A Second Species of Fossil Stenotabanus (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Amber from the DominicanRepublicAuthor(s): G. B. Fairchild and Robert S. LaneSource: The Florida Entomologist, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 630-632Published by: Florida Entomological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3495038 .

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630 Florida Entomologist 72(4) December, 1989

A SECOND SPECIES OF FOSSIL STENOTABANUS (DIPTERA: TABANIDAE)

IN AMBER FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

G. B. FAIRCHILD Florida State Collection of Arthropods

P. 0. Box 1269, Gainesville, Florida 32602

ROBERT S. LANE Department of Entomological Sciences

University of California, Berkeley, California 94720

ABSTRACT

Stenotabanus woodruffi n. sp. is described and figured from a single female em- bedded in amber from the Dominican Republic. This species is compared with similar species of Tabanidae, living and fossil, known from the Greater Antilles.

RESUMEN

Stenotabanus woodruffi n. sp. se describe e ilustra a partir de una hembra incrustada en ambar de la Repuiblica Dominicana. Ademas, esta especie es comparada con otros tabanidos similares conocidos, vivientes y f6siles, en las Antillas Mayores.

In 1986, Dr. Robert E. Woodruff received on loan a small piece of amber from J. Brodzinsky, which he showed to the senior author. The coincidence of discovering that another horse fly in amber from the same source existed and was being described by Lane and Poinar caused us to compare notes and exchange information with mutual benefit. There seems to be no need to repeat here the introductory and literature review provided in the preceding description of Stenotabanus brodzinskyi Lane, Poinar and Fairchild (1988).

Setnotabanus woodruffi sp. nov.

A small yellowish brown species with apically fumose wings, a nearly parallel-sided frons, bicolored third antennal segments, and a patterned mesonotal integument.

Female. Length of right wing 8.2 mm, left wing incomplete apically. Body length about 9.0 mm. Venation normal, all marginal cells open except anal closed, no appendix at fork of 3rd vein, stigma brownish. Apical third of wing somewhat infuscated, darker anterior to 3rd vein and veins broadly but diffusely brown margined. Basicosta sharply pointed, without macrosetae like those on adjoining costa. Costa, subcosta, and R beset with strong, short, dark setae. Halteres with slender pale stem and oval, dark brownish knob. Legs slender, the tibiae not flattened nor inflated. Tibiae with a definite but short fringe of nearly erect hairs. Hind tibiae without terminal spurs, but with sparse longer dark hairs interspersed among a fringe of short pale hairs. Mid tibiae with 2 strong terminal spurs. Fore tibiae without spurs. Tarsal claws simple, paired on all legs where the tarsi are preserved.

Head with eyes and frontal area somewhat obscured by overlying cracks, but frons narrow, index about 8.3, narrower below with a divergence index of about 2.0, (indices derived from the accompanying camera lucida drawings, Fig. 1, 2). Frontal callus cla-

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Fairchild & Lane: Fossil Stenotabanus 631

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Fig. 1. Stenotabanus brodzinskyi L., P. and F. holotype. F, frons, antenna and left palpus. Fig. 2. Stenotabanus woodruffi n. sp. holotype F, frons and right antenna. All figures to same scale, shown at right of Fig. 1.

vate, apparently attached above to a slender ridge-like median callus. Vertex with a tubercle, bearing vestiges of at least 2 ocelli; upper third of frons and vertex densely beset with long black hairs. Post-orbital hairs sparse, pale, and difficult to see. Eyes bare, no pattern evident. Palpi and probosecis partially obscured, apparently subequal in length, the second palpal segment slender though not thread-like. Antennae with basal plate of third segment pale brownish, with a sharp dorsal angle, and considerably longer than contrasting black 4-annulate terminal portion; scape and pedicel concolorous with basal plate, but covered with relatively long dark hairs. Surface color pattern of thorax and abdomen, if any, not preserved. Abdomen yellowish brown, darker termi- nally, without clear integumental pattern. Thoracic integument light brown, with a broad central dark stripe and a pair of dorsolateral dark stripes separated from median dark area by narrow pale stripes. Scutellum concolorous with mesonotum anteriorly, but posterior portion darker. Legs light yellowish brown, all tarsi, distal half of fore tibiae and tip of fore femora notable darker brown.

Holotype female No. 10543, Domincan Republic, J. Brodzinsky collector. To be de- posited in U. S. National Museum of Natural History.

DISCUSSION

The visible characters of this specimen place it in the subfamily Tabaninae and the tribe Diachlorini, where it appears quite similar to some elements of the catch-all genus Stenotabanus. Some of the important head characters, such as the condition of the frontal calli, palpi, and proboscis are not well displayed, but possibly some further cutting of the amber might reveal these structures more clearly. Its small size and general appearance seem much like some modern species from the Greater Antilles, but the combination of visible character states is not precisely like any living species with which we are familiar. The wing pattern resembles that of Stenotabanus mellifluus J. Bequaert from Cuba, but that species is much larger and has more slender unicolorous antennae and no vestiges of ocelli. The specimen has been compared carefully by both of us with the holotype of Stenotabanus brodzinskyi. It differs from that species by being much paler in color of integument, with only parts of mesonotum, tarsi, and

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632 Florida Entomologist 72(4) December, 1989

annulate part of antennal flagellum black. The frons is considerably narrower and less convergent below, the annulate portion of the antennal flagellum is relatively shorter, the basal plate broader, and the dorsal angle markedly more acute. The smoky wing apex of woodruffi also separates it from brodzinskyi. These character states can best be appreciated by reference to the accompanying figures of both species, drawn by the senior author with the aid of a camera lucida on a Wild binocular microscope, while the amber pieces were immersed in colorless mineral oil.

We take great pleasure in dedicating this important paleontological find to Dr. Robert E. Woodruff, who not only recognized the importance of this fossil and enable us to study it, but declined co-authorship. He also read and made astute suggestions on the several drafts of this paper.

COMMENTS

The discovery of two distinct but obviously similar species of tabanids in amber believed to be at least 25 million years old is an extraordinary occurrence considering the rarity of fossil Tabanidae. That these specimens show no character states that would separate them generically from a group of living sympatric and mainly precinctive Antillean species suggest that evolution in this group of Diptera has been much slower than in those groups of animals, such as horses, elephants, and primates, whose differen- tiation is believed to have occurred during the geologically abrupt changes of the Pleis- tocene.

ENDNOTE

Contribution No. 717, Bureau of Entomology, Division of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, FL 32602.

REFERENCES CITED

LANE, R. S., G. 0. POINAR, JR., AND G. B. FAIRCHILD. 1988. A fossil horsefly (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Dominican Amber. Florida Entomol. 71(4): 593-596.

POLYGYNY IN HYBRID IMPORTED FIRE ANTS

B. MICHAEL GLANCEY, ROBERT K. VANDER MEER, AND DANIEL P. WOJCIK

USDA, ARS Insects Affecting Man & Animals Research Laboratory

P.O. Box 14565 Gainesville, FL 32604 U.S.A.

ABSTRACT

The occurrence of polygyny in hybrid fire ants from Mississippi was initially indi- cated by the clustering behavior of the workers around queens. Polygyny was demon- strated by the rate of oviposition of isolated queens, and dissection of samples of queens for the presence of sperm in the spermatheca. The colonies were identified as S. invicta/ S. richteri hybrids by gas chromatograph analyses of venom alkaloids and cuticular hydrocarbons.

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