Serichlamys mellimitis Reemer, 2025

Reemer, Menno & Mengual, Ximo, 2025, Revision of the Neotropical species of the hoverfly genus Serichlamys Curran, 1925 (Diptera, Syrphidae, Microdontinae), ZooKeys 1243, pp. 51-106 : 51-106

Serichlamys mellimitis Reemer sp. nov.

Figs 14 , 76–81 , 143

Type material.

Holotype. Brazil • 1 ♂, holotype of Serichlamys mellimitis sp. nov.; Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Pampulha, Univ. Fed. Minas Gerais ; 19°52'S, 43°58'W; 23 Oct. – 2 Nov. 1996; yellow pan trap; D. Yanega leg.; UCRC. Label 1: “ BRASIL: Minas Gerais // Belo Horizonte, Pampulha // Univ. Fed. Minas Gerais // 19°52’S 43°58’W, YPT // 23. x- 2. xi. 1996 D. Yanega ”; label 2: “ Univ. Calif. Riverside // Ent. Res. Museum // UCRC ENT 71927 ” . Paratypes. Brazil • 3 ♂ of same locality and date as holotype; 2 in coll. UCRC [ UCRC ENT 71926 and UCRC ENT 71928 ], 1 in coll. RMNH [ UCRC ENT 71929 ] .

Description

(based on holotype). Adult male Body size: 6.5 mm.

Head. Face occupying ~ 1 / 3 of head width in frontal view; shiny black; white setulose. Gena very narrow; black; white setulose. Oral margin laterally not produced. Frons black; medially bare, laterally black, and white setulose. Vertex black; golden yellow setulose anteriorly and posteriorly, black setulose in between. Occiput black; dorsal 1 / 2 golden yellow setulose, ventral 1 / 2 white setulose. Eye bare. Antenna orange-brown, except apical 1 / 3 of postpedicel darker; antennal ratio ~ 4: 1: 5.

Thorax. Scutum shiny black with bronze sheen, margins brown; golden yellow setulose. Postpronotum and postalar callus brown; golden yellow setulose. Scutellum trapezoid, brown, with two pale yellow calcars as long as ~ 1 / 2 of scutellar length; golden yellow setulose. Pleura shiny brown. Anepisternum with shallow sulcus; golden yellow setulose anterodorsally and posterodorsally, widely bare medially and ventrally. Anepimeron golden yellow setulose. Katepisternum with patch of white setulae dorsally and a few white setulae ventrally. Katatergite long microtrichose, anatergite short microtrichose. Calypter and halter yellowish white.

Wing: hyaline; microtrichose, except bare on basal 1 / 3 of cell r 1, most of cell br (only microtrichose along vena spuria and in apical 1 / 5), posterobasal 2 / 3 of cell bm, anterobasal 1 / 3 of cell cup, and basomedian 1 / 2 of alula.

Legs: brown, with femora, tibiae around cicatrices, and basal tarsomeres a bit darker than other parts; yellow and white setulose. Coxae and trochanters brown; yellow and white setulose.

Abdomen. Tergites dark brown, except lateral margins pale brown, and tergite 4 with two large yellowish brown maculae on posterior 2 / 5, which are connected along posterior margin. Tergite 1 yellowish white setulose. Tergite 2 shiny; yellowish white setulose. Tergite 3 semi-shiny with dark and dull, characteristically shaped macula over most of width; yellowish white setulose on shiny parts, black setulose on dull part. Tergite 4 semi-shiny; yellowish white setulose laterally and posteriorly, black setulose anteriorly and medially. Sternites 1–3 dark brown; yellowish white setulose. Sternite 4 yellowish brown; dark brown setulose. Genitalia as in Fig. 143 .

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis.

Body length: male 5.5–6.5 mm (n = 4). Together with S. melamitis Reemer , sp. nov. and S. mitis , this species combines a black face with antennae in which the postpedicel has a dark tip (Figs 78 , 79 ). This species differs from the other two by the characteristically shaped dull macula on tergite 3, which is wide and has three posterior ‘ lobes’ or extensions (Figs 14 , 76 ). It also differs from the other two species by the widely yellow lateral margins of tergites 2–4 (Figs 76 , 77 ). Male genitalia as in Fig. 143 .

Etymology.

The species name refers to the species Serichlamys mitis (Curran) , to which this new species is very similar. The prefix melli (from the Latin mellis, honey) was chosen because this species is more honey-coloured than S. mitis .

Distribution.

This species is only known from Belo Horizonte in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais.

Figures

Figures 13–17. Tergite 3 of Serichlamys species. White lines in lower half of figures indicate position of dull maculae 13 S. melamitis Reemer, sp. nov. male, holotype 14 S. mellimitis Reemer, sp. nov. male, holotype 15 S. mitis (Curran, 1940) male, specimen MR 1576 16 S. mitis (Curran, 1940) female, specimen MR 1581 17 S. varicaudata Reemer & Mengual, sp. nov. male, holotype.

Figures 76–81. Serichlamys mellimitis Reemer, sp. nov. male, holotype 76 habitus, dorsal 77 habitus, lateral 78 head, frontal 79 head, lateral 80 head, lateral 81 thorax, dorsal.

Figures 142–145. Serichlamys male genitalia 142 S. melamitis Reemer, sp. nov. paratype, coll. MZUSP, specimen code MR 1591 143 S. mellimitis Reemer, sp. nov. holotype 144 S. mitis (Curran, 1940) coll. RMNH, specimen code MR 172 145 S. trigonoides Reemer, sp. nov. holotype.