9 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Curran, Charles Howard, 1894-1972.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

A:MER]ICAN MUSEUMNOVITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK APRIL 13, 1951 NUMBER 1507THE WEST INDIAN SPECIES OF MYrDAS ANDPROCTACANTHUS (DIPTERA: MYDAIDAEAND ASILIDAE)BY C. H. CURRANAs the result of the discovery of undescribed species of Mydasand Proctacanthus collected on Bimini and South Bimini Is-lands, in the Bahamas, it has been necessary to review theWest Indian species of these genera. The results have beeninteresting, since it was discovered that the same name hasbeen applied to several species of Proctacanthus.The collection made by Cazier and Rindge during 1950 in-clude the largest collection of Diptera collected on the BahamaIslands, and new species are to be found in other families and inother genera of the Asilidae. The expedition was based at theLerner Marine Laboratory of the American Museum of NaturalHistory.I am indebted to the United States National Museum and theMuseum of Comparative Zoology for the loan of material.Unless otherwise stated, the types are in the American Museumof Natural History.MYDAS FABRICIUSUp to the present time only two species of Mydas have beenrecorded from the West Indies, both from Cuba. The firstspecies, M. tricolor, was described by Wiedemann in 1829, andthe second was recorded by H. Loew under the name of M.gracilis Macquart. The latter species was originally describedfrom South America and while the Cuban species fits the de-scription, it is undoubtedly distinct. Another species from theBahamas also fits the description given by Macquart. Unfor-2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1507tunately no South American specimens of gracilis are available,so it is not possible to determine in what ways it differs from thetwo species before me. The West Indian species of Mydas canbe separated as follows:TABLE OF SPECIES1. Hind legs black, the femora swollen and reddish yellow on the basal three-fourths; mesonotum reddish, broadly black behind (Cuba)............................................tricolor WiedemannHind legs castaneous or dark reddish; mesonotum black, or reddish withbroad black median vitta...................................... 22. Hair of the thorax all black (Cuba) ......... ........... cubensis, new speciesHair of the thorax yellow or golden (Bahamas)........ brederi, new speciesMydas brederi, new speciesBlackish, the thorax partly or mostly reddish; legs castaneousor reddish, the tarsi darker; wings light smoky brown; abdo-men steel blue, with narrow, pale, segmental apices. Length,23 to 25 mm.MALE: Head black, cinereous yellow pollinose, the middle ofthe face and front, and the cheeks shining; pollen cinereous yel-low; pile pale brassy yellow. Antennae blackish, the base ofthe second segment, under side of the first, and the apex of thefourth reddish.Thorax black, the broad sides of the mesonotum and most ofthe upper half of the pleura reddish in ground color. Mesonotumwith a pair of narrow dorsocentral, cinereous yellow pollinosevittae that broaden slightly in front and are united behind by anarrow prescutellar band; laterally with a broader pollinoseband extending from the humeri to the posterior calli. Hairbrassy yellow, golden on the middle of the mesonotum and onthe scutellum. Pleura with cinereous yellow pollen.Wings light smoky brown, the veins brownish except in fronttowards the base. Squamae yellow with brown fringe. Halteresbrownish.Legs light castaneous, the tarsi darker; hair black, the coxaewith pale hair and pale pollen on the outer half. Hind femoramoderately swollen, with two rows of setigerous tuberclesbelow.Abdomen steel blue, the incisures narrowly ivory colored.Hair black, the first segment with fine, fairly long, pale brassyyellow pile, the second to fifth segments each with a subtriangu-1951 WEST INDIAN MYDAS AND PROCTACANTHUS 3lar spot of appressed brassy hair on each side, reaching from thebase to the apex; venter with yellowish hair on the basal seg-ments. Genitalia reddish, black above, the hair mostly goldenyellow.FEMALE: Pleura and sternum reddish in ground color; hair ofmesonotum brassy; venter rusty reddish; wing veins brown,becoming reddish basally.TYPES: Holotype, male, and allotype, female, in copula,South Bimini Island, Bahamas, June 16, 1950 (Cazier andRindge).This species is named in honor of Dr. Charles M. Breder, Jr.,Director of the Lerner Marine Laboratory.Mydas cubana, new speciesMydas gracilis LoEw (not Macquart), 1878, in Osten Sacken, Catalogue ofdescribed Diptera of North America, p. 84.Blackish, the thorax partly brownish red; hair black; abdo-men with strong metallic blue reflections and narrow, pale,segmental apices. Length, about 24 mm.FEMALE: Head black, with cinereous yellow pollen and paleyellow pile; most of the front and the middle of the face shining;cheeks brownish, obscurely pale pollinose. Two basal antennalsegments blackish, the others missing.Thorax brownish red, rather dull, a broad median vitta on themesonotum darker, bordered by narrow vittae of cinereous yel-low pollen, the sides with a narrower lateral vitta than in brederi.Pleura with a pale pollinose spot on the mesosternum and on themetapleura. Hair black. Scutellum brown, with the apexbroadly reddish.Wings pale yellowish brown, the veins mostly reddish.Squamae yellow, with brown fringe. Halteres brownish.Legs light castaneous or reddish, the hair black, yellow on theouter side of the posterior coxae. Posterior femora with asingle row of about eight setigerous tubercles.Abdomen colored as in brederi but more metallic bluish. Hairblack except on the first abdominal segment.TYPE: Holotype, female, vicinity of Havana, Cuba, 1905(Mel. T. Cook).This species can be easily separated from brederi by the(mostly none) pale pollinose pleura and the extent of the black4 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1507hair. The abdomen of the type has been slightly eaten by pests,but it appears to be more robust than in brederi. The wings areconspicuously paler in color, but not bicolored as in tricolorWiedemann.Mydas tricolor WiedemannMydas tricolor WIEDEMANN, 1829, Nova Acta Acad. Caes. Leopoldino-Caro-linae Nat. Cur., vol. 15, p. 42.The original description is of a general nature but is suf-ficiently clear so that there should be no difficulty in recognizingthe species. The wings are bicolored, but not strikingly so,since the yellowish basal portion merges into the brownishapical and posterior portion. The hind femora are apparentlymore swollen than in cubana and are strikingly bicolored. Thereis no mention of white tips to the abdominal segments. Thereis apparently no record of the species since originally described.PROCTACANTHUS MACQUARTThe West Indian species of Proctacanthus belong to the grouphaving the abdomen reddish, with a narrow black base. Themedian segments are sometimes reddish yellow. In the past allof the species have been placed under the names vittatus Olivieror rufiventris Macquart. The descriptions of these indicatethat both names apply to the same species. The specimensdescribed by these two authors were apparently from the sameregion, so there is little doubt about the synonymy. Actually,the species cannot be identified from either description, so theidentity must be determined, in large part, by locality.An examination of specimens from the larger islands andgroups of islands of the Greater Antilles has yielded six andpossibly seven species of Proctacanthus, and it seems likely thatan additional species or two remain to be discovered. Thechief differences are to be found in the shape of the third an-tennal segment, color of pile on the cheeks, and the arrangementof hairs on the two terminal sternites.The following key will separate the West Indian forms:TABLE OF SPECIES1. Cheeks with black hair and bristles ................... .................. 2-Cheeks with yellowish hair and bristles...............................42. Hair of the front largely yellowishanteriorly; tarsi dark reddish........... 31951 WEST INDIAN MYDAS AND PROCTACANTHUS 5Hair of the front wholly black; tarsi black (Dominican Republic) ................... dominicana, new species3. Sides of first abdominal segment with large, reddish yellow spot (PuertoRico).danforthi, new speciesFirst segment wholly black in ground color (Haiti, Santo Domingo) ......... vittatus Olivier4. Femora and tibiae brownish red or castaneous. 5Femora black, the tibiae reddish (Dominican Republic).................. darlingtoni, new species5. Third antennal segment three times as long as wide (Cuba)............................ nigrimanus, new speciesThird antennal segment less than twice as long as wide (Bahamas) .......................... lerneri, new speciesProctacanthus lerneri new speciesBlack, the abdomen reddish beyond the second segment;mesonotum of female usually with narrow, obscure, reddish,dorsocentral vittae; hair of the head wholly pale. Length,25 to 32 mm.MALE: Head black in ground color, the face reddish except onthe narrow margins, the head yellowish cinereous pollinose,less densely so between the-antennae and ocelli; pile whollypale yellowish, a few black bristles on the front. Antennaebrownish or brownish red; arista twice as long as the third an-tennal segment.Thorax black, the broad sides of the mesonotum and more orless of the upper part of the pleura reddish; a broad band mayextend across the upper half of the pleura for almost the wholelength, or there may be-a -single large reddish spot on the meso-pleura. Pollen cinereous, brownish on the dorsum except later-ally; sometimes with narrow, paler, dorsocentral vittae. Hairblack, pale yellow on the pleura. Scutellum brown or red-dish, with cinereous pollen -and rather bright yellow hair.Legs dark reddish; coxae and trochanters black, -the formercinereous pollinose and with whitish pile, the trochanters withblack hair. Hair and bristles black, -the posterior tibiae withtawny pile on the posterior surface. Claws black, the pulvilliyellow.Wings conspicuously tinged with smoky brown, the subcostalcell darker. Halteres reddish yellow.Abdomen dull orange to reddish, the apical segments some-what darkened above; first segment and basal half or more ofthe second black, the sides of the third and fourth tergites- nar-6 AMEkICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1507rowly black and with cinereous pollen. Hair yellowish, thaton the genitalia more golden, that on the ninth sternite golden,coarser, and dense, broadly parted in the middle.FEMALE: The dorsocentral pale vittae are usually more con-spicuous and frequently reddish in ground color; they curveoutward in front to meet the reddish humeri and are expandedbehind to form a prescutellar spot. The sides of the abdomenare narrowly brownish and the tips of the segments castaneous.Genitalia castaneous, the spines black.TYPES: Holotype, male, and allotype, female, South BiminiIsland, June 16, 1950 (Cazier and Rindge). Paratypes, threemales and 11 females, same locality, June 4 to 17, 1950; onefemale, Bimini Island, September 20, 1947 (James A. Oliver);two males and six females, Nassau, Bahamas, November, 1937(U.S.N.M.); one male, South Inagua Island, Bahamas, August14, 1905 (C. W. Johnson); one male and one female, Nassau,Bahamas, June 30, 1897 (C. J. Maynard); one male, samelocality, May 4, 1897 (C. J. Maynard); one female, same local-ity, July 2, 1935 (W. J. Clench); two males, Arthurs Town,Cat Island, Bahamas, July and August, 1935 (W. J. Clench)(M.C.Z.).This species is named in honor of Mr. Michael Lerner, thefounder of the Lerner Marine Laboratory of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History.Proctacanthus darlingtoni, new speciesHair of head very pale yellow, whitish on the cheeks; femorablack. Length, 25 mm.MALE: This species is, in general, so similar to lerneri thatonly a comparison with that species is necessary. The thoraxand scutellum are blackish in ground color, cinereous yellow pol-linose, the mesonotum brown. Legs black, the tibiae reddishexcept at the apex; hair black, the coxae ashy pollinose andwith white hair; wings less tinged with brown; abdominalpile pale yellowish except on the upper surface of the genitalia.The long, fine, dense hair on the ninth sternite is broadlydivided in the middle, the fringe on the eighth sternite incon-spicuous. The artista has a broad yellow tip.TYPE: Holotype, male, Barahona, Dominican Republic,1951 WEST INDIAN MYDAS AND PROCTACANTHUS 7September, 1938 (P. Darlington), in the Museum of ComparativeZoology.Proctacanthus nigrimanus, new speciesSimilar to lerneri, from which it differs in having a muchlonger third antennal segment, paler mystax, and the tarsiblack, the first segment of the hind pair mostly reddish. Thehair on the ninth sternite is slightly shorter, and the sternite isslightly less widely bare in the middle.TYPE: Holotype, male, Maisi, Oriente, Cuba, July 17, 1936(P. Darlington), in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.Proctacanthus speciesA male and female from Cuba, collected by Poey, are verysimilar to lerneri, differing only in having much paler hair onthe head and slightly different arrangement of hair on the apicalsternites. I hesitate to place them with that species. Addi-tional fresh specimens may show that this is a distinct species.These specimens were given a manuscript name by H. Loewand are in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.Proctacanthus vittatus OlivierAsilus vittatus OLIVIER, 1789, Encyclop~die m6thodique, vol. 4, p. 263.Proctacanthus rufiventris MAcQuART, 1838, Dipt~res exotiques, vol. 1, pt. 2, p.123.The color of the thorax of vittatus is quite variable. In somespecimens the mesonotal vittae are conspicuous; in othersthey are quite absent, the whole mesonotum being rusty reddish.The tarsi are dark reddish, more castaneous apically, butapparently never so dark as in dominicana, new species.Proctacanthus vittatus agrees in most respects with dominicana,the chief difference being in the vestiture of the apical sternites.The black, dense hair on the ninth sternite is not divided in themiddle, and the apical fringe on the eighth sternite is shorter,finer, and doubled. It may be yellow or black. The hair onthe reddish scutellum is usually all yellow, but it may be mixedyellow and black.The following specimens, all from Haiti, are before me:male, Fond Parisien, February 11 to 18, 1922; two males andone female (P. R. Uhler); female, Darien, November 14, 19348 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 1507(P. Darlington); female, Port-au-Prince, September 2, 1934(M. Bates).Proctacanthus danforthi, new speciesHead with yellow hair, that on the posterior half of the frontusually black; scutellum dull reddish to brown, the hair andbristles black, yellow, or mixed; ninth sternite with long fringeof hair. Length, 25 to 32 mm.MALE: Head reddish, the occiput and cheeks black; pollenvery pale brassy yellow; hair and bristles pale yellow, the cheeksand usually the posterior half of the front with black hair. An-tennae blackish, the arista reddish, the third segment slightlymore than twice as long as wide. Palpi and proboscis black,the former with black hair, that on the ventral basal half yellow.Thorax reddish, the pronotum and sternum blackish. Meso-notum with a broad, usually geminate median vitta and broad,interrupted, sublateral vittae. Hair of the mesonotum black,usually with some pale hairs posteriorly. Pleura with black hairanteriorly and yellow hair on the sternum and posterior thirdor more. Scutellum usually reddish, sometimes brown, thehair and bristles usually all yellowish, rarely all black, oftenmixed yellow and black.Legs reddish, the tarsi darker, sometimes becoming brownapically; coxae reddish, black in front, the hair pale yellow, thebristles black; hair on legs otherwise black.Wings light brownish. Squamae reddish, the fringe all yel-low, or black above. Halteres reddish.Abdomen reddish, with the intermediate segments more yel-lowish. First segment and basal third of the second black, theformer with a large reddish spot on each side; sides of the secondand following tergites usually brownish. Hair pale brassyyellow. Ninth sternite with narrow band of long bristly hairwhich is usually reddish yellow, but it may be mostly black.Hair of genitalia brassy yellow below, black above.FEMALE: Sides of the tergites and tips of the segments nar-rowly shining black or brown; ovipositor shining, the hair onthe apical half golden yellow.TYPES: Holotype, male, Arecibo, July 30 to August 1, 1914;allotype, female, San Juan, July 9 to 12, 1914. Paratypes, male,Coamo Springs, July 17 to 19, 1914; female, Manati, June 27 to1951 WEST INDIAN MYDAS AND PROCTACANTHUS 929, 1915; male and two females, San Juan, July 9 to 12, 1914,and February 11 to 14, 1914 (F. E. Lutz and F. E. Watson);female, Arroyo, February, 1899 (August Busck); female, Dora-dio, July 27, 1913 (T. H. Jones); female, Arecibo, November27, 1921 (Kisliuk and Mills); male and female, Manati, Au-gust 22, 1933 (Faxon and Mills); male, Barceloneta, November15, 1932 (Faxon and Mills). All localities are in Puerto Rico.The last six recorded specimens are in the United States Na-tional Museum.Proctacanthus dominicana, new speciesFront with black hairs; thorax mostly reddish in ground color;tarsi black; abdomen black basally, yellow in the middle, red-dish apically. Length, 17 mm.MALE: Head black in ground color, the middle of the facebroadly reddish. Front with mostly brown pollen and whollyblack hair. Occiput with pale brassy yellow pollen and pile,the pile becoming almost white below. Cheeks with pale brown-ish yellow pollen and black hair. Face pale brassy yellow pol-linose, the mystax pale yellow. Antennae with the two basalsegments blackish, the third missing.Mesonotum dark reddish, with rather cinnamon brownpollen, the hair black; a geminate, median, black vitta and out-side the dorsocentrals a short, narrow black stripe. Pleurablack, with a broad, median, reddish stripe that is narrowlyinterrupted at the sutures. Hair pale brassy yellow, coarse andblack on the mesopleura; scutellum blackish, with very palebrownish pollen and coarse, brassy yellow hair.Legs dark reddish, the tarsi blackish beyond the first seg-ment, the coxae with pale yellowish pollen. Hair black, paleyellow on the coxae.Wings pale brownish, the veins dark brown. Squamae yellow,with brownish border and yellow pile. Halteres pale reddish.Abdomen with the first and basal half of the second segmentblack;, apical half of second segment and the following three seg-ments yellow, the apical segments reddish. Hair yellowish,black on the sides of the fifth segment and on the reddish seg-ments. Ninth sternite with rather thin, moderately long hair.TYPE: Holotype, male, Sanchez, Dominican Republic, May11 to 16, 1915.

West Indian Mydas and Proctacanthus

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications