The flower fly genus Ornidia (Diptera: Syrphidae)

13 Pages·1991·6.1 MB·

by  F C Thompson

PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH.
93(2), 1991, pp. 248-261
THE FLOWER FLY GENUS ORNIDIA (DIPTERA: SYRPHIDAE)
F. Christian Thompson
Systematic Entomology Laboratory, ARS, USDA, NHB-168, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C. 20560.
Abstract.—Tht flower fly genus Ornidia (Diptera: Syrphidae) is revised. The genus is
redescribed; a key to species is presented; the phylogenetic relationships ofthe genus and
species are hypothesized; the included species are redescribed; with a new species, white-
headiy described from Panama (type) and Colombia; and the critical characters are illus-
trated.
Key Words: key, phylogenetic relationships, neotropical
Ornidia is small group ofbrilliant metal- straight below median tubercle, with dis-
lic green or purple flies found mainly in the tinctmedian tubercleandsmallerlateral tu-
New World tropics: Anyone who has spent bercle; frontal prominence distinct, low,
time in these tropics knows these beautiful abovemiddleofhead; frontaltriangleshort,
flies as they are common around human '/2 as long as eye contiguity, slightly puffed
habitations. The genus contains only 4 spe- out; front offemale narrow, about twice as
cies: One common species found every- long as wide at antennal base, as long as
where in the New World tropics and that face, with convergent sides dorsally, puffed
has spread extensively through the Old out, with a transverse depression about Vs
World tropics during the last century with offrontal length above antenna, with short
commerce, two others which are less com- sublateral longitudinal depression extend-
mon but widespread, and one new species, ingabout V3 the length offront above trans-
presentlyknownfromafewspecimensfrom verse depression. Eye pilose, holoptic in
PanamaandColombia. This paperpresents male. Antenna short, shorter than face; ba-
a revision ofthe genus, with complete syn- soflagellomere elongate, twice as long as
onymies (except only major references giv- broad at base; arista plumose, as long as
en for obesa), descriptions, and distribu- antenna.
tional and biological data for all taxa. Thorax: about as long as broad; noto-
pleuron enlarged, swollen andelongate pos-
Genus Ornidia Lepeletier and Serville
teriorly on lateral V2; meso-anepistemum
Ornidia Lepeletier & Serville, 1828: 786. withanteriorportionbare;meso-katepister-
Type-species, Syrphus obesus Fabricius num with posterior Vi completely pilose;
(orig.des.). Curran 1930: 2(key);Val 1972 meso-anepimeron with posterior portion
(key, biometry, evolution); Thompson pilose; meropleuron with barrette pilose;
1972: 106 (descr., relationships). with a patch of pile anterobasal to meta-
Volucella, subg. Ornidia: Hull 1949: 348 thoracic spiracle; scutellum with a pre-api-
(description); Hardy 1964: 403 (descrip- cal depression, without ventral pile fringe.
tion). Wing: without microtrichia; marginal cell
Head: face concave beneath antenna. closed, petiolate, with apical portion an-
VOLUME 93, NUMBER 2 249
gulate posteriorly; apical crossvein reces- 5) Meso-anepimeron bare posteriorly (0)
sive. or pilose (1).
Abdomen: suboval, convex, withoutbris- 6) Meso-katepimeron (barrette) bare (0)
tles. or pilose (1).
Ornidia belongs to the tribe Volucellini 7) Postalar wall bare (0) or pilose poste-
and is the sister ofCopestylum [Volucellini riorly (1).
= Graptomyza + (Volucella + {Ornidia + 8) Scutellum without (0) or with pre-api-
Copestylum)), see Thompson and White- cal depression (1).
head (1986) forexplanation ofcladistic for- 9) Medius with apical portion (apical
mulae] (Thompson 1972). The genus is de- crossvein) processive (0), arcuate and
fined (synapomorphy) by its facial and strongly recurrent (1) or straight (2).
notopleural structure, the arrangement ofa 10) Cell R4+5 (apical cell) open (0), pet-
large medial and smaller sublateral tuber- iolate (1) or bulbous apically (2). Within
clesontheface(Figs. 1-3),andtheenlarged, Copestylum, the apical cell varies from
posteriorly produced notopleuron (Fig. 4), widely open, to petiolate and bulbous. I ac-
states which are unique among flower flies. ceptthewidelyopenstateasthegroundplan
Thecladisticrelationshipsarederived from condition for Copestylum.
M2
the following characters (see Table 1), with 1 1) present (0) or absent (1).
the polarity determined by outgroup com- 12) Larvae saprophagous (0) or special-
ized inquilines in nests ofsocial Hymenop-
parison (tribe Rhinigiini, genus Ferdinan-
tera(l).
dea):
The taxa examined were:
1) Male eyes holoptic (0) ordichoptic (1). Copestylum {apicalis Loew, compactus
This character varies within the genus Co-
Cuvran,fornaxTownsend, gibbera Schiner,
pestylum, one species group has dichoptic
hirtipes Macquart, marginatum Say, mexi-
eyes, the rest holoptic, which is accepted as canum Macquart, trituberculatum Thomp-
the ground plan condition.
son, tympanitis Fabricius);
2) Arista bare (0), sparsely and short pi- Ferdinandea {cupreus Scopoli);
lose (1), or plumose (densely and long pi- Graptomyza {alabeta Mutin, doddi Fer-
lose) (2). The aristal pilosity varies greatly guson,flavicollis Ferguson, inclusa Walker,
in both Graptomyza and Copestylum. In liberia Greene, longirostris Wiedemann,
Graptomyza most species have the arista maculipennis de Meijere, microdon Osten
sparsely pilose with short hairs, which I ac- Sacken, nigripes Brunetti, plumifer Fergu-
cept as the ground plan condition (as inclu- son, signata Walker);
sa), some specieshave onlya fewvery short Ornidia (all species);
aristal hairs, one undescribed species from Volucella (bombylans Linnaeus, decolo-
Australiahasnoaristalhairs, andsomespe- rata Walker, elegans Loew, inanis Linnae-
cies have long and numerous hairs (as in us, inflata Fabricius,jeddona Bigot, linearis
longirostris). In Copestylum, there are a few Walker, nigricansCoquillett,pellucens Lin-
species groups with distinctive aristal pi- naeus, rotundata Edwards, tabanoidesMot-
losity, but these are all clearly derived from schulsky, trifasciata Wiedemann, and zo-
the basic plumose condition. One species, naria Poda).
pseudotachina, has the arista bare, a sec- I now accept the diphyletic origin ofthe
ondary reduction. Old World volucellines as Graptomyza are
3) Meso-anepistemum bare (0) or pilose now known to be saprophagous, not spe-
(1). cialized inquilines. Also, Tachinosyrphus is
4) Meso-katepistemum continuously pi- no longer accepted as a genus distinct from
lose (0) or bare medially (1). Copestylum (new synonymy) as that ar-
250 PROCEEDINGS OFTHE ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY OFWASHINGTON
head
mesonotum
2nd sternum
Figs. 1-8. FeaturesofOrnidia. 1, 2. Facialprofiles. 1,aemulaWilliston. 2, mayorCurran. 3. ohesaFabricius,
head, lateral. 4. obesa Fabricius, notopleuron and adjacent structures, dorsal view. 5, 6. Wing, apical half. 5,
aemulaWilliston.6,mayorCurran.7,8.Abdominalsternum,lateralprofile.7,wo/orCurran.8,aemulaWilliston.
rangement left Copestylum as undefined. acter, the pilosity of the posterior portion
The above cladistic formula, which is the oftheanepimeron. In mypreviousanalysis,
sameasmy 1972phylogeny,isderivedwhen Iconsideredthepiloseconditiontobeprim-
the type species are used as exemplars (CI itive in all situations. Hence, Copestylum
= 87, RI = 71, 1 tree). The possibility that wasdefinedbyabareposterioranepimeron.
Ornidia is a specialized subgroup ofCope- However, under a strict outgroup criterion,
stylum rests on the evaluation ofone char- the bare condition is primitive within the
VOLUME 93, NUMBER 2 251
Table Characters ofvolucelline taxa.
1.
252 PROCEEDINGS OFTHE ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY OFWASHINGTON
Figs. 9-12. Male genitalia of Ornidia, lateral view. 9, aemula Williston. 10, obesa Fabricius. 11, major
Curran. 12, whiteheadiT\iom^son.
VOLUME 93, NUMBER 2 253
Figs. 13-16. Male genitalia ofOrnidia, dorsal view. 13, aemula Williston. 14, obesa Fabricius. 15, major
Curran. 16, whiteheadilhom^^on.
black pilose except white pollinose under black pilose, without pre-scutellar bristles;
antenna; cheek shiny, black pilose; frontal scutellum with pre-apicaldepression broad,
triangle shiny, black pilose; frontal lunule shallowandnotdistinctlydividedmedially,
brown; antenna brownish black, black pi- black pilose; squama and plumula black;
lose; arista orange, with aristal hairs black; halter white except stem brownish. Wing:
vertical triangle shiny, black pilose; eye hyaline except for maculae; apical macula
brownpiloseondorsal Vionly; occiputshiny large, covering all of apex of cell Rl+2.
on ventral % white pollinose elsewhere, Legs: metallic purplish black, black pilose.
white and black pilose. Abdomen: metallic purplish black, shiny;
Thorax:metallicpurplishblack, shinyex- venter black pilose except white pilose on
cept narrowly grayish-white pollinose an- basal y. of2nd sternum; 4th sternum with-
teriorly; pleuron black pilose; mesonotum out bristle apicolaterally; dorsum black pi-
254 PROCEEDINGSOFTHE ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY OFWASHINGTON
Fig. 17. Hahixus ofOrnidia whifeheadiThompson.
VOLUME 93, NUMBER 2 255
lose except with long tawny pile on basal % and anepimeron; mesonotum black pilose,
of4thtergum;malegenitaliasegmentsblack with short weak pre-scutellar black bristles;
pilose. scutellum with pre-apical depression divid-
Size.—Mesonotal length, 3.9-4.4; wing ed medially, black pilose except tawny pi-
length, 12.4-14.3 (see Val 1972). loseon margins; squamaandplumulablack;
Types.— Volucella aemula was based on halter white except stem brownish orange.
two female specimens, both ofwhich are in Wing: hyaline except for maculae; apical
the American Museum ofNatural History macula small, only covering area around
with identical labels ("Brazil, Piedra, HH Rl+2. Legs: front and mid coxae and tro-
Smith" "VolucellaaemulaWilliston"). One chanters metallic green, shiny; hind coxa
is heredesignated lectotype and hasbeen so metallic green, grayish-white pollinose;
labeled, the other paralectotype. middle coxa black pilose; front and hind
Distribution.—Costa Rica*, Colombia*, coxae white pilose basally, black pilose api-
Venezuela*, Surinam, Brazil, Bolivia*(* in- cally; femora shiny, dark metallic green to
dicates specimens examined from these bluishblack, becomingblackapically, black
countries). pilose; tibiae metallic purplish black, shiny,
Ornidia aemula is easily distinguished black pilose; tarsi brownish black, black pi-
from the other species of the genus by it lose.
large apical wing spot (Fig. 5), digitate pro- Abdomen: shiny except extensively black
cess on the second sternum (Fig. 8) and the pollinoseon2ndtergum;venterblackpilose
more pronounced facial tubercle (Fig. 1). exceptblackon basal '/3of2ndsternum; 4th
sternum without bristles apicolaterally; 1st
Ornidia major Curran tergumtawnypilose; 2ndand 3rdtergashort
Figs. 1, 11, 15 black pilose; 4th tergum long tawny pilose;
malegenitalic segmentswhite pilose,except
Volucella violacea Macquart 1842: 23, pi.
8th tergum black pilose.
6, fig. 3 (habitus), 3a (headM).NTHyNpe,-local- Size.—Mesonotal length, 3.6-4.2; wing
ity: Brazil. Lectotypte 9 Paris
length, 10.6-12.5 (see Val 1972).
here designated. Preoccupied by Volucel-
la violacea Say 1830. New synonym. Types.— VolucellaviolaceaMacquartwas
based on an unspecified number offemale
Ornidia mayor Curran 19A30M:N2H. .Type-local- specimens. A single female with the appro-
ity: Brazil. Holotype S Val 1972
priate Macquart determination label ("V.
(biometry, distribution, male genitalia
violacea, Mr. Sylvira Bresil") and museum
figured); Baez 1985: 74 (Venezuela).
labels ("Sylvair [unreadable], Brasil,
. . .
Metallic green or purplish blue flies. 1839" "No 1094, Volucella, violacea") was
Head:faceshiny, blackpiloseexceptwhite found in Paris, is here designated lectotype
pollinose underantenna; cheek shiny, black andhas sobeen labeled. Giglio-Tos(1892b:
pilose; frontal triangle shiny, black pilose; 64) synonymized violacea with obesa\ this
frontal lunuleorange; front shiny, tawnyand synonymy was accepted by subsequent
black pilose; antenna brownish black, black workers. The holotype ofA?7a/crCurran was
pilose;aristaorange,witharistalhairsblack; examined and found to correspond to the
verticaltriangleshiny,blackpilose;eyeblack current concept ofthe name.
pilose; occiput shiny on ventral 'A, white Distribution.—Mexico (Vera Cruz)*,
pollinose dorsally, white pilose with a few Guatemala*, Costa Rica*, Panama*, Co-
black hairs dorsally. lombia*, Venezuela*, Ecuador*, Peru*, Bra-
Thorax: shiny except narrowly grayish- zil*, Bolivia* and Paraguay*.
whitepollinoseanteriorly;pleuronwhitepi- Ornidia majorisdistinguishedfrom obesa
lose except black pilose on anepistemum by its larger size (see Val 1972), more or
256 PROCEEDINGS OFTHE ENTOMOLOGICALSOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
less divided preapical sculcUar depression (Oriental distribution); Smith & Vock-
and the presence ofshort presculellar bris- eroth 1980: 497 (Afrotropical distribu-
tles; major differs from acniula and whitc- tion); Thompson 1981: 120 (West Indian
hcadi as noted under those species. Earlier references, status); Baez 1985: 75 (Ven-
authors, such as Williston (1891), misiden- ezuela); Thompson & Vockeroth 1989:
lified major as obcsa. 447 (Australian distribution); Bullock
1990: 253 (ex vo\\\ngJacaratia mexicana
Ornidia obesa Fabricius
(Caricaceae)).
Figs. 3, 4, 6, 10, 14
Volucella obesoides Giglio-Tos 1892a: 4.
Syrphus ohesus Fabricius 1775: 763. Type- Type-locality: Mexico. Holotype $ IMZ.
locality: "America" [= Virgin Islands]. Giglio-Tos 1892b: 65 (description), 1895:
Lectotype <5 UZM, Copenhagen (Thomp- 360 (Paraguay, Argentina); Godman &
son 1981: 195). Salvin 1903: 90 (citation); Aldrich 1905:
Musca obesa: Gmelin 1790: 2868 (descrip- 380 (catalog citation); Kertesz 1910: 197
tion). (catalog citation); Curran 1930: 2 (key).
Voliiccllaobcsa:V^'\cdcvmnx\ 1830: 199(re- Synonymy by Thompson et al. 1976: 70.
descr.); Macquart 1842: 21 (distribution; Ornidia obesoides: Curran 1930: 2 (key);
Chile); Walker 1849: 637 (distribution, Doesburg 1963: 18, 1966: 97 (Surinam).
Mauritius, synonymy); Bigot 1859: 431
(Madagascar; descriptive note; breeds in Metallic green or purplish blue flies.
latrines in Mexico); Macquart 1850: 31 1 Head:faceshiny,whitepiloseexceptwhite
(noteondistribution); Williston 1887: 143 poUinose underantenna; cheek shiny, white
(description, head figured), 1891: 50(syn- pilose; frontal triangleshiny, whiteandblack
onymy, distribution); Giglio-Tos 1892b: pilose; frontal lunule orange; front shiny,
64 (distribution; synonymy), 1895: 360 tawny and black pilose; antenna brownish
(Seychelles); Aldrich 1905: 380 (catalog black, black pilose; arista orange, with aris-
citation); Banks 1907: 450 (Virginia); tal hairs black; vertical triangle shiny, black
Kertes/ 1910: 763 (catalogcitation); Bez- pilose; eye brown pilose; occiput shiny on
zi 1915: 4 (questionable record from Af- ventral 'A, white poUinose dorsally, white
rica); Banks et al. 1916: 186 (Virginia); pilose with a few black hairs dorsally.
Sack 1921: 138 (Paraquay, larva figured); Thorax: shiny except narrowly grayish-
Jones 1922: 33, 53(Colorado); Hull 1923: white poUinose anteriorly and with black
297 (NewJersey); Curran 1925: 206 (male poUinose medial vitta on anterior '/2 of
genitalia figured); Johnson 1925: 172 mesonotum; pleuron tawny pilose with a
(Massachusetts); Johannsen 1926: 798 few black hairs intermixed; mesonotum
(New York); Bezzi 1928: 77 (Tahiti); Wil- black pilose; scutellum with pre-apical de-
liams 1931: 284, 1939: 284 (life history, pression continuous, not divided medially,
Hawaii); Shannon & Aubertin 1933: 168 blackpiloseexcept tawnypiloseonmargins;
(Argentina; not in Chile); Doesburg 1963: squama and plumula black; halterwhiteex-
18, 1966: 96 (Surinam); Hardy 1964: 404 cept stem brownish orange. Wing: hyaline
(Hawaii, description, head & male geni- except for maculae; apical macula small,
talia figured);Greenberg& Povolny 1971: onlycoveringareaaround R1 +2. Legs: front
83 (public health importance); Greenberg and mid coxae and trochanters metallic
1971: 201 (biotic associates). green, shiny; hindcoxa metallicgreen, gray-
Ornidia obcsa: Lcpeletier & Scrville 1828: ish-white poUinose; middle coxa black pi-
786 (descr.; Asia, Mauritius); Val 1972 lose; front and hind coxae white pilose ba-
(biometry, geographic variation, male sally, black pilose apically; femora shiny,
genitalia figured); Knutsonetal. 1974: 335 dark metallic green to bluish black, becom-
VOLUME 93, NUMBER 2 257
ing black apically, black pilose; tibiae me- known tobreed in humanlatrinesandother
tallicpurplishblack, shiny, blackpilose; tar- semiliquid wastes, and back when sanita-
si brownish black, black pilose. tionwasnotasgoodastoday, Ornidiaobesa
Abdomen:shinyexceptblackpollinoseon apparently had a more extensive range. As
most of2nd tergum in male; venter yellow Macquart (1850: 311) first noted, Ornidia
pilose except black on apical edge of 3rd obesa is the only New World fly that has
and apical '/j of 4th sterna; 4th sternum spread to the Old World tropics. Ornidia
without bristles apicolaterally; 1st tergum obesa is known to carry bacteria of public
tawny pilose; 2nd and 3rd terga short black health importance {Salmonella, Shigella)
pilose; 4th tergum long tawny pilose; male (Alcivar and Campos 1946) and Mycobac-
genitalic segments tawny pilose, except 8th terium (Currie 1910). The species is also
tergum black pilose; female genitalic seg- beneficialasthemaggotscanconvertcoffee-
ments tawny pilose. production waste products into useful pro-
Size.—Mesonotal length, 2.3-3.6; wing tein sources for cattle feed (Larde 1989).
length, 7.4-1 1.2 (see Val 1972).
Ornidia whiteheadi Thompson,
Types.—The syntypes o{ohesa Fabricius
New Species
were examined, and a lectotype designated
(Thompson 1981). Vockeroth (in Thomp- Figs. 12, 16
son et al. 1976) examined the holotype of MdAc.—Head: metallic green; face shiny,
obesoides Giglio-Tos and identified it as a black and lawny pilose except white polli-
specimen ofobesa Fabricius. nose under antenna; cheek shiny, white pi-
Distribution.—Massachusetts, New York, lose; frontal triangle shiny, tawny and black
New Jersey, Colorado, Arizona, New Mex- pilose; frontal lunule orange; antenna
ico*, Texas*, Florida*, Bahamas*, Cuba*, brownish black, black pilose; arista orange,
Jamaica*, Dominican Republic*, Haiti*, with aristal hairs black; vertical triangle
Puerto Rico*, Lesser Antilles*, Trinidad*, shiny, black pilose; eye brown pilose; oc-
Mexico*, Guatemala*, El Salvador*, Be- ciput shiny, white pilose with a few black
lize*, Honduras*, Nicaragua*, Costa Rica*, hairs dorsally.
Panama*, Colombia*, Venezuela*, Suri- Thorax: metallic green, shiny except nar-
nam*, Guyana*, French Guiana*, Ecua- rowly grayish-white pollinose anteriorly;
dor*, Peru*, Brazil*, Paraguay*, Bolivia*, pleuron tawny pilose with a few black hairs
Argentina*, Hawaii*, Marquesas*, Society intermixed; mesonotum tawny pilose ex-
Islands*, Marshall Islands*,Samoa*, Niue*, cept medial '/^ black pilose, with a single
Solomon Islands*, New Caledonia*, Java, weak prc-scutellar black bristle on left side;
Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Re- scutellum with pre-apical depression divid-
union, Tanzania, South Africa. ed medially, black pilose except tawny pi-
Ornidia obesa is a ubiquitous fly in the lose on margins; squama and plumula taw-
New World tropics and once was more ny; halter orange except stem brownish.
widespread in the Old World tropics and Wing: hyaline except for maculae; apical
the north of the New World. In the New macula small, only covering area around
World, the species have been recorded as Rl +2. Legs: coxaeand trochanters metallic
far north as Colorado, Massachusetts and green, shiny, white pilose; femora shiny,
New York, and in the Old World tropics as bright metallic green and tawny pilose on
far west as mainland Africa, but there are basal '/3, becoming dark apically, with apex
no modern records from these areas [in the black, black pilose on apical %; tibiae me-
above synonymy I have tried to give all the tallicpurplish black, shiny, black pilose; tar-
exotic citations to obesa, but only the prin- si brownish black, black pilose.
cipal New World ones]. Ornidia obesa is Abdomen: metallic green, shiny; venter