Syneches exilis Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016

Soares, Matheus M. M., Freitas-Silva, Rafael A. P. & Ale-Rocha, Rosaly, 2021, Review of Brazilian species of Syneches Walker (Diptera, Hybotidae, Hybotinae), with description of ten new species, Zootaxa 5049 (1), pp. 1-84 : 31

Syneches exilis Menezes & Ale-Rocha

( Figs 18A–E , 50 )

Syneches exilis Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016: 417–419 , figs 47–53, 109, 119. Type locality: Cerro de La Neblina , Amazonas, Venezuela.

Diagnosis. Medium size (4.0 mm) ( Fig. 18A ). Antenna and palpus brown ( Fig. 18C ). Scutum rounded, slightly narrower than mesopleuron in lateral view ( Fig. 18B ); scutellum with 1 subapical and 3 lateral pairs of bristles, lacking apical bristles. Legs long and slender; mostly yellow, but basal half of fore tibia, fore and mid tarsomeres 3–5, hind femur, hind tibia and all hind tarsomeres brown ( Figs 18A, D ); mid tibia with 1D and 3AD long bristles, longer than mid tarsomere 1. Wing sub-hyaline, pale brown; pterostigma brown, long and oval, 6 x longer than wide, extending from apex of R 1 to near apex of R 2+3; second section of M 1 as long as crossvein r-m; cell bm slightly longer than cells br and cua ( Fig. 18E )

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂ ( NMNH) labelled: “ VENEZUELA: T.P.A. Basecamp, 0°51′N – 66°10′W, Cerro da Neblina , 140 m, 20–24.iii.1984, O. Flint & J. Louton, Malaise trap over small stream at east side of basecamp” “Holótipo, Syneches exilis, Menezes & Ale-Rocha ” [red label] . Holotype condition: good; abdomen with terminalia dissected, stored in microvial with glycerin.

Distribution. Brazil (Amazonas) ( Fig. 50 ); Venezuela. Syneches exilis is known to occur only from the Amazon biome.

Remarks. Syneches exilis is remarkably similar to S. plaumanni sp. nov. by the following set of characters: legs long and slender, wing pale brown, pterostigma long and oval. However, S. exilis differs from it by the scutellum lacking apical bristles (present in S. plaumanni sp. nov.), mid tibia bearing long bristles, as long as mid tarsomere 1 (shorter than mid tarsomere 1 in S. plaumanni sp. nov.) and distal margin of hypandrium slightly convex (hypandrium bears a mid-width wide subapical protuberance in S. plaumanni sp. nov.).

Figures

FIGURE 18. Syneches exilis Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016. A–D. Holotype male. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Thorax, lateral view. C. Head, lateral view. D. Hind leg, anterior view. E. Paratype (male from Amazonas). Wing.

FIGURE 50. Syneches Walker. Geographical records of S. amazonicus Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016; S. applanatus Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016; S. bilobatus Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016; S. exilis Menezes & Ale-Rocha, 2016; S. jauensis Ale-Rocha & Vieira, 2008 and S. sinclairi sp. nov. in Brazil.