Physocephala vittata Fabricius 1794
Creators: name: Stuke, Jens-Hermann
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Conopidae
Physocephala
Physocephala vittata

description: P. vittata (Fabricius, 1794)
Conops vittata Fabricius, 1794: 392; type-locality: “ Kiliae ” [Germany]; no information available about type material [ZMUC]
Diagnosis. Physocephala vittata is an extremely variable species in characters such as colouration and dusting of the pleura, all of which show intermediates. This situation has historically resulted in the description of numerous taxa of dubious validity, some of which might represent subspecies but which are presently best interpreted as colour morphs in the absence of better information. The key to colour morphs below gives an overview of the variability and the past nomenclature of these taxa, but it should be noted there are many intermediates and it is not possible to identify all forms with certainty.
Typical specimens of P. vittata are easily recognised by the lack of dense dusting on the pleura, the lack of dense dusting on the hind coxa, the completely yellow face and the characteristic wing pattern comprising a distinct dark fore margin, with subcostal cell sc always hyaline and obviously paler than the base of radial cell r2+3, subcostal vein Sc yellowish brown and obviously paler than the dark brown radial vein R2+3, radial cell r2+3 usually hyaline, distally with an isolated spot around the vein R4+5+M. Difficulties arise with specimens which have a distinct dusted stripe on the pleura, and such specimens have in the past given rise to many misidentifications. Usually the hind coxa is not densely dusted, however, even where there is a dusting stripe on the pleura. In P. vittata, the dusting on the pleura —if there is any dusting at all— almost invariably arises at a point well above the mid coxa and becomes obviously narrower as it reaches the notopleuron. In addition, the mediotergite has no dense dusting stripe dorsally.
Key to colour morphs of Physocephala vittata (Fabricius, 1794)
1 Pleura with distinct areas of dense dusting................................................................ 2
- Pleura without distinct areas of dense dusting.............................................................. 4
2 Dusting on pleura restricted to a spot dorsally on the katepisternum, anepisternum without dense dusting................................................................................ vittata, colour morph maculigera Kröber, 1915
- Dusting on the pleura forming a band that reaches more or less up the anepisternum to close to the notopleuron........... 3
3 Darker specimens: male: with at least epandrium black, and usually the apical segments of abdomen mainly black coloured; female: tergite 3 with a black band............................................ colour morph truncata Loew, 1847
- Lighter specimens: male: epandrium orange-brown like the rest of the abdomen; female: tergite 3 with a pair of black markings......................................................... vittata, colour morph pseudomaculigera Kröber, 1915
4 Tergite 4 shining, without a distinctly dusted hind margin................... vittata, colour morph detecta Becker, 1913
- Tergite 4 with a distinct broad dusted hind margin........................................................... 5
5 Dark specimens with black postcoxal bridge and thorax more or less completely black with the exception of the postpronotum.................................................................. vittata, colour morph fraterna (Loew, 1847)
- Lighter specimens with postcoxal bridge reddish orange and thorax paler with at most the mesoscutum black, and the pleura mostly reddish orange................................................................................. 6
6 Abdomen with distinct black markings; black colouration of mesoscutum not divided to three large black spots........................................................................................ vittata, typical colour morph
- Abdomen more or less completely orange brown, at most with small pairs of black spots on tergites but not with black bands; black colouration of mesoscutum reduced and divided to three large black spots................................................................................................... vittata, colour morph abdominalis Kröber, 1915
= P. maculata (Macquart, 1834) syn. nov.
Conops maculata Macquart, 1834: 348; type-locality: “Environs de Paris” [France]; syntypus 1♂ 1♀ 1 specimen of unknown sex [MNHN]
I have examined the three syntypes in the MNHN and also have photographs to hand. All of the specimens fall within the variation of Physocephala vittata. Physocephala maculata is therefore proposed as a junior synonym of P. v i t t a t a.
= P. flaviceps (Macquart 1844) syn. nov.
Conops flaviceps Macquart, 1844: 172; type-locality: “Amérique septentrionale”; holotypus ♀ [depository unknown]
Camras (1996) stated that the type of Physocephala flaviceps is lost but considered that it might be a Palaearctic species as it definitely did not appear to be a Nearctic species, contrary to the locus typicus "Amérique septentrionale" given in the original description. No other specimens have come to light. The original description agrees completely with the concept of Physocephala vittata and therefore the most pragmatic solution is to place P. flaviceps as a junior synonym of P. vittata.
= P. truncata (Loew, 1847) syn. nov.
Conops truncatus Loew, 1847: 21; type-locality: “ Sicilien; von Zeller zweimal im Juni bei Syrakus gefangen” [Italy]; syntypus 2♂ [depository unknown]
The type material is lost but I have seen several Physocephala specimens that agree completely with the original description. These are best interpreted as a colour morph of Physocephala vittata with a distinct dusting stripe, and therefore I place Physocephala truncata as a junior synonym of P. vittata. The colour morph truncata occurs more frequently on some Mediterranean islands such as Sardinia and Sicily, but can also occasionally be found anywhere in central Europe.
= P. curticornis Kröber, 1915 syn. nov.
Physocephala curticornis Kröber 1915a: 54 –55; type-locality: “ Ungarn ”, “ Ungarn: Cinkota”; syntypus 1♂ 1♀ [1 specimen without abdomen in ZMHB]
There is one specimen without abdomen in ZMHB with the following labels: (1) “ Hungria ”; (2) “antennis / brevicor / nis”; (3) “ Typus ” (rot); (4) “ Physocephala ♀ / curticornis Kröb / O. Kröber det. 1912”. This specimen is one of the two syntypes and appears to be vittata in all respects except for the unusual shape of the head. This shape is almost certainly an abnormal deformation and therefore Physocephala curticornis should be treated as a junior synonym of Physocephala vittata.
= P. maculigera Kröber, 1915 syn. nov.
Physocephala truncata Lw. var maculigera Kröber 1915a: 71; type-locality: “Oberägypten, Tunis, Sinai, Syrien, Algir, Biskra ”, “ Tunis, Oberägypten, Syrien, Algier, Constantine, Biskra ”; syntypus 24♂ 19♀ [2♂, 1♀ syntype in MNHN, the deposition of the remaining material unknown and probably at least partly destroyed (coll. Kröber)].
I have examined the three syntypes held at MNHN. Physocephala maculigera is another colour morph that fits completely within the concept of Physocephala vittata, being segregated only on the basis of the dusting pattern on the pleura as described in the key above. There are, however, many intermediates between typical vittata and typical maculigera, and I therefore place P. maculigera as a synonym of P. vittata. The maculigera colour morph is the most typical one encountered in North Africa, however, and might represent a distinct subspecies.
The historical interpretation of P. m a cu l i g er a is a characteristic of the genus: Kröber (1915a) described the taxon as a variety of Physocephala truncata and mentioned that Becker (1903) had interpreted it as an un-named form of P. v i t t a t a. Kröber (1919) and Brunetti (1925) subsequently adopted this interpretation of Kröber (1915a), but Kröber (1924, 1925) then introduced the name P. chrysorrhoea var. maculigera. Séguy (1941), Camras (1962, 2001) and Smith (1980) all listed P. maculigera as valid species, whilst Zimina (1976) and Chvála & Smith (1988) listed it as a synonym of P. chrysorrhoea. All of these assessments depend on the characters that are chosen to segregate Physocephala species. If a researcher focuses on the dusting of the pleura and accepts this as a determinant for P. chrysorrhoea, it is likely that they will then interpret P. m ac u l i ge r a as synonym of P. chrysorrhoea. If they do not accept pleural dusting as a key character, however, they will probably come to the conclusion that P. maculigera is closest to P. vittata. If there are only a few specimens available to a researcher, he might come to the conclusion that P. m a c ul i g e r a is a valid species because typical specimens appear easy to distinguish from both typical P. vittata and P. chrysorrhoe. The position only really becomes apparent through examining large quantities of material and noting the many intermediates between typical vittata and the colour morph maculigera.
= P. jakutica Zimina, 1968 syn. nov.
Physocephala jakutica Zimina 1968: 60 –61; type-locality: “Yakutsk aerea” [translated by Clements & Vincent (2001)]; ♂ [ZMUM]
I have examined one paratype of Physocephala jakutica and it falls within the variation of Physocephala vittata. Zimina (1968) compared this species with P. vittata and segregated it mainly on the basis of minor colouration and dusting differences. Zimina (1968) does also mention some differences in the structure of the genitalia, but does not illustrate or explain these in any detail. I investigated several genitalia of actual specimens of P. jakutica and compare them with those of real P. vittata but could not find any differences within the specimens identified now as P. vittata. Therefore, I place P. jakutica as a junior synonym of P. vittata.
description: Published as part of Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2016, Taxonomic notes on Western Palaearctic Conopidae (Diptera), pp. 521-534 in Zootaxa 4178 (4) on pages 529-531, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/163589