Nephrocerus woodi Skevington, 2005, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Skevington, Jeffrey H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Pipunculidae
Nephrocerus
Nephrocerus woodi

description: Nephrocerus woodi sp. nov. (Figs 10, 13 A–D)
Type Material Examined: Holotype ♂: Canada, Quebec, Cté Gatineau, Masham [Township], Duncan Lake, [45°40'53" N, 76°03'01" W], 260 m, 2.vi.1996, JSS#15346, D.M. Wood (CNC). Paratypes: CANADA: Quebec: Gatineau Co., Masham Twp., [45°41' N, 76°03' W], 10–20. vii.1974, 1 ♂, JSS#9903 [tip of right surstylus broken, phallus missing], 22. v.1977, 1 ♂, JSS#9904, 5. vi.1976, 2 ♂♂, JSS#9905­6, D.M. Wood (CNC); Gatineau Co., Masham Twp., Hilltop Near Duncan Lake, 45°40'53" N, 76°03'01" W, 7. vi.2002, 1 ♂, J. Skevington, JSS#12490 (CNC); Montreal, Co. Vaudreuil, Rigaud, [45°27'59" N, 74°19'35" W], hilltop, 14. vi.1996, 1 ♂, JSS#9902, C. Kassebeer (CNC); UNITED STATES: New Hampshire: Carr[oll] Co., 2 mi [les] NW Wonalancet, [43°56' N, 71°24' W], Malaise trap, 8–14. vi.1984, 1 ♂, JSS#11809, D.S. Chandler (DENH); Texas: Anderson Co., Salmon, [31°34' N, 95°30' W], Malaise trap, 28.iv.–16. v.1975, 1 ♂, H.R. Burke, JSS#13394 [3 legs removed for DNA extraction] (TAMU).
Other Material Examined: CANADA: Quebec: Vaudreuil Co., Summit of Mount Rigaud, 45°27'59" N, 074°19'35" W, 13. vi.2001, 3 ♂♂, J. Skevington, JSS#10101­3, molecular specimens, genitalia preserved as voucher (CNC).
Etymology: Named in honour of Dr. D. Monty Wood, the first person that I am aware of to document hilltopping behaviour in Pipunculidae. Monty collected several specimens of this hilltopping species and introduced me to the hilltops in the Ottawa region where the species occurs.
Description: Male: Body length 6.8–8.2 mm. Head: Holoptic, eyes joined for approximately two to three times the length of ocellar triangle, H:O 2.33–3.27:1. Arista black with yellow base. 1st flagellomere yellow. Pedicel yellow with 18–25 bristles along distal margin. Scape yellow with 6–8 dorsal bristles. Labellum and palps yellow. Occiput silver­pubescent with multiple rows of white hairs. Thorax: Proepisternum with a fan of 6–11 bristles. Postpronotal lobe yellow with 5–7 yellow hairs on posterior edge. Scutum brown to black dorsally, yellow laterally, with sharply boundaries between the colours (cf. Fig. 1 C); with dorsocentral and intra­alar rows of hairs, dorsocentrals longer and increasing in size posteriorly, terminating in 1–2 strong setae. Notopleuron with 1–2 setae and numerous smaller hairs. Usually 1 (rarely 2 or 3) posterior supra­alar seta. Postalar callus with 1–2 setae and 4–7 other moderately strong bristles. Scutellum yellow; with 2–3 pairs of strong posterior setae and numerous small black bristles over entire surface. Pleuron about half yellow, brown to black on basal four fifths of katepisternum and meron, anterior anepisternum, small sclerite below wing base and subscutellum; proepisternum brown in all specimens except the one from Texas (JSS#13394); anepimeron varying from entirely brown to slightly smeared with brown medially. Halter yellow. Legs: long and slender, entirely yellow; hairs and sockets on coxae brown to black; hairs on trochanters and femora predominantly to entirely brown or black; tibiae and tarsi with black hairs with black sockets. Fore and mid­tibiae slender and slightly arched dorsoventrally; hind tibia narrow on basal third, broader towards tip, laterally arched in apical half (in dorsal view); apex with circlet of stiff yellow bristles all about the same length (cf. Fig. 2 C). Trochanters with 3–6 dorsomedial bristles and a row of shorter ventral bristles, most prominent on rear trochanter. Wings: Length: 6.1–8.2 mm; fourth costal section about 2–3 times as long as third, C4:C3 2.1–2.8:1; R­M situated at approximately basal one­third of discal medial cell (dm), S3:S2 2.6–3.4:1. Cell r1 bare on only basal corner; Sc microtrichose in distal corner only; cell bm microtrichose along distal edge only. Tegula with 11–16 black bristles. Abdomen: Tergite 1 brown with a yellow anterolateral patch; with 10–15 large black bristles. Tergites 2–3 brown with yellow along posterior edge and laterally. Tergites 4–7 brown to black, with narrow, dull yellow posterior and lateral edges. Sternites 1–5 brown. Syntergosternite 8 brown to black dorsally, yellow ventrally. All hairs black. Genitalia: Epandrium and terminalia mostly light brown to black, yellowish along edges and on surstyli, phallus black. Epandrium shape variable, from one and a third to nearly two times as wide as long, WE:LE 1.3–1.9:1. Surstyli asymmetrical; with upper lobes long, about twice as long as lower lobes (Fig. 13 A–D); no middle lobes on surstyli (Fig. 13 A–B); lower lobe of right surstylus wide, triangular (Fig. 13 D). Distiphallus with numerous, robust spines starting before first loop (Fig. 13 A–C). Female: Unknown. Likely indistinguishable from N. atrapilus and N. daeckei. However, the colour of the proepisternum may prove to be of use in identifying these females once more definitively associated specimens are found. All specimens of N. daeckei and all northern specimens of N. atrapilus have the proepisternum yellow. Several specimens in the collection have the proepisternum brown – these could be specimens of N. woodi (JSS#11424­7, 11496, 11817, 11831, 13353, 13354, 15953).
Distribution: Eastern Nearctic in distribution. Known from 12 specimens from southwestern Quebec, New Hampshire, and Texas (Fig. 14).
Comments: Ten of the twelve specimens of Nephrocerus woodi have been collected hilltopping. More efforts looking for Nephrocerus on hilltops will help us to better understand the distribution of the species. The flight period for Nephrocerus woodi is from late May to mid July in the NE, with most records in the first two weeks of June. The Texas specimen was collected between the 28th of April and the 16th of May.
Nephrocerus daeckei and N. woodi are very similar and appear to be part of a complex of species. A male from Florida (JSS#13435) has a yellow pleuron, brown knobs on the halters, a brown scutellum with yellow margins and genitalia intermediate between the two species. Eight unidentified females (also from Florida; JSS#13421­8) have similar pleura, scutellums and halteres. The Texas specimen of N. woodi (JSS#13394) appears to have the same genitalia as the northeastern specimens but it is much more yellow on the pleuron. I have treated it as conspecific with N. woodi since the genitalia appear to be identical, but more specimens are needed from these southern populations to learn where the limits of these species are.
description: Published as part of Skevington, Jeffrey H., 2005, Revision of Nearctic Nephrocerus Zetterstedt (Diptera: Pipunculidae), pp. 1-36 in Zootaxa 977 on pages 31-35, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.171339