Schildia fragilis (Carrera, 1944)
Head: Face silver pruinose, sometimes dorsal half apruinose, wide, wider than adjacent ommatidium; mystax light yellow, 2 setae; vertex wide, wider than face at clypeal–facial margin, silver pruinose; occipital triangle apruinose, distance between triangle and median eye margin more than adjacent ommatidium; occiput laterally grey pruinose, median dorso-ventral stripe silver pruinose; postocular setae yellow, long; proboscis brown.
Antennae: scape and pedicel light yellow, light yellow to light brown setae dorsally and ventrally; postpedicel light yellow proximally, light brown distally, silver pruinose, between 1.5–2 times as long as combined length of scape and pedicel; stylus brown, 1/4 as long as postpedicel, composed of 1 element.
Thorax: Predominantly brown, parts silver and brown pruinose; antepronotum, postpronotum, and median postpronotal lobes silver pruinose; lateral postpronotal lobes apruinose, light yellow to light brown; scutum brown, sometimes antero-laterally lighter brown, predominantly apruinose, lateral and posterior margins brown pruinose; presutural dc setae: 1 short, 1 intermediate, 1 long, postsutural dc setae: 3–5 short anteriorly oriented setae, 5–6 short acr setae, 1 npl and 1 spa seta; anepisternum brown, few yellow anepisternal setae on anterior and dorsal margins, anteriorly and dorsally silver and remaining parts brown pruinose; anepimeron, proepimeron, katepisternum, katepimeron and meron+metanepisternum brown, proepimeron silver pruinose, katepisternum anteriorly and antero-dorsally silver pruinose, posterodorsally brown pruinose, central area apruinose, meron+metanepisternum brown pruinose anteriorly, medially apruinose, posteriorly silver pruinose, metkatepisternum brown, silver pruinose; scutellum brown, silver pruinose, few very short apical scutellar setae.
Legs: light yellow to light brown; coxae and trochanters light yellow; pro and mes femora light yellow with 2 transverse light brown bands, met femur mostly light yellow to light brown, clubbed in distal 1/3, club brown, yellow transverse band at proximal margin of club, scattered brown macrosetae on pro and mes femora, met femur with distinct rows of brown macrosetae; pro and mes tibiae light yellow with 2 light brown transverse bands, met tibia brown with median yellow transverse band, about 2 times as long as width of tibia, all tibiae with yellow to light brown erect macrosetae in rows, pro and mes tibiae with 2 long apical macrosetae, met tibia with 2 apical macrosetae; tarsus light yellow to light brown, proximal tarsomere always longer than 2 following tarsomeres combined, short and long macrosetae on all tarsomeres; all empodia minute, sometimes met empodium 1/4 of median claw; median claw more than half as long as lateral claw.
Wings: length = 4.4–4.7 mm; few microtrichia, trichoid spicules short, symmetrical dorsally and ventrally, about 18–20 on M1 between r-m and diversion of M1 and M2; cell d small, terminating in M2 and M3, r-m situated proximal to separation of M3 and CuA1; R1 reaching C well proximal to R5 and M1 joining C, R2+3 straight proximally and smoothly arching posteriad distally; halter light yellow, knob dark brown, length = 0.9 mm.
Abdomen: Brown; T2 length = 2.7–3.0 mm, T2 with yellow transverse band medially, T2–3 with short, erect, evenly spaced macrosetae, remaining T with irregularly spaced and longer macrosetae, T7–8 with lateral sensory areas.
Male terminalia: epandrial halves fused medially, distal tip straight, pointed; epandrium and hypandrium fused proximally, gonocoxite and hypandrium fused to form gonocoxite-hypandrial complex; Aedeagus: not protruding from hypopygium, very short, prong a wide tube; Female genitalia- spermathecae occupying only segment 8, individual spermathecal ducts long and coiled; spermathecal reservoirs not sclerotized, as wide as individual ducts, forming a coil.
The species is distinguished from its congeners by the wide face, the light brown to brown lateral postpronotal lobes, the long postocular setae, and the long presutural dorsocentral setae.
Type Locality: Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul, Maracaju, 21°38’S 055°08’W.
Neotropical Region: Brazil, British Guyana, Panama, Peru.
This species is found in the Cerrado and Mesoamerica Biodiversity Hotspots and in the Amazonia High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area sensu Conservation International.
See this map for an up-to-date distribution map based on specimen records from numerous museum collections.