Scione minor (Macquart, 1847)

(Fig. 58A–D)

Pangonia minor Macquart, 1847: 29 (1847: 13); Walker, 1854: 124 (NHMUK spp.); Hunter, 1900: 134 (cat.); Kertész, 1908: 166 (cat.).

Erephopsis minor; Kertész, 1900: 22; Ricardo, 1900a: 172 (NHMUK spp.); Surcouf, 1921: 120 (comm.).

Scione minor; Kröber, 1930: 167, fig. 11 (rev.); 1934: 234 (cat.); Pechuman, 1942: 52 (Venezuela spp.); Bequaert & RenjifoSalcedo, 1946: 63 (Colombia spp.); Fairchild, 1956: 23 (tax.); 1971: 27 (cat.); Moucha, 1976: 40 (cat.); Fairchild & Burger, 1994: 50 (cat.). Coscarón & Papavero, 2009: 53 (cat.); Henriques, 2016: 176 (AMNH spp.).

Diclisa incompleta Macquart of Schiner, 1868: 101, misident.

Type locality.?America.

Diagnosis. Body yellowish-brown. Thorax with yellowish-white longitudinal stripes, the median stripe narrow and not very evident and the sublateral stripes a little wider and quite evident. Wing brownish on the anterior region and smoky on the posterior region. Veins brown and crossveins with brown spots.

Redescription. Female. Body length: 10.5 mm, wing length: 10.8 mm.

Head. Frons divergent below, divergence index 0.7 and frontal index 1.7. Frons with dark brown patch almost touching the eyes and extending to the vertex. Vertex dark brown with dense and long black setulae, ocellar triangle barely noticeable, brown ocelli barely evident. Frons brown with dense yellowish pruinosity and long dense black setulae. Subcallus brown with slightly dense yellowish pruinosity. Parafacial brown with whitish pruinosity and sparse long black setulae. Gena with whitish pruinosity and long, dense, yellowish-white setulae. Clypeus brown with long dense black setulae and whitish pruinosity on the sides, clypeal index 0.6. Scape and pedicel brown with slightly dense yellowish pruinosity and long dense black setulae. Palpus brown, slightly tapered; first segment with long dense yellowish setulae and some black setulae; second segment orange on the dorsal margin and with short, dense black setulae. Proboscis shiny dark brown, about 2x the height of the frons. Thorax. Scutum dark brown with long dense black setulae and some orange setulae. Scutum with yellowish longitudinal stripes extending to the posterior margin. Median stripe narrow and not very evident. Sublateral stripes slightly wider and quite evident. Sublateral and lateral stripes connected by a narrow yellow-white stripe at the transverse suture. Scutellum brown with central orange patch and dense long black setulae on the posterior margin. Notopleuron and anepisternum with tuft of dense long black setulae. Katepisternum and anepimeron with tuft of dense long whitish setulae. Postalar callus with tuft of yellowish setulae. Legs orange. Femora with long, dense black setulae and some yellowish setulae. Tibiae and tarsi with short dense black setulae. Wing brownish on the anterior region and smoky on the posterior region. Brown veins, brown spots on crossveins and yellowish spots on cells r 1 and r 2+3. Abdomen. Tergite 1 yellow-orange with a small tuft of yellowish setulae on the central posterior margin. Tergite 2 yellow-orange with a central black patch. Other tergites dark brown with an orange posterior margin, tergites 3 to 6 with a tuft of yellowish setulae on the central posterior margin. All tergites with short dense black setulae. Sternites yellowish-brown with short dense black and white setulae.

Distribution. Colombia, Venezuela.

Type material examined. Holotype, ♀, deposited at the NHMUK (examined through photographs).

Additional material examined. 1 ♀, “ Monte Redondo, Meta, 1300 m, Rastrojo, Colombia, 19-III-1948 / L. Richter coll. Frank Johnson Donor / Cornelius B. Philip Collection Donated to California Academy of Sciences/ Scione minor ♀ Macq., Det. C.B. Philip 61 [?]” (CAS).

Comments. The flagellum of the examined specimen is missing, but examination of the holotype photograph shows that the species has orange flagellum. The original description of S. minor is succinct, and the holotype is in very poor conditions of preservation, but the shape of the patch on the frons, the coloration of the palpus, legs and abdomen are consistent with the specimen examined. Scione minor is very similar to S. incompleta, differing in that S. incompleta has predominantly yellowish abdomen and the thoracic stripes that are not very evident, whereas S. minor has dark brown last tergites and the sublateral thoracic stripes clearly visible.