Research Article |
Corresponding author: Norman Woodley ( norman.woodley@ars.usda.gov ) Academic editor: Martin Hauser
© 2014.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Woodley N (2014) A new species of Cyphomyia Wiedemann from the Dominican Republic with a key to Caribbean species of the genus (Diptera, Stratiomyidae, Clitellariinae). ZooKeys 453: 111-119. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.453.8623
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A new species of Cyphomyia Wiedemann, C. baoruco sp. n., is described from the Dominican Republic. A key to the species of Cyphomyia known from the Caribbean islands is provided.
Neotropical Region, Caribbean, Dominican Republic, taxonomy, new species
The genus Cyphomyia Wiedemann is a fairly large genus of Stratiomyidae with 83 species. A large majority of the species are found in the Neotropical Region where 72 species are known (
The purpose of this paper is to describe a new species of Cyphomyia from the Dominican Republic that differs in general appearance from the described Caribbean species, having a bluish black body with a weakly vittate scutum, no silvery spots on the abdomen, and particularly by having dark wings. This appearance is similar to many mainland species of Cyphomyia. In addition, a key is presented that includes all of the described Caribbean species of Cyphomyia.
Specimens examined in this study are all housed in the Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA (USNM). Images of the primary types of Cyphomyia acuminata James, Cyphomyia brevis James, Cyphomyia marginata Loew, and Cyphomyia rubra Loew were examined on the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, type database internet site (
Specimens were examined using a Zeiss Stemi SV 11 stereomicroscope. Male terminalia were dissected and cleared using hot KOH, neutralized with acetic acid, rinsed in water, and are stored in a microvial with glycerin on the specimen pin.
Cyphomyia baoruco can be separated from all other Caribbean species of Cyphomyia by its bluish black body, the abdomen without silvery pilose spots dorsally, and its darkly infuscated wings. The male (female unknown) can be separated from New World mainland species by its eyes that have very long pilosity that appears slightly crinkly. Mainland species with pilose eyes generally have hairs that are shorter and denser, and none have crinkly pilosity.
Male. (Figs
Thorax: Black, vaguely browner under wing base, postpronotal lobe, lateral part of postalar callus, and scutellar spines brownish yellow; scutellum with spines a little longer than scutellum, almost in same plane as scutellum, curving very slightly upward; prosternum and medial part of laterotergite with yellowish white tomentum, small areas on meron with sparser, inconspicuous tomentum; pilosity of thorax primarily silvery white, partly semi-appressed on scutum where it forms a narrow medial vitta that decreases in width posteriorly so that it is only a few hairs wide near scutellum, and sublateral patches forming wider, more poorly developed vittae anterior to transverse suture; other areas of scutum with semi-appressed dark hairs, and both scutum and scutellum including spines with very long, erect, slightly wavy black hairs (Fig.
Abdomen: Dark brownish with slight bronzy reflections, subshiny on tergites 1 and 2 and basal part of tergite 3, remainder black with distinct metallic blue reflections, shiny; sternite 1 brown, uniformly set with brownish tomentum, 2–5 black with metallic blue reflections, shiny, segments beyond 5 brownish; tergites with dark, semi-appressed pilosity, with longer erect hairs laterally, some of which are whitish on basal two tergites, becoming progressively shorter posteriorly; first two sternites with erect, whitish hairs medially, otherwise sternites with short, semi-appressed pilosity.
Male terminalia: With gonocoxites (Fig.
Measurements: Length exclusive of antennae, 9.1 mm; antennal length, 2.5 mm; wing length, 9.5 mm.
Female. Unknown.
Known only from the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola.
Holotype male (USNM), DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales Province, Parque Nacional Sierra de Baoruco, Las Abejas, 18°09.011'N, 71°37.342'W, 1150 meters, 17 July 2006, N.E. Woodley. A Smithsonian Institution barcode label is attached to the specimen: USNMENT 01028720. The holotype is in excellent condition.
The species epithet, baoruco, is a noun in apposition from the name of the mountain range, Sierra de Baoruco, where the holotype specimen was collected.
As noted in the introduction, this species differs from all other Caribbean species of Cyphomyia in general appearance. It looks more like many Central and South American species that have a dark bluish black body and dark brown wings. The females of these mainland species often have a bright yellow head, and it will be interesting to see if the female of C. baoruco also has this feature when it is discovered.
The type locality of C. baoruco, Las Abejas, is at the southwestern end of the Sierra de Baoruco range, which is more or less continuous with the Massif de la Selle in eastern Haiti. The habitat at this site is classified as premontane wet forest (
I have composed a key to the described species of Cyphomyia found on Caribbean islands that is provided below. It should be noted, however, that due to the paucity of collecting on many islands in the region, it is likely that additional undescribed species will be found. After the key a few brief notes on the included species are given.
1 | Entire body including legs yellowish to brownish; antenna black; only known from Cuba | C. rubra Loew |
– | Body predominantly blackish with metallic bluish reflections; antenna variable, but usually with some reddish to yellowish coloration especially basally; Cuba and elsewhere | 2 |
2(1) | Scutellum entirely yellowish to brownish red, occasionally vaguely darker at extreme base | 3 |
– | Scutellum black, usually with metallic bluish reflections, at most narrow apical margin and spines yellowish | 4 |
3(2) | Posterior margin of fifth abdominal tergite with broad yellowish margin, in females this tergite can be mostly yellowish; femora usually yellowish, if brownish the darker coloration is not sharply delimited and is basal, grading into broadly yellowish apex; USA: Florida, Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico | C. marginata Loew |
– | Posterior margin of fifth abdominal tergite dark; femora and tibiae dark brown to blackish, with joint between them narrowly pale yellow that is sharply delimited; Hispaniola, ?Jamaica | C. albomaculata (Macquart) |
4(2) | Wing darkly infuscated over entire surface; abdominal tergites without silvery pilosity; Dominican Republic | C. baoruco sp. n. |
– | Wing hyaline; abdominal tergites with silvery pilosity moderately developed into spots, at least on fifth tergite | 5 |
5(4) | Apex of scutellum yellow, visible in dorsal view; Jamaica | C. acuminata James |
– | Apex of scutellum dark, concolorous with disc, margin may be yellowish brown to brown but this color not visible in dorsal view | 6 |
6(5) | All femora yellowish to brownish yellow; Cuba | C. brevis James |
– | All femora dark brown to black | 7 |
7(6) | Scutum above notopleural suture with dark hairs, contrasting with the pale hairs that form the sublateral vittae, so that the anterior end of each vitta is more or less distinct and does not appear to coalesce with lateral pilosity; St. Vincent, Grenada | C. lasiophthalma Williston |
– | Scutum above notopleural suture with pale hairs, concolorous with those that form the sublateral vitta, so that the anterior end of each vitta is not distinct as it coalesces with lateral pilosity | 8 |
8(7) | Basal three flagellomeres uniformly orange, sharply contrasting with darker, more distal flagellomeres, rarely the basal three with a small amount of brownish infuscation; lateral silvery hair patches on tergites 4 and 5 moderately well developed, more or less evident to the naked eye; Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia | C. chalybea (Wiedemann) |
– | Basal three flagellomeres more brownish, not sharply contrasting with more distal flagellomeres, if some orangish color present, color evenly grades toward darker apex; lateral silvery hair patches on tergites 4 and 5 poorly developed, not readily evident to naked eye; Dominica | C. dominicana James |
In this section a few brief notes are given concerning identifications and distributions of Caribbean Cyphomyia. Full nomenclatural details and synonymy are presented in
Cyphomyia acuminata James. This species is only known from Jamaica, and I am not aware of any specimen records beyond the original type series. Although some Caribbean Cyphomyia have a scutellar margin that is lighter in color than the disc, this is the only species that has yellowish color between the spines that extends onto the disc and can be seen in dorsal view.
Cyphomyia albomaculata (Macquart). This species was described from Haiti. It is widespread and common at lower elevations in the Dominican Republic.
Cyphomyia brevis James. This species is known only from Cuba. Because it has pale femora, this species is incorrectly placed by
Cyphomyia chalybea (Wiedemann). This species is quite similar to C. dominicana, but is almost always readily distinguishable by the orange color of the basal three antennal flagellomeres. The antennal flagellum is shorter than in C. dominicana, but this is difficult to appreciate without having both species at hand. Also, C. chalybea has more conspicuous pilose spots on the abdomen.
Cyphomyia dominicana James. This species is quite similar to C. chalybea; comparisons are noted above under that species. Part of the type series of this species, as well as a few additional specimens, were reared but unfortunately the larval host was not recorded.
Cyphomyia lasiophthalma Williston. I am basing my concept of this species on the specimens that
Cyphomyia marginata Loew. This species was described from Cuba. I have examined specimens from USA: Florida, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico that I consider conspecific, although specimens from Puerto Rico generally have darker legs. This species has also been recorded from Jamaica and Hispaniola, but I think that these records almost certainly refer to C. albomaculata.
Cyphomyia rubra Loew. This unusual species is only known from Cuba. Only three other described species of Cyphomyia, all from Central or South America, out of 72 Neotropical species, are extensively pale in coloration. The male of this species has not been described and remains unknown.
I thank Taina Litwak of the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) for providing the color habitus illustration and the line drawings. Steve Lingafelter and Alexander Konstantinov (SEL) captured and helped with editing of the photographic images. Kelvin Guerrero, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was instrumental in providing in-country consulting and logistical support. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the USDA. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.