Erythromelana Townsend, 1919

Erythromelana Townsend, 1919a: 174. Type species: Erythromelana jaena Townsend, 1919a, by original designation. Other references: Guimarães (1971: 106); Wood (1985: 39–40); Wood & Zumbado (2011: 1403).

Minthomyia Townsend, 1919b: 564. Type species: Minthomyia abdominalis Townsend, 1919b, by original designation. Other references: Guimarães (1971: 41); Wood (1985: 39–40) (as synonym of Erythromelana).

Erythromelana can be distinguished from other Blondeliiniby the following combination of characters: Head: proclinate orbital setae absent in male, female with 2 setae; 1–2 pairs of reclinate outer orbital setae, lowermost outer orbital seta distinctly longer than uppermost frontal seta; ocellar setae ranging from absent to well developed; eyes haired, of variable density in different species; parafacial bare and extremely narrow, at narrowest point equal to or narrower than the basal width of the palpus; parafacial light gray in ground color, covered with silvery–gold pollinosity, and bare; fronto-orbital plate and vertex black in ground color, covered with a dull silver-gold pollinosity (appearing mostly black (Fig. 2b)), and with faint golden reflections visible only in lateral view (mostly on vertex); lower margin of face level with vibrissa; vibrissa positioned at extreme anteroventral corner of face; facial ridge with a few short hairs on lower third or less; arista black on basal 1/3–1/4, becoming light brownish to orange distally, elongate, and minutely pubescent, thickened only on basal 1/4; palpus light orange to yellow, sometimes darkened basally. Thorax: ground color shiny black; scutum silver pollinose presuturally, postsuturally a polished black in ground color; prosternum setose; postpronotum bearing 2 or, rarely, 3 setae; katepisternum with 2–3 setae; first postsutural supra-alar seta small or sometimes absent; apical scutellar setae lacking; wingvein R₄₊₅ setulose at base and vein R₁ setulose or bare; vein M smoothly curved at bend and ending at wing margin anterior to wing tip, separately from vein R₄₊₅; legs ranging from entirely yellow to entirely black. Abdomen: ground color ranging from yellow-orange to black, without strong banding; mid-dorsal depression not extending to hind margin of T1+2; discal setae only present on T5. Male terminalia: sternite 5 with median cleft either U- or V-shaped; inner margin bearing minute setae; apical lobe rounded or pointed apically with either a single, long, well-developed seta, multiple well developed setae, or bare; pregonite curved anteriorly, with strong setae along posterior margin; postgonite short with curved apex; epiphallus small, usually difficult to see between the pregonites; surstylus with setulae on inner and outer surfaces, or completely bare; surstylus, in lateral view, varied in shape from almost straight to slightly concave on anterior or posterior margins, usually with a broad, rounded apex, occasionally truncate; surstylus and cercus usually subequal in length, sometimes cercus shorter than surstylus; in posterior view, cerci narrowed on apical 1/3.

Based on synapomorphieswithin the male terminalia of Erythromelana described by Inclan and Stireman (2013), the two newly described species belong to the E. cryptica species-group and as such were compared to the other species belonging to that group.

arciforceps Inclan, 2013: 35. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Brazil, S.C., Nova Teutonia. Type label: Nova Teutonia S. C.-Brazil Nov. 1970 F. Plaumann/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana arciforceps Inclan D.J/ DI412CA. Additional specimens examined: Brazil. [Examined by AJF.]

catarina Inclan, 2013: 32. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Brazil, S.C., Nova Teutonia. Type label: Nova Teutonia S. C.-Brazil Jun. 1970 F. Plaumann/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana catarina Inclan D.J/ DI392CA. Additional specimens examined: Brazil. [Examined by AJF.]

convexiforceps Inclan, 2013: 33. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Mexico, Oaxaca, Suchistepec. Type label: Mexico, Oax 4.6 km Suchistepec 23.VII.1992 D.M. Wood 2150m/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana convexiforceps Inclan D.J./ DI54CA. [Examined by AJF.]

cryptica Inclan, 2013: 29. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande. Type label: VENEZUELA Aragua Rancho Grande 18-27.II.1971 G.&M. Wood 1100m/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana cryptica Inclan D.J./ DI477CA. Additional specimens examined: Venezuela, Bolivia, Mexico and Ecuador. [Examined by AJF.]

distincta Inclan, 2013: 39. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Venezuela, Aragua, Rancho Grande. Type label: VENEZUELA Aragua 11 km Rancho Grande 25.II.1971 G.&M. Wood/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana distincta Inclan D.J./ DI280CA. Additional specimens examined: Brazil and Venezuela. [Examined by AJF.]

napensis Inclan, 2013: 37. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Ecuador, Napo prov., Yanayacu Biological Station. Type label: ECUADOR: Napo Prov. Yanayacu Biological Station S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m REARED October 2005 8135/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana napensis Inclan D.J. [Examined by AJF.]

woodi Inclan, 2013: 42. Holotype male (CNC). Type locality: Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Monteverde. Type label: COSTA RICA Pnts Monteverde 28.VIII.1993 D.M. Wood 1842m/ HOLOTYPE Erythromelana woodi Inclan D.J./ DI208MW. Additional specimens examined: Costa Rica, Bolivia, Mexico and Ecuador. [Examined by AJF.]

Described from 2 males and 2 females. Length: male = 6mm; female = 5–6mm.

Head: (Fig. 2b, e) eye haired, with long ommatrichia about as long as combined width of 4–5 eye facets; eye approximately 0.9x head height; vertex 0.12–0.14x head width in male, 0.21–0.23x head width in female; frontal vitta 0.33–0.35x vertex width in male, 0.32–0.34x vertex width in female; first flagellomere black, reaching facial margin; fronto-orbital plate with 2 reclinate inner orbital setae, the lowermost large and well developed in contrast to the uppermost, which is small or reduced, almost hair-like (especially in the female); ocellar setae proclinate; facial ridge bare; palpus yellowish, with dark umber base, distally haired and almost uniform in width.

Figure 1.  

Neighbor-Joining (NJ – Saitou and Nei 1987) tree comparing the two species of Erythromelana present in ACG and the GenBank sequences of Erythromelana cryptica and E. napensis. Tree based on Kimura 2-parameter distances (K2P – Kimura 1980) made using MEGA6 (Tamura et al. 2013). Tip labels include species name, individual specimen ID (accession numbers for the Inclan and Stireman (2013) specimens, and voucher codes for the ACG specimens) and, for the two new species described herein, host species and the image of a male in lateral view. This phenogram demonstrates the low intra-specific and high inter-specific variation in CO1 barcode sequences.

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Figure 2.

General morphology of Erythromelana jimmychevezi sp. n. a–c: holotype male; voucher code: DHJPAR0038684; d–f: female paratype: DHJPAR0037257.

a: habitus in dorsal view  
b: head in frontal view  
c: habitus in lateral view  
d: habitus in dorsal view  
e: head in frontal view  
f: habitus in lateral view  

Thorax: (Fig. 2a, c, d, f) dorsal vittae faintly visible as slightly darker stripes, the inner pair longer and thinner than the outer pair; postpronotum with 2 setae, often with one additional small seta; three postsutural supra-alar setae; katepisternum with 3 setae, ventromedial seta less than 1/3 the length of anteroventral seta; scutellar discal setae absent; legs black; wing smoky gray, vein R₁ dorsally bare, vein R₄₊₅ dorsally with 3–4 setulae at base.

Abdomen: dorsal surface of abdomen mostly black in ground color; ventral margins of T1+2 and T3 yellow in ground color, the yellow extending to 3/4 of lateral surface of these tergites; T4 yellow in ground color on 1/3–1/2 of lateral surface; in dorsal view, both T3 and T4 black in ground color medially and yellow laterally; ground color of T5 entirely black; transverse bands of sparse white pollinosisty present on anterior 1/3–1/4 of T3 and T4 and on anterior 2/3 of T5; one pair of median marginal setae on T1+2 and T3; T4 and T5 with a full row of marginal setae; mid-dorsal depression of T1+2 not reaching median marginal setae.

Male terminalia: (Fig. 3) sternite 5 with median cleft V-shaped; apical lobes broadly pointed, each with 2–3 long, well-developed setae, the longest seta at least 2x as long as second longest; surstylus with small hairs on inner and outer surfaces; surstylus, in lateral view, almost straight on basal 1/2 and convex on apical 1/2 of anterior margin, and very slightly concave along posterior margin; surstylus and cercus almost equal in length in lateral view (Fig. 3b); cercus, in lateral view, bent, digitate, not strongly concave on anterior surface, very slightly concave on postero-apical margin, and with a rounded tip; in posterior view, cerci narrowed inapical 1/3, length of upper lobes almost equal to medial section and longer than the apical cleft; apical cleft well defined with rounded tips directed slightly medially, basal section 2/3 the length of apical section.

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Figure 3.

Erythromelana jimmychevezi sp. n. Dissected terminalia of male paratype; voucher code: DHJPAR0040781

a: cerci and surstyli in dorsal view  
b: terminalia in lateral view  
c: sternite 5 in ventral view  

This species is included in the E. cryptica species group (Inclan and Stireman 2013) because of its morphological similarity to other members of the group. Erythromelana jimmychevezi can bedistinguished from E. arciforceps by the following character states: light brown wings; multiple, strong apical setae on the lobes of sternite 5; more pointed appearance to the apices of the lobes of sternite 5. It is worth noting that E. jimmychevezi may overlap in range with E. arciforceps, which has been collected from as far north as Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Erythromelana jimmychevezi is named in recognition of Jimmy Chévez Elizondo for his contributions to the accounting team for Area de Conservación Guanacaste, the forest this fly lives in.

Costa Rica, ACG, Guanacaste Prov., rain forest, 470–675 m elevation.

A parasitoid of Eois Janzen52 (Geometridae), which feeds on Piper auritum (Piperaceae).

Described from 4 males and 4 females. Length: male = 6–7mm; female = 5–6mm .

Head: (Fig. 4b, e) eye haired, with long ommatrichia about as long as combined width of 4–5 eye facets; eye approximately 0.9x head height; vertex width 0.13–0.15x head width in male, 0.22–0.24x head width in female; frontal vitta width 0.43–0.46x vertex width in male, 0.32–0.34x vertex width in female; first flagellomere black, reaching facial margin; fronto-orbital plate with 2 reclinate inner orbital setae of subequal length in male, whereas in the female the uppermost is large and well developed, 2x the length of the lowermost; ocellar setae small, poorly developed and proclinate; facial ridge bare; palpus yellowish, with dark brown-yellow base; distally haired; almost uniform in width.

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Figure 4.

General morphology of Erythromelana glenriverai sp. n. a–c: holotype male; voucher code: DHJPAR0038680; d–f: female paratype; coucher code: DHJPAR0037426.

a: habitus in dorsal view  
b: head in frontal view  
c: habitus in lateral view  
d: habitus in dorsal view  
e: head in frontal view  
f: habitus in lateral view  

Thorax: (Fig. 4a, c, d, f) dorsal vittae faintly visible presuturally as slightly darker stripes, virtually invisible postsuturally; postpronotum with 2 setae, usually with one additional small seta; two postsutural supra-alar setae (rarely only 1); katepisternum with 3 setae, ventromedial seta poorly developed, almost hair-like; scutellar discal setae absent; legs black; wing smoky gray, vein R₁ dorsally bare, vein R₄₊₅ dorsally with 3–4 setulae at base in male, and 5–6 setulae at base in female.

Abdomen: ground color of dorsal surface mostly black; T1+2 all black in ground color in dorsal view, and of yellow ground color ventrally in lateral view; T3 mostly yellow on anterior 3/4, black posteriorly; coloration of T3, in dorsal view, appearing as a black triangle on a yellow background; T4 yellow in ground color on 1/3–1/2 of lateral surface, appearing as entirely black in dorsal view; T5 entirely black; transverse bands of sparse white pollinosity present on anterior 1/3–1/4 of T3 and T4, and on anterior 2/3 of T5; one pair of median marginal setae on T1+2 and T3; T4 and T5 with a full row of marginal setae; mid-dorsal depression of T1+2 not reaching median marginal setae.

Male terminalia: (Fig. 5) sternite 5 with median cleft V-shaped, apical lobes bearing rounded apices, each with 1 long, well-developed seta, the longest seta at least 4x as long as the second longest; anterior margin of basal plate slightly concave; surstylus with small hairs on inner and outer surfaces; in lateral view, surstylus almost straight on basal 1/2 and convex on apical 1/2 of anterior margin, and very slightly concave along posterior margin; in lateral view, surstylus and cercus almost equal in length; cercus in lateral view bent, digitate, strongly concave on anterior surface, very slightly concave on postero-apical margin, and with a rounded tip; cercus truncate in lateral view, appearing like a slightly bent thumb; in posterior view, cerci narrowed on apical 1/3, length of upper lobes almost equal to medial section and longer than the apical cleft, basal section 1/3 longer than apical section; apical cleft well defined, with rounded tips directed medially.

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Figure 5.

Erythromelana glenriverai sp. n. Dissected terminalia of male paratype; voucher code: DHJPAR0040781

a: terminalia in dorsal view  
b: terminalia in lateral view  
c: sternite 5 in ventral view  

This species is included in the E. cryptica species group (Inclan and Stireman 2013) because of its morphological similarity to other members of the group. Erythromelana glenriverai can bedistinguished from E. cryptica by the following characters: consistently having only two postsutural supra-alar setae; a less developed medial katepisternal seta; a more spatulate surstylus (visible in both lateral and posterior views); and a more curved, narrower anterior section of cercus (in posterior view). Additionally, the posterior section of the cercus in E. glenriverai is almost equal in length to the length of both the anterior and medial sections combined. Erythromelana cryptica was one of the few species for which a barcode was available among the previously described species; its sequence was also different from that of E. glenriverai (Fig. 1) .

Erythromelana glenriverai is named in recognition of Glen Rivera Chaves for his contributions to the accounting team for Area de Conservación Guanacaste, the forest this fly lives in.

Costa Rica, ACG, Alajuela and Guanacaste Provs., rain forest, 430–740m elevation.

A parasitoid of Eois Janzen49, E. Janzen04, E. Janzen236 and E. dibapha (Schaus) (Geometridae), which feed on four species of rain forest Piperaceae.