodo.169846
30242e99-0242-4a2f-986b-93106edf4251
11755326
169846
Puliciphora jacquemarti
Disney
,
sp. nov.
(Fig. 14)
A specimen sent for identification by Dr Patrick Grootaert (Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de
Belgique
) proves to be a new species, which is described below and named after the collector.
Female
Frons dusky, almost orange, yellow with four supraantennal bristles, a pair of strong bristles a little higher on frons and about midway between upper SAs and eye margin, and six bristles (including ocellars) on vertex. The three ocelli are smaller than sockets of ocellar bristles. Height of eyes, greatest diameters of postpedicels and also greatest width of labrum all subequal. The subglobose postpedicels yellow with a dozen SPS vesicles about the size of SA bristles sockets. Palps pale straw yellow, with a long apical bristle, a similar preapical, three finer bristles further back and a dozen hairs. Labrum at least as dark as frons. Thorax coloured as frons, with a small bristle below anterior spiracle, a strong posterolateral bristle each side, with four weaker bristles between them, and a strong alar bristle each side. Abdomen with chestnut brown tergites but T5 and T6 are a little paler. T1 is short and separate from T2. T5–T6 as Fig. 14. Venter dusky yellow with hairs below segments 3–6 and adjacent to the lateral margins of the tergites. Cerci pale straw yellow. Legs yellow with more dusky femora and tibiae, especially those of the hind legs.
The specimen was gravid with eight nearly mature eggs, which resemble those of
P. borinquenensis
Wheeler
(Plate
1 in
Bohart & Gressitt, 1951
) but lacking the surface microsculpture.
|
Material
|
|
HOLOTYPE female,
Puerto
|
Rico
,
|
S. |
Jacquemart
|
(Institut |
royal |
des |
Sciences |
| naturelles de Belgique, Brussels). |
FIGURES 14–15.
Puliciphora
females, abdominal tergites 4–6: (14)
P. jacquemarti
;
(15)
P. imbecilla
.
Scale bars = 0.1 mm.
Affinities
This species runs to
P. imbecilla
Borgmeier
in the key to Neotropical females (
Disney, 2003a
). However, the abdominal tergites 2–4 of the new species are wider and the anterior flap of T5 has laterally directed apodemes (Fig. 14) in contrast to
P. imbecilla
(Fig. 15).