Monograph on the spittlebug flies, genus Cladochaeta (Diptera, Drosophilidae, Cladochaetini). Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 241
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Abstract
"Species of the New World genus Cladochaeta are revised, and the natural history of several of them is presented. From 14 described species in the genus, there now are 119 total, based on 105 new species, primarily Neotropical. The distributions of the three described species of North American Cladochaeta (floridana, inversa, and sturtevanti) are detailed for the first time. Four new North American species are described: C. wilhansoni, from Utah; C. dracula and C. heedi, both from Arizona; and C. florinversa, from southern Florida. The newly described Neotropical species are the following: barista,abbrevifusca, abeja, abrupta, adusta, akantha, albifrons, ambidextra,amblyharpa, antalba, aquila, arthrostyla, austrinversa, bispina, brunnea, calvovis, carinata, centetor, chaeta, chelifera, crassa, dejecta, devriesi, dextra, dikra, diminuta, dolichofrons, dominicana, dominitica, ectopia, erecta, fasciata, fuscora, genuinus, glans, glapica, hadrunca, hamula, hermani, hodita, howdeni, incessa, inornata, jamaicensis, janzeni, labidia, laevacerca, longistyla, masneri, mathisi, mexinversa, mystaca, neblina, neoinversa, neosimplex, obscura, obunca, onyx, ostia, paravolsella, paulhansoni, polia, proctobarba, propenicula, pruinopleura, pseudikra, pseudunca, psychotria, ranhyae, reversa, robusta, santana, sclerstyla, sepia, sicula, similex, simplex, spinacosta, spinula, spira, starki, sternospina, telescopica, tepui, tica, trauma, tricerabops, tripunctata, tubula, unca, vapida, venebula, verdifrons, vermes, vittata, vivipara, volsella, vomica, wirthi, yanomama, and zurquia. Grimaldi and Nguyen are the authors of all newly described species. Cladochaeta taeniatipennis (Duda) and C. peruviana (Duda) are transferred to Cladochaeta from the genus Diathoneura, the former species being the type species of Diathoneura. Illustrations and discussions of the adult diagnostic features of each species are provided, as are distributions. Female terminalia are plesiomorphic to most Drosophilinae by lacking pegs on the oviscapt, and variation in the terminal sternites and tergites of females was found to be as species-specific as male genitalia. Females have nonsclerotized sperm receptacles (apparently the ventral receptacles), but no diagnostic variation was found in these structures. Male genitalia provided most characters for classification of species in the genus, which is basically a system of species groups as presented here. Larvae of C. inversa and C. floridana are de-scribed and illustrated. They are highly modified for acalyptrate Diptera by possessing 6 pairs of prolegs, each with a rosette of creeping welt spinules; the cephalopharyngeal skeleton is unsclerotized, except for the minute, very sharp mandibular hooks; and the posterior pair of spiracles is very long and telescoping, adapting the larva to being submerged in spittle. Five Neotropical spe-cies are recorded as being viviparous. Host records are summarized, and various new ones presented. Hosts are almost always spittle- bug nymphs (Auchenorrhyncha: Cercopidae). A larva of Cladochaeta attaches itself to the dorsum of its host's abdomen, where it makes minute holes presumably for feeding on hemolymph. An ephydrid is reported as living in the spittle masses of the cercopid, Tomaspis inca, in Costa Rica; it is saprophagous, not parasitic; this is a habit previously unknown for that family. Several records of adventitious spittle-bug associations in the Drosophilidae are also reported. In lieu of experimental data, all evidence indicates that the larvae of Cladochaeta are parasitic. The great increase in species diversity makes this group the most speciose genus of Drosophilidae endemic to the Western Hemisphere"--P. 4.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 314-316) and indexes.