Species Pelecinobaccha costata

Baccha costata Say, 1829

Baccha costalis Wiedemann, 1830

Baccha tarchetius Walker, 1849

Ocyptamus costatus Thompson et al. 1976

Pelecinobaccha costata [new comb. proposed in Gonçalves Miranda(2011), published in Gonçalves Miranda et al (2014)]

The specific epithet likely refers to the darkened costal margin (= leading edge) of the wing.

The generic name was originally proposed in Shannon(1927) for a subgenus of Baccha, and it referred to a resemblance to the hymenopteran Pelecinus polyturata (based on another member of the subgenus: Baccha peruviana, now Pelecinobaccha peruviana).

8.5-11.5 mm(1)

Wing with leading edge darkened and with cell dm always clear; face yellow with median black line; abdomen constricted basally, swollen/widened apically with pointed tip, ground color black w/ blue-to-silvery markings, and three equally-spaced white spots along each side(2)(1)

Extreme southern Ontario & e. US

Forests, trees with scale insects.

June to Sept. in the north; all season in the south.

Larvae are predators of scale insects

Types:

Syntype as Baccha costata by Say, 1829. Type Locality: Indiana. Was in the Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – apparently lost.

Lectotype as Baccha costalis male by Wiedemann, 1830. Type Locality: Unknown. In Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria.“Hence, any Megerle material extant today should be labeled “Alte Sammlung.” [Old Collection] A number of specimens that Wiedemann described as from unknown localities and from the “Wiener Museum” are probably Megerle material. Many of these specimens have a curious “F” label in addition to the “Alte Sammlung” label (including Baccha costalis).” per Thompson, New York Ent, 1988, Vol. 96:202.

Lectotype as Baccha tarchetia female by Walker, 1849. Type Locality: Georgia. In the British Museum of Natural History, London, England.

Ocyptamus fuscipennis has almost entirely dark wings and ringed abdomen.

Ocyptamus fascipennis has dark stain across mid wing.

Pelecinobaccha costata has only anterior third of wings dark.

Two other species also have long thin abdomens: Baccha elongata and Pseudodoros clavatus have clear wings, except for a few small spots.

Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1829, Vol. 6 by Say, pp. 161-162.

Aussereuropaische Zweiflugelige Insekten, 1830, Vol. 2 by Wiedemann, pg. 97.

List of the Specimens of Dipterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, 1849, Pt. 3 by Walker, pg. 549.

Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 1886, Vol. 31 by Williston, pg. 117.

Entomologica Americana, 1947, Vol. 27 by Hull, pp. 147-149.

Ohio State University, 1953, Thesis by Weems, pp. 165-166.

Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 1988, Vol. 96 by Thompson, pg. 210.

Agriculture Canada Research Branch, 1992: The Insects and Arachnids of Canada, Pt. 18: Flower Flies by Vockeroth(3), pp. 163-164.

University of Guelph, 2011, Thesis Miranda(2), pp. 394-398.

Zootaxa, 2014 #3819: Revision of the genus Pelecinobaccha Shannon by Miranda, Marshall & Skevington (Table of Contents + Abstract, Refs). Raised Pelecinobaccha to genus level.

Species page(1) (under previous name/synomym Ocyptamus costatus)