Eosalpingogaster cochenillivora (Guerin-Meneville)
Eosalpingogaster cochenillivora (Guerin-Meneville, 1848).
Guerin-Meneville, F.E. (1848) [Une description provisoire]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (2) 6, lxxxi.
Eosalpingogaster cochenillivora (Guerin-Meneville, 1848).
Guerin-Meneville, F.E. (1848) [Une description provisoire]. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (2) 6, lxxxi.
Eosalpingogaster and Salpingogaster are readily distinguished from all other syrphine groups by the presence of distinct black spinose bristles on the metafemur combined with the petiolate abdomen and sinuate vein R4+5. Both genera have petiolate abdomens, but Salpingogaster is distinguished from Eosalpingogaster by the much more greatly sinuate vein R4+5; other syrphines with sinuate vein R4+5 have oval abdomens. Eosalpingogaster has 1st tergum not produced into a spur, vein R4+5 only slightly sinuate and occipital cilia in 3–4 rows dorsally. In contrast, Salpingogaster has 1st tergum produced laterally into a strong spur and occipital cilia reduced to a single row dorsally.
E. cochenillivora is a very common species with pleuron reddish brown with anepisternum yellow on posterior 1/3 and katepisternum with a dorsal large yellow macula; scutum black medially with a narrow, sometime indistinct, medial pollinose vitta; abdomen black except 1st tergum yellow basolaterally, 2nd tergum black, 3rd tergum with a basal broad yellow fascia and a narrow yellow fascia on posterior margin, 4th tergum black with a narrow yellow fascia on posterior margin. Eosalpingogaster cochenillivora is similar to E. nigriventris, but the last has 4th tergum with two basolateral triangular yellow maculae and scutum with a medial broad pollinose vitta. Male genitalia are also different.
New description:
MALE.
Head: Face with tubercle, not produced greatly anteriorly nor ventrally, yellow laterally with medial broad dark vitta, yellow pilose; gena linear, gena dark brown; frons normal, slightly produced anteriorly antennae base; frontal triangle yellow laterally with a medial dark brown joining facial vitta ventrally; vertical triangle black; holoptic; eyes bare, ommatidia uniform; antenna short, less than head width brown, brown; scape and pedicel about as long as broad, together about as long as basoflagellomere; basoflagellomere oval to slightly elongate, not more than 1.6 times as long as broad; arista basal, bare; occiput with 3–4 rows of cilia dorsally; occiput black, silver pollinose, withish–yellow pilose.
Thorax: Postpronotum bare; scutum black dorsally scutum without or with a very narrow medial pollinose vitta, reddish anterior to scutellum, with very short appressed pale pile; postpronotum yellow; notopleuron mostly yellow, brown laterally; supra-alar area and postalar callus brown; scutellum yellow, black basally, without ventral pile fringe. Pleuron mostly reddish–brown, except posterior anepisternum with yellow vitta and katepisternum with dorsal yellow macula, white pollinose; anepisternum bare on anterior flatten portion; katepisternum bare or with only short appressed pile posteriorly; metasternum bare; metathoracic pleuron bare; plumula absent; calypter bare, reduced, with short fringe. Legs: simple except metafemora with short black spinose bristles apically; metacoxa with pile tuft on posteroventral apical angle; entirely dark brown except tibiae yellow on basal 2/5 and femora yellow very apically. Wing: Wing membrane mostly hyaline; 2nd costal cell entirely microtrichose, sometimes bare on basal 1/5 or less, brown to black in females, almost hyaline in males, dark brown stigma and area around furcation of RS; apically microtrichose, cells CuP, CuA1, DM, R4+5, R2+3 and anal lobe bare basally, cell R1 bare except apically and medially in the brown area, cells BM and R entirely bare; vein R4+5 only slightly sinuate; vein M1 (apical crossvein) slightly recessive, strongly sinuate; posterior margin without black sclerotized puncta; alula normal, broad, partly bare.
Abdomen. 1st tergum not produced laterally into a spur, strongly petiolate, 2nd tergum 4 to 6 times as long as wide, flatten dorsoventrally, without marginal sulcus; 1st tergum black, yellow laterally; 3rd tergum black with basal broad yellow fascia (about 1/4 of tergum length); 2nd, 3rd and 4th terga black, sometimes with medial thin yellow vitta on posterior margin; sterna black. Male genitalia: globular, enlarged, 5th and 6th sterna modified to accommodate it; cercus enlarge; surstylus elongate; without lingua; aedeagus two–segmented; superior lobe free, articulate.
FEMALE. Similar to male except for normal sexual dimorphism and as follows: frons dark brown medially joining dark area of ocellar triangle, yellow laterally; 2nd costal cell entirely microtrichose, sometimes bare on basal 1/5 or less, brown to black; 4th and 5th terga black with lateral margins narrowly yellow.
Length (2): body, 12.2–13.2 (12.7) mm; wing, 8.3–9.0 (8.7) mm.
Eosalpingogaster conopida was the only species included in the molecular phylogeny by Mengual et al. (2008a). In their analysis, Eosalpingogaster was resolved as sister group of Ocyptamus melanorrhinus, embedded in a clade formed by Ocyptamus and Toxomerus species. This placement was recovered again in Mengual et al. (2008b) when they used them as outgroup for Allograpta.
As the name applied, E. cochenillivora is a predator of the cochineal scale, Dactylopius coccus Costa (Guérin–Méneville, 1848a, b), but also found feeding on the California cochineal scale, Dactylopius confusus (Cockerell) (Gilreath & Smith, 1988) and on the tomentose cochineal scale, Dactylopius tomentosus (Lamarck) (Knutson, 1971). Pupae of cochenillivora are parasited by Pachyneuron sp. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).
Wide-spread species, ranging from USA (Texas), south to Argentina.
Also see Guérin–Méneville, F.E. (1848b) Note sur deux Insectes parasites de la cochenilie et qui font un grand tort à cette culture en Amérique. Revue Zoologique de la Société Cuvierienne 11, 349–350.
Eosalpingogaster has been considered as a subgenus of Salpingogaster since Hull (1949b) proposed it for Baccha conopida Philippi, including nepenthe Hull and dactylopianus Blanchard. In the original text, Hull wrote "Corners of first abdominal segment with a sharp hook" but one of the differences with Salpingogaster s.str. is that Eosalpingogaster has 1st tergum not produced into a spur. There are evidences to consider Eosalpingogaster a different and valid genus.
Synonyms:
Baccha cochenillivora Guérin-Méneville, 1848a: lxxxi (1848b: 350).
Salpingogaster cochenillivorus. Ramírez–García & Sarmiento–Cordero, 2004: 184.
Salpingogaster texana Curran, 1932: 6.