Eucelatoria fordlandia Burington 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Burington, Zelia L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tachinidae
Eucelatoria
Eucelatoria fordlandia

description: Eucelatoria fordlandia sp. nov.
(Figs 11, 34, 56, 79, 100, 115, 129, 145, 162, 174)
Type material. Holotype ♂, labeled “James’ Camp/ Fordlandia/ Brazil ”, “CHT Townsend/ Collr. VII-18”, “HOLOTYPE/ Eucelatoria / fordlandia/ Z.L. Burington [red label]”, “ZLB_E.Ferox 000299”, “USNM ENT 00040085” (USNM).
Allotype ♀, labeled “James’ Camp/ Fordlandia/ Brazil ”, “CHT Townsend/ Collr. VII-28”, “ Hemilydella ”, “ALLOTYPE/ Eucelatoria / borealis/ Z.L. Burington [red label]”, “ZLB_E.Ferox 00314”, “USNM ENT 00040065”. (USNM).
Paratypes, 5 ♀♀ and 15 ♂♂. Brazil — Pará: twelve ♂♂ and 2 ♀♀, “James’ Camp/ Fordlandia/ Brazil ”, “CHT Townsend/ Collr. VII-18”, the USNM numbers “USNM ENT 00040086”, “00040071”, “00040072”, “00040073”, “00040074”, “00040077”, “00040078”, “00040027”, “00040076”, “00040080”, “00040081”, “00040084”, “00040069”, “00040082”, and “00040083”, the specimen IDs “ZLB_E.Ferox 00300” [♂], “00301” [♂], “00302” [♂], “00303” [♂], “00304” [♂], “00307” [♂], “00308” [♂], “00346” [♂], “00306” [♂], “00359” [♂], “00360” [♀], “00298” [♂], “00310” [♀], “00361” [♂; genitalia in vial under specimen], and “00362” [♀], the final specimen additionally labeled “[struckout ‘Urodexodes’]/ Hemilydella / DetCHTT ♀ ♂ ” (USNM). 3 ♂♂ and 2 ♀♀, as previous except date “VII-28”, the USNM numbers “USNM ENT 00040076”, “0040066”, “0040070”, “0040065”, “0040075”, and “0040068”, and the specimen IDs “ZLB_E.Ferox 00312” [♂], “00313” [♂], “00309” [♂], “00305”[♀], and “00311”[♀] (USNM). Rio de Janeiro: 1 ♀, “Campos/ Rio J.”, “ Hemilydella ”, “USNM ENT 00040055”, “ZLB_ E.Ferox 00318” (USNM).
Recognition. Individuals of E. fordlandia sp. nov. are most similar to E. charapensis, as both have pale setulae ventrobasally on the abdomen and tan lateral areas on the abdomen in males, but in E. fordlandia sp. nov. the lower half of the parafacial is gray, the thoracic vittae are usually thinner, and the upper lobe of the male cercus is smaller with a rounded inner margin.
Etymology. From the name of the type locality, Fordlandia, an industrial colony financed by Henry Ford for the production of cheaper rubber for the automobile industry. The colony was active from 1928 to its abandonment in 1934; the type and other specimens were apparently collected during Charles Henry Tyler Townsend’s time working as an agricultural entomologist there (Evenhuis 2013).
Description. [Described from 6 ♀♀ and 16 ♂♂. Head measurements from 4 ♀♀ and 3 ♂♂.] Length 6.5–8.5 mm (mean = 7.5 mm).
Head. Fronto-orbital plate, vertex, and upper half of post-ocular plate tomentum pale yellow. Parafacial tomentum pale gray merging to pale yellow on upper one-fourth. Vibrissal angle, genal dilation, lower half of post-ocular plate, postgena, and occiput tomentum ash-gray. Pale occipital setulae gray, merging to pale yellow on upper half. Ocellar setae minute, hair-like, to apparently absent, at greatest less than one-half length of posterior reclinate orbital seta. Gena with 3–4 setae, subvibrissal ridge with 2 setae. Facial ridge with setulae on lower third or less. Postocellar setae one-half length of posterior reclinate orbital seta. Paravertical seta three-fourths length of postocellar setae. Outer vertical seta undifferentiated. Reclinate orbital setae 2–3. Frontal setae 4–7, last frontal seta level with base of arista. Eye apparently bare. Eye height to head height ratio 0.85. Postpedicel length 0.35–0.40 (mean = 0.38) height of head. Facial ridge length 0.40–0.50 (mean = 0.48) height of head. Parafacial width 0.07–0.12 (mean = 0.09) lateral length of head. Pedicel 0.30–0.35 (mean = 0.32) length of postpedicel. Postpedicel 1.50–3.75 (mean = 2.20) times width of parafacial in lateral view. Vertex 0.20–0.25 (mean = 0.24) width of head in dorsal view. Palpus yellow-tan to light brown; subcylindrical in males, slightly dilated and flattened at the tip in females; with dense short apicodorsal setulae, several short apicoventral setulae, several long black lateral setulae, and several long pale setulae interspersed.
Thorax. Dorsomedial length 1.3 times width of thorax. Lateral tomentum gray, merging to yellow on anepisternum. Dorsal tomentum pale yellow to gray. Presutural outer vitta triangular, pointed towards anterior, disconnected from anterior margin. Postsutural outer vitta fusiform, pointed towards posterior apex, disconnected from presutural outer vitta. Inner thoracic vittae bar shaped, subparallel to slightly divergent, subequal in width to outer vittae, separated from outer vittae, extending to the second dorsocentral seta on the postsutural area. Scutellar dorsal tomentum gray to pale yellow, covering one-half to three-fourths dorsal area. Postpronotum with 3 setae with occasionally a small fourth seta. Presutural area with 2 supra-alar setae, the anterior seta weak, occasionally absent. Postsutural area with 3 dorsocentral setae. Scutellum with 1 pair discal setae. Fore tibia with 2–3 posterodorsal seta. Wing lightly infuscated between costa and radial sector, otherwise hyaline. Calypters tan to cream colored.
Abdomen. Cuticle entirely black in female; males with tan to light brown basolateral spots on T2–4. Setulae pale on S1 and ventrally on T1+2, otherwise black. Dorsal tomentum bands ash-gray, with median vitta in males, usually continuous in females, covering one-half to three fourths of T3–5. Ventral tomentum bands gray, diffuse over one-half to entirety of T3–5. T4 with 1 widely spaced pair of median marginal setae and 3 pairs of lateral marginal setae.
Male terminalia (Figs 129, 145, 162). Sternite 5 basal plate with median teeth separated 0.5 width of basal notch; apical lobes subequal to length of basal plate. Postgonite blunt angled on posterior margin, broadly rounded basally, narrowed to digitiform apex; anterior emargination subequal in depth to width of postgonite at mid length. Surstylus slightly longer than cercus, paddle-shaped, broadly rounded on posterior and anterior margins, apex blunt; basal lobe margin broadly rounded. Cercus in lateral view subparallel along most of length, slightly expanded at base of basal lobe; in caudal view lateral margin linear, tapered to blunt apex. Upper lobe rectangular, with semicircular inner margin; 0.3 length of cercus. Median section 0.4 length of cercus. Apical cleft narrow, parallel sided, 0.3 length of cercus. Syncercus apex width in caudal view 0.50 width of syncercus base.
Female terminalia (Figs 100, 115). Piercer generally extending past apex of T3, in lateral view gradually curved to slightly bent apex; in posterior view margins straight, angled to apex. Aculeate lobe 2.4 times height of segment 7 base. End tergite halves fused at base, with blunt basomedial extension, forked apically, the pointed halves each 1.8 times the width of the fused base. Cercus with 4 setulae; ventral elongation length subequal to 2 times length of main cercus body, extending less than half the distance to the apex of the end tergite forks. Postgenital plate with 10 setulae.
Host(s). Unknown.
Geographic extent and seasonal occurrence. Individuals of E. fordlandia sp. nov. are known only from Brazil (Fig. 174). Both males and females have been collected in July at the type locality.
Discussion. This species is separated from E. charapensis based upon the pale gray color of the parafacial and the usually thinner thoracic vittae, as well as the short upper lobe of the male cercus. Townsend recognized the dissimilarity between E. charapensis and this species. In one case (ZLB_E.Ferox 00362) he first labeled the specimen “ Urodexodes ”, crossed out the name, and wrote “ Hemilydella ” underneath; apparently he felt it more similar to the disparate E. aurata, another species found in Brazil that does not share the white setulae on the abdomen.
description: Published as part of Burington, Zelia L., 2022, A taxonomic revision of the Eucelatoria ferox species group (Diptera: Tachinidae), pp. 1-104 in Zootaxa 5143 (1) on pages 31-32, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5143.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6601404