Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, 1966

Monteiro, Nilton Juvencio Santiago, Barbosa, Rodrigo Rendeiro & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2019, Agromyzidae (Diptera: Schizophora) in the state of Pará: new species and new records in Brazil, Zootaxa 4624 (2), pp. 151-182 : 157

Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, 1966

Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, 1966: 13 ; Spencer, 1973b: 20; Spencer & Stegmaier, 1973: 45; Spencer et al., 1992: 258; Braun et al., 2008: 98; Shi & Gaimari, 2015: 51.

Melanagromyza radicicola, Steyskal, 1980: 40 . Syn. Spencer, 1990: 397.

Diagnosis. Wing length 1.9–2.2 mm. Mesonotum blackish-green, slightly shining; abdomen greenish; females with ovipositor slightly elongated; calypter greyish, margin blackish-brown, fringe-blackish brown. Aedeagus (Fig. 86 and 87 in Spencer & Stegmaier 1973): basiphallus U-shaped, slightly sclerotized; distiphallus elliptic, short, with long apical tubule terminating in a pigmented spot, with a short gap between the basiphallus and the distiphallus; hypandrium with apodeme.

Host-plants. Cucurbitaceae— Cucurbita foetidissima Kunth. Urticaceae— Urtica dioica L.; Asteraceae— Helianthus annuus L., Verbesina encelioides (Cav.) Benth. & Hook. F. ex A. Gray , Verbesina virginica L., Symphyotrichum simmondsii (Small) G.L. Nesom , Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC., Helenium nudiflorum Raf. , Melanthera deltoidea Michx. , Rudbeckia laciniate L., Bidens gardneri Baker , Tilesia baccata (L.) Pruski, and species of Heliopsis Pers. and Viguiera Kunth ( Spencer 1990) .

Distribution. Argentina, Brazil, Guadeloupe, Guyanas, USA, Venezuela.

Material examined. Brazil, Pará state, Salvaterra: 0º47′03.8″S, 48º38′08.8″W, 11-III-93, M.C. Esposito [collector], ex leaves of Asteraceae sp. (9 ♂); same location, 11-III-93, M.C. Esposito [collector], ex leaves of As- teraceae sp. (8 ♀) .

Comments. Melanagromyza minimoides is similar to M. minima ; however, these species can be differentiated by the shape of the distiphallus and by the distance between the basiphallus and the distiphallus.