fascipennis

Ocyptamus is a large Syrphini genus endemic to the New World with over 300 Neotropical species and 22 Nearctic species (Rotheray et al. 2000). Species of this genus show much greater variation in colour pattern and body shape than those of any other genus of the tribe Syrphini, and they also show more variation in the male genitalia than those of most syrphid genera (Vockeroth 1969).

Ocyptamus fascipennis has abdomen petiolate, wing with atransverse brown vitta, basal cells bare basally, costal cell dark brown on apical 2/5, and cell r4+5 entirely microtrichose.

Synonyms:

Baccha fascipennis Wiedemann, 1830: 96.

Baccha aurinota Walker, 1849: 548.

Baccha aurinota Harris, 1835: 598 [nomen nudum].

Adapted from Vockeroth (1992).

MALE.

Head: Face narrow, narrowed below, yellow, dark ventrolaterally, narrowly to broadly dark gray pollinose laterally; lunule black medially, yellow laterally forming a M-shaped macula above antenna; frons brownish black densely golden brown pollinose posteriorly; holoptic, eye bare; antenna light brown, basoflagellomere darker dorsally.

Thorax: Scutum and scutellum subshining black, golden pollinose, yellow pilose; scutum with anterior collar of yellow pile; subscutellar fringe with long, dense yellow pile. Pleura dark brown to black subshining, without yellow markings, grey pollinose; anterior anepisternum pilose posterodorsally; metasternum bare. Wing brown to level of crossvein h, with broad brown vitta across crossveins (middle section); vitta narrowing posteriorly, ending just before posterior margin; wing otherwise hyaline; wing bare in hyaline portions of cells C, R, R1, and BM, anterobasal part of cell CuP, base of anal lobe, and basal three-quarters of alula; rest of wing microtrichose, including entire area beyond brown vitta; crossvein r-m under or very slightly beyond apex of Sc. Legs yellow except apical 2/3 of metatibia and all tarsi brown. Sometime, meso- and metatibia with apical brown macula.

Abdomen very slender, petiolate, about 20 times as long as least width of tergum 2, dark brown, with pair of small subbasal lateral yellow or reddish maculae on each of terga 3 and 4. Tergum 2 can have subbasal small narrow yellowish area on lateral margins.

FEMALE.

Frons narrowly yellow laterally on anterior half, strongly narrowed posteriorly; lateral ocellus about its own diameter from eye margin. Face at most slightly grayish pollinose laterally, extending upwards to ocellar traingle. Alula microtrichose only at extreme apex. Tergum 2 commonly obscurely reddish at lateral margin; tergum 5 with pair of subbasal pale macula similar to those of terga 3 and 4; tergum and sternum 6 and tergum and sternum 7 not fused laterally, depressed.

Ocyptamus (Ocyptamus) fascipennis (Wiedemann, 1830).

Wiedemann, C.R.W. (1830) Aussereuropaische zweiflugelige Insekten. Zweiter Theil. Schulz, Hamm. xii + 684 pp., 5 pls. [1830.09.22]

GenBank accession number for this species are: protein-coding COI gene (EU409131), rRNA 28S gene (EU409186) and 18S gene (EU409241).

Body lenght: 9.0-13.3 mm (Vockeroth 1992).

Mengual et al. (2008a,b) studied the tribal classification of Syrphinae and the phylogeny of the genus Allograpta. In both cases, the species of Ocyptamus included appeared in a clade including the genus Toxomerus and the subgenus Salpingogaster (Eosalpingogaster). Authors questioned the monophyly of the genus Ocyptamus.

Larvae have been reported as predators of the coccid Pseudococcus citri on Chrysanthemum sp. in Minnesota (Harris and Hamrun 1968).

The period from oviposition to adult emergence was 22-33 days at outdoor temperatures (Vockeroth 1992).

Nearctic species that ranges from Manitoba to Quebec, south to Texas and Florida (Vockeroth 1992).

Larvae, especially early instars, were almost hidden among the coccids. Many specimens were collected in Malaise traps in a large sphagnum bog near Ottawa, Ontario (Vockeroth 1992).