Lejops (Anasimyia) diffusus Vockeroth manuscript name, in Thompson (1991)

Anasimyia undescribed species 1 Skevington et al. (2019), page 78

Size: Body length 7.6 to 10.7 mm; wing length 5.6 to 7.4 mm

Male: Head: Face yellow, covered in yellow pollen and fine yellow pile, sides of face black, shining and bare, small medial tubercle, lower face projecting forwards along the oral margin; gena black, covered in yellow pollen and fine yellow pile; frons black dorsally, yellow ventrally, sometimes narrowly so just along ventral edge and across dorsum of antennal socket, dense yellow pollen often obscures ground colour, narrow shining spot dorsal to the antennal socket, yellow pilose, sometimes with a few black pili; vertex black, mostly black pilose with some yellow pile; antenna wholly yellow to orange, scape and pedicel with short, black pile, pedicel slightly longer than scape, postpedicel round; eye bare.

Thorax: Scutum dull black with two medial, narrow, yellow pollinose stripes, lateral edges yellow pollinose from postpronotum to postalar callus, yellow pilose; postpronotum black, covered in yellow pollen and yellow pile; postalar callus black, covered in yellow pollen and yellow pile; scutellum yellow with black lateral edges and narrowly black along anterior edge, yellow pilose with some black pili admixed; pleuron black, covered in yellow pollen, anterior anepisternum, katepimeron and meron bare, posterior anepisternum, katepisternum and anepimeron yellow pilose; metasternum black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose; pro- and mesolegs with coxae and trochanters black, yellow pilose, femora black on basal ½, yellow on apical ½, black extends almost to apex anteroventrally, sometimes more or less extensively black, anteroventral basal patch of black setulae, yellow pilose; protibia yellow, usually brown to black anteriorly on apical ¼-⅓, covered in short, yellow pile, protarsus brown anteriorly, yellow posteriorly, similar in colour to apex of protibia, covered in short yellow pile, few black pili anteriorly; mesotibia yellow, sometimes brown, yellow pilose; mesotarsus yellow basally, brown to black apically, tarsomeres 1 and 2 yellow, 3 yellow or brown, 4 and 5 brown, all yellow pilose with black setulae posteriorly; metaleg with coxa black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose; metatrochanter without tubercle, black, shining, long yellow pile anteriorly, some short yellow pile posteriorly; metafemur enlarged, yellow, anteromedial spot ranging from obscure brown to black spot ~⅕ the length of the metafemur to large black spot on medial ½ of femur, posterior side ⅔-¾ black medially, dorsally extending to apex, apical end of metafemur narrowly black, metafemur yellow pilose, small patch of black setulae anterobasally, black setulae along ventral side; metatibia brown to black basally and apically, yellow on medial ¼-⅓, with ventral carinate ridge, yellow pilose, apical end projected forwards slightly beyond end of tibia not formed into noticeable spur; metatarsus brown to black, black pilose anteriorly, yellow pilose posteriorly; wing entirely densely microtrichose; halter yellow; calypter yellow.

Abdomen: Black, yellow pilose with few black pili admixed; tergite 1 pollinose anterolaterally; tergite 2 yellow laterally, widely on anterior ¾-⅘, usually narrowly on posterior ⅕-¼, yellow extending medially on to tergite and tapering to a point about ¼-⅓ from lateral edge, yellow cuticle covered in yellow pollen, sometimes extending slightly on to black cuticle medially where it tapers to a point; tergite 3 with anterolateral yellow spots ½ length of tergite, often narrowly yellow laterally on posterior half, pair of yellow to grey curved pollinose markings medially; tergite 4 similar to tergite 3 but lateral edges only narrowly yellow, no anterolateral yellow spots, narrowly yellow posteriorly (tergite 3 sometimes very narrowly yellow posteriorly as well); tergites 2-4 shining on posterior ⅕-½, typically more widely shining on tergites 3 and 4; sternite 1 black on anterior ¾, yellow on posterior ¼, black area convex; sternite 2 yellow, often with brown to black spot posteromedially, spot often obscure, sternite 3 often brown to black with posterior edge narrowly yellow, sometimes yellow on anterior ½; sternite 4 brown to black with posterior edge narrowly yellow; all sternites yellow to grey pollinose with yellow pile.

Genitalia: Epandrium longer than wide, narrows slightly dorsally, with apicodorsal ridge adjacent to cerci; cercus with laterally compressed, subquadrate, sclerotised outer portion covered in long pile and membranous inner portion; surstylus long and wide, bent, with small patch of setae on ventral inner surface at bend, apical end bilobed and curved inwards, dorsal and ventral lobes covered in setae; basal hypandrium convexly curved ventrally, with two low, parallel ridges ending with several posterior-facing, curved setae at apicoventral end (one pair of setae larger than other setae); apical hypandrium split into two complex, multi-lobed arms; phallapodeme long, rod-like structure, laterally compressed and curved dorsally at base; phallus is difficult to distinguish, hidden between the multi-lobed hypandrial arms, small, short, with two pairs of lobes, basal lobes broad and directed laterally, distal lobes narrow and directed apically, with separate dorsal conical structure, pointed at apex (possibly secondarily derived from surrounding membrane).

Female: Differs from male in the following ways: frons black with narrow yellow ventral edge including dorsum of antennal socket, black pilose; scutellum often entirely yellow pilose, sometimes with few black pili admixed; pro- and mesofemora black on basal ⅓-½, yellow on apical ½-⅔, black extends almost to apex ventrally, sometimes less extensively black basally with black not extending entirely around femur; metafemur with brown anterior spot smaller than in male, sometimes completely absent; metatibia similar to male but often more yellow with brown areas reduced especially basally; abdomen with short subappressed yellow and black pile; tergite 1 entirely pollinose, with short, yellow subappressed pile; tergite 2 yellow anterolaterally, sometimes with yellow extending narrowly along lateral margin, with pair of curved pollinose markings beginning anterolaterally and curving inwards medially, pile subappressed with some long pile on anterolateral edge, yellow pilose on anterior ¾ or more, black pilose on posterior ¼ or less, posterior edge shining; tergites 3 and 4 similar to tergite 2, sometimes with posterior edge narrowly yellow and with small medial pollinose marking posteromedially, often more extensively black pilose on posterior ½ or less, pile uniformly short, no long pile anterolaterally, tergites 3 and 4 not as long as tergite 2; tergite 5 smaller than other tergites, black anteriorly, yellow posteriorly, tergite almost entirely pollinose except along anterior edge and narrow medial stripe, yellow pilose with few black pili posteriorly; sternites pollinose and yellow pilose; sternite one black; sternite 2 mostly yellow with black medial triangular marking; sternites 3 and 4 mostly black with narrow yellow lateral and sometimes posterior edges.

See Fig. 1 & Fig. 2.

a

b

c

d

e

Figure 1.

Anasimyia diffusa sp. nov.

a: Dorsal habitus, CNC_Diptera44630  
b: Lateral habitus, CNC_Diptera44630  
c: Face, oblique, Holotype, CNC_Diptera102201  
d: Metaleg, lateral, Holotype, CNC_Diptera102201  
e: Metaleg, ventral, Holotype, CNC_Diptera102201  

a

b

c

d

Figure 2.

Anasimyia diffusa sp. nov., male genitalia, scale bars all 200 µm

a: Lateral terminalia, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17434  
b: Ventral terminalia, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17434  
c: Lateral hypandrium, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17434  
d: Ventral of hypandrium, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17434  

Male metatrochanter without tubercle, with fine, yellow pile anteriorly (Fig. 1e); metatibia without spur (Fig. 1d) and tergite 4 with large pair of curved pollinose markings.

The word diffusa is Latin, meaning spread out, extended, dispersed. This is the name given to this species by J.R. Vockeroth, presumably with reference to the wide distribution.

This species is known from 20 specimens from New Brunswick to British Columbia.

Anasimyia diffusa is often collected in the same location as the much more common A. anausis (Walker 1849). They appear to both have a broad distribution and a long flight season, with A. diffusa collected from mid-April to late August. Some specimens have been collected in bogs but it is unclear if it is a bog specialist or not.

Differences in the metatrochanter are the easiest way to distinguish A. diffusa from A. anausis. The metatrochanter of A. anausis has short black setuale anteroventrally. In some specimens these setulae appear to be broken off but their insertions into the cuticle give the metatrochanter a rough texture. Anasimyia bilinearis (Williston 1887) can be differentiated from A. diffusa by its mostly dark abdomen with reduced pollinose markings. There is no tubercle on the metatrochanter of A. diffusa as there is in Anasimyia Group 2 males (see Skevington et al. 2019). Females are similar to other Group 1 females (see Skevington et al. 2019) and cannot be distinguished from similar species. Five females of A. diffusa were identified using the barcoding region of COI. These specimens in the paratype series clustered in a neighbour-joining tree with four males that were morphologically identified to A. diffusa. DNA sequences of this species are available in the public BOLD dataset "New Species of Syrphidae from Field Guide - DS-NSSFG" and in GenBank (Table 2). They are genetically most similar to A. anausis but consistently separable with DNA barcodes.

The common name given to the species by Skevington et al. (2019) is Smooth-legged Swamp Fly.

Lejops (Anasimyia) matutinus Vockeroth manuscript name, in Thompson (1991)

Anasimyia undescribed species 2 Skevington et al. (2019), page 80

Size: Body length 9.8 to 10.2 mm; wing length 6.1 to 6.4 mm

Male: Head: Face yellow, covered in yellow pollen and fine yellow pile, sides of face black, shining and bare, small medial tubercle, lower face projecting forwards along the oral margin; gena black, covered in yellow pollen and fine yellow pile; frons black dorsally, yellow ventrally, dense yellow pollen often obscures ground colour, narrow shining spot dorsal to the antennal socket, yellow pilose; vertex black, mostly black pilose with some yellow pile; antenna wholly yellow to orange, scape and pedicel with short, black pile, pedicel slightly longer than scape, postpedicel round; eye bare.

Thorax: Scutum dull black with two medial, yellow pollinose stripes that are more than ½ as wide as adjacent black area, lateral edges yellow pollinose from postpronotum to postalar callus, yellow pilose; postpronotum black, covered in yellow pollen and yellow pile; postalar callus black, covered in yellow pollen and yellow pile; scutellum black on basal ½, yellow on apical ½, yellow pilose; pleuron black, covered in yellow pollen, anterior anepisternum, katepimeron and meron bare, posterior anepisternum, katepisternum and anepimeron yellow pilose; metasternum black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose; procoxa black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose; protrochanter black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose with a few black setulae apically; profemur black on basal ½-⅔, yellow on apical ⅓-½, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose, anteroventral basal patch of black setulae with cuticle shining below; protibia yellow, yellow pilose; protarsus yellow, yellow pilose, apical two tarsomeres sometimes darkened brown; mesocoxa black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose, few black setulae apically; mesotrochanter black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose, few black setulae apically; mesofemur black on basal ½, yellow on apical ½, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose, anteroventral basal patch of black setulae; mesotibia yellow, yellow pilose with few black setulae ventrally on apical end; mesotarsus yellow, yellow pilose with black setulae ventrally, apical one or two tarsomeres sometimes slightly darkened brown; metacoxa black, yellow pollinose, yellow pilose anteriorly; metatrochanter black, yellow pilose with small ventral tubercle; metafemur enlarged, black basal ⅔, yellow apical ⅓ with apex narrowly black, yellow pilose, black setulae ventrally on apical ⅔; metatibia light brown, sometimes yellow, on basal ⅓, yellow on medial ⅓, dark brown (darker than base) on apical ⅓ (sometimes >⅓), yellow pilose, with ventral carinate ridge ending in long apical spur, spur ¼-⅓ as long as basotarsomere; metatarsus brown, black pilose anteriorly, yellow pilose posteriorly; wing entirely densely microtrichose; halter yellow; calypter yellow.

Abdomen: Tergite 1 black, small yellow spots on lateral edges, covered in yellow to grey pollen, yellow pilose; tergite 2 elongate, longer than wide and longer than tergite 3, slightly narrowing posteriorly, yellow laterally, black medially forming a ‘v’ shape that is widest anteriorly, narrowest medially, posterior ¼ brown to black, pair of faint yellow pollinose markings on yellow cuticle that extend from anterolateral edge and curve inwards medially, yellow pilose, posterior edge shining; tergite 3 brown to reddish to black, sometimes more yellow to orange, usually not uniform in colour and without a distinct pattern, anterolateral corners yellow with yellow pollen, yellow pilose, posterior edge shining; tergite 4 similar to tergite 3 but usually with anterior medial pair of small pollinose spots, faint pollinose spot between dull anterior portion and shining posterior margin; sternite 1 black, yellow to grey pollinose, yellow pilose; sternite 2 yellow anteriorly, black posteriorly, black extends to or almost to anterior edge in a narrow, medial point; sternite 3 brown to black anteriorly, yellow to brown posteriorly, amount varies from ¼ black to almost entirely black; sternite 4 yellow to brown; sternites 2-4 covered in yellow to grey pollen, pollen is more dense, often forming bands, along the posterior edge, yellow pilose.

Genitalia: Epandrium subquadrate, longer than wide, narrows slightly dorsally; cercus with laterally compressed, subquadrate sclerotised outer portion covered in long pile and membranous inner portion; surstylus long, bent at a 90° angle, with setae on ventral inner surface, apical end triangular, curved inwards, covered in setae on dorsal and ventral edges; basal hypandrium with central, basoventral pointed process, directed apically, narrows medially, deeply concave ventrally, with several posteroventral-facing curved setae at apicoventral end (one pair of setae longer than other setae); apical hypandrium split into two complex, multi-lobed arms; phallapodeme long, rod-like, laterally compressed and curved dorsally at base; phallus situated between the multi-lobed hypandrial arms, small and difficult to distinguish, with separate small, dorsal conical structure, pointed at apex (possibly secondarily derived from surrounding membrane).

Female: Unknown.

See Fig. 3 & Fig. 4.

a

b

c

d

Figure 3.

Anasimyia matutina sp. nov.

a: Dorsal habitus, Holotype, CNC_Diptera91232  
b: Lateral habitus, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432  
c: Head, oblique, Holotype, CNC_Diptera91232  
d: Hind leg, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432  

a

b

c

d

Figure 4.

Anasimyia matutina sp. nov., male genitalia

a: Lateral of male terminalia, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432; scale bar 500 µm  
b: Ventral of male terminalia, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432; scale bar 200 µm  
c: Sperm pump and ejaculatory apodeme, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432; scale bar 100 µm  
d: Ventral of hypandrium, Jeff_Skevington_Specimen17432; scale bar 200µm  

Male metatrochanter with modest tubercle and long, acute apical metatibial spur (Fig. 3d).

The word matutina is Latin, meaning of the morning, early. This is the name given to this species by J.R. Vockeroth.

Only four specimens are known from Virginia (Chain Bridge, Great Falls and Petersburg) and Washington DC.

Rarely found, therefore nothing is known about its habitat association. It is known to fly from mid-May to mid-June.

Size and shape of spur on metatrochanter and of metatibial spur separate this from other Anasimyia Group 2 males (see Skevington et al. 2019). Females are unknown, but are likely to be identifiable as Anasimyia Group 2 females (Skevington et al. 2019).

The common name given to the species by Skevington et al. (2019) is Small-spotted Swamp Fly.

Brachyopa 78-2 Thompson manuscript name, in Thompson (1991)

Brachyopa undescribed species 78-2 Skevington et al. (2019), page 210

Size: Body length 5.2 to 7.9 mm; wing length 4.7 to 6.2 mm

Male: Head: Yellow to orange; face concave, covered in white pollen and bare, lower face projecting forwards along the oral margin; gena pale pilose, shiny anteriorly and gold pollinose posteriorly; frontal triangle shiny, bare except for gold pollinosity narrowly along eye margin; vertex yellow, bare and gold pollinose, except ocellar triangle pale pilose; occiput gold pollinose, pale pilose with some short black setae on dorsal ¼; antenna wholly yellow to orange, scape and pedicel with short, pale pile, pedicel about as long as scape, postpedicel oval, about as long as wide, with distinct sensory pit on inner surface, arista pubescent but not plumose; eye bare, broadly holoptic.

Thorax: Mesonotum yellow to orange, pale, black or mixed pale and black pilose and gold pollinose except for two medial, bare stripes starting at anterior edge and running about three-fourths the length of mesonotum and four bare vittae, two before transverse suture and two after; scutellum yellow to orange, pale, black or mixed pale and black pilose, with macrosetae; subscutellar fringe absent; postpronotum yellow to orange, pale pilose and white pollinose; postalar callus yellow, pale pilose and shiny; pleuron yellow, sparsely white pollinose; anterior anepisternum, katepimeron and meron bare; posterior anepisternum and anepimeron pale pilose; katepisternum bare on dorsal half; metasternum yellow, sparsely white pollinose, bare; legs yellow, except 4th and 5th pro- and mesotarsomeres, as well as metatibia and tarsomeres black; meso- and metacoxae sparsely white pollinose; femora pale pilose except meso- and metafemur with black setae ventrally; tibia and tarsi mixed pale and black pilose; wing entirely densely microtrichose; halter yellow; calypter white.

Abdomen: Oval, yellow to brown, pale pilose except tergites 2-4 black pilose medially, shiny.

Genitalia: Epandrium subquadrate, longer than wide, narrows slightly dorsally; cercus with laterally compressed, oval sclerotised outer portion covered in long pile and membranous inner portion; surstylus short, with well separated dorsal and ventral lobes, dorsal lobe short, ventrally compressed, ventral lobe large, laterally compressed, rounded and elongate, dorsal lobe densely setose on posterior half of inner surface and the posterior rim of the outer surface, ventral lobe with sparse row of pile on posterior rim; subepandrial sclerite divided with one arm off of each surstylus, joined only where it articulates with hypandrium; ejaculatory apodeme tiny, asymmetrical with distal end slightly broadened; sperm pump inside the proximal end of the hyprandrium; hypandrium narrow and elongated, rounded basally, ventrally with grooves mediobasally; postgonite rectangular; phallus stubby and short.

Female: Similar to male except completely golden pollinose on frons between eyes in addition to normal sexual dimorphism.

See Fig. 5.

a

b

c

d

e

f

Figure 5.

Brachyopa caesariata sp. nov.

a: Dorsal habitus, CNC_Diptera243273  
b: Dorsal scutellum, CNC_Diptera243273  
c: Lateral habitus, CNC_Diptera243273  
d: Arista, CNC_Diptera243273  
e: Lateral male genitalia, CNC_Diptera37549; scale bar 200 µm  
f: Ventral male genitalia, CNC_Diptera37549; scale bar 200 µm  

Katepisternum usually bare on dorsal half, rarely with 1-2 hairs. Mesonotum yellow in colour. Never with wing spots. Arista pubescent. Abdomen and legs extensively yellow.

The name is from the Latin caesariatus, meaning covered with hair, with reference to the pilose arista.

This species is found from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, north to Alaska and south to Utah in the west and Maryland in the east.

This uncommon species can be found flying from mid-May to late July but may be found as early as the beginning of March in the southwest. Specimens have been collected from Heracleum and Rubus plants and from black spruce bog and Alder-Poplar-Spruce forest habitats.

This species is part of the B. punctipennis Curran 1925 complex of five species. Skevington et al. (2019) incorrectly states that the name for this group is the B. perplexa Curran 1922 complex. Brachyopa punctipennis s.s. is restricted to the Western US as are three additional undescribed species in the complex. Like other species in this complex, Brachyopa caesariata is found in the Western US; however it is the only species whose range also extends to the Eastern US. Data for three of the five undescribed species in this complex are available in BOLD. Brachyopa punctipennis s.s. has not yet been sequenced. DNA sequences available for B. caesariata are listed in (Table 2).

The common name given to the species by Skevington et al. (2019) is Plain-winged Sapeater.

Brachyopa undescribed species 17-5 Skevington et al. (2019), page 216

Size: Body length 5.8 mm; wing length 5.4 mm

Male: Head: Yellow to orange; face concave, covered in white pollen and bare, lower face projecting forwards along the oral margin; gena pale pilose, shiny anteriorly and white pollinose posteriorly; frontal triangle shiny, bare except for white pollinosity and short pale pile narrowly along eye margin; vertex yellow, except ocellar triangle black, white pollinose and pale pilose; occiput white pollinose, pale pilose with some short black setae on dorsal ¼; antenna wholly yellow to orange, scape and pedicel with short, pale pile, pedicel about as long as scape, postpedicel oval, about twice as long as wide, with minute sensory pit on inner surface, arista minutely pubescent; eye bare, very narrowly dichoptic.

Thorax: Mesonotum dull brown, pale pilose, white pollinose except for two medial, bare stripes starting at anterior edge and running about three-fourths the length of mesonotum and four bare vittae, two before transverse suture and two after; scutellum yellow, pale pilose, sparsely white pollinose and without macrosetae; subscutellar fringe absent; postpronotum yellow, pale pilose and white pollinose; postalar callus yellow, pale pilose and white pollinose; pleuron yellow, covered in white pollen; anterior anepisternum, katepimeron and meron bare; posterior anepisternum and anepimeron pale pilose; katepisternum discontinuously pale pilose; metasternum yellow, white pollinose, bare; legs yellow, pale pilose; meso- and metacoxa sparsely white pollinose; metafemur with black setulae along ventral side; wing entirely densely microtrichose; halter yellow; calypter white.

Abdomen: Oval, unicolorous light brown, pale pilose, sparsely white pollinose.

Genitalia: Epandrium subquadrate, longer than wide, narrows slightly dorsally; cercus with laterally compressed, subtriangular sclerotised outer portion covered in long pile and membranous inner portion; surstylus short, with broadly fused, for ⅓ the length of the ventral lobe, dorsal and ventral lobes, dorsal lobe short, rounded apically, ventral lobe large and elongate rectangularly, dorsal lobe densely setose on apex and with dense cluster of long pile on outer surface just prior to apex, ventral lobe with sparse smattering of pile on outer surface; subepandrial sclerite divided with one arm off of each surstylus, joined only where it articulates with hypandrium; ejaculatory apodeme narrow, straight; phallapodeme long and narrow; postgonite hooked ventrally, adjacent to hypandrium; dorsal hypandrium with paired, pointed, long arms projecting from distal end, with triangular tooth near tip; phallus simple tube within hypandrium.

Female: Unknown.

See Fig. 6.

a

b

c

d

e

Figure 6.

Brachyopa cummingi sp. nov.

a: Dorsal habitus, Holotype, CNC_Diptera106864  
b: Lateral habitus, Holotype, CNC_Diptera106864  
c: Lateral, male genitalia, Holotype, CNC_Diptera106864  
d: Ventral, male genitalia, Holotype, CNC_Diptera106864  
e: Antenna, Holotype, CNC_Diptera106864  

Arista pubescent but not plumose. Male postpedicel with distinct sensory pit. White pollinose on scutum. Postpronotum and scutellum yellow in colour. Wing hyaline. Katepisternum pilose on dorsal half. Scutellum pale pilose; completely pollinose. Abdomen unicolorous light brown; completely pollinose.

This species is named for the collector of the only known specimen. Jeff Cumming works at the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes where he specialises on Empidoidea systematics.

The only known specimen of this species was collected in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

This extremely rare fly has been collected once in mid-May (14 May 1986).

We were unable to sequence this specimen. Morphologically, it appears to be closely related to B. daeckei Johnson 1917. Brachyopa daeckei lacks the distinct sensory pit on the postpedicel that is present in B. cummingi. Additionally, B. daeckei has dark brown instead of pale yellow postpronotum and scutelllum, gold instead of white pollinosity on scutum and a pitch black instead of pale brown abdomen. Genitalia of B. cummingi and B. daeckei are similar, except surstylar lobes of B. daeckei are fused over ½ the width of ventral lobe in comparison to B. cummingi in which they are fused for ⅓ the width.

The common name given to the species by Skevington et al. (2019) is Somber Sapeater.

Brachyopa (Hammerschmidtia) sedmani Vockeroth manuscript name, in Thompson (1991)

Hammerschmidtia undescribed species 1 , Skevington et al. (2019), page 218