Cluzobra elpidia, Amorim, Dalton De Souza & Oliveira, Sarah Siqueira, 2008

Amorim, Dalton De Souza & Oliveira, Sarah Siqueira, 2008, Eleven new species of the genus Cluzobra Edwards (Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Sciophilinae) from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Zootaxa 1920, pp. 1-28 : 23-24

Cluzobra elpidia , sp.n.

( Figs. 19 , 37 )

Diagnosis. Wing brownish, nearly devoid of maculae, Sc long reaching C at level of origin of Rs; syngonocoxite without mesal notch at distal margin, a conical projection ventrad to insertion of gonostyle, bearing a pair of strong, short spines at apex; gonostyle strongly sclerotized, short.

Material examined. Holotype ɗ, BRAZIL, State of Bahia, Ilhéus, Mata Esperança, 39° 03’ 60” W 14° 46’ 60” S, 15–18.v.2002.

Description. Male. Head. Occiput light brown, darker at apex; mid ocellus absent, lateral ocelli separated from eye margins by a distance larger than ocellus diameter, ocellar area brown; front and clypeus yellowish, setose; maxillary palpus brown, 1+4 palpomeres, setose, palpomeres increasing in length to apex; labella yellowish, except for the brownish sclerite of basal article. Scape and pedicel rounded, yellowish, setose; flagellomeres brownish, setose. Thorax. Pronotum light brown, with some longer and other smaller setae. Scutum brown, with four yellowish brown bands intertwined with brown bands, smaller setae scattered and some stronger acrostical and dorsocentral bristles; scutellum yellowish with a brown mid band, six stronger scutellar bristles and some smaller setae. Mediotergite yellowish brown, with a mesal and a pair of more lateral tufts of setae. Pleural membrane yellowish. Proepisternum light yellowish brown. Pleural sclerites light brown. Laterotergite setose; anepisternum and katepisternum bare. Halter yellowish, setose. Legs. Coxae light brown, hind coxa lighter at base, femora brown, mid femur darker, tibiae and tarsi light brown; tibial spurs 1:2:2, yellowish, front spur more than twice front tibial width at apex. Wing ( Figure 19 ). Length, 2.6 mm, with no transverse maculae, membrane brown, slightly lighter at base of cell cuA. Sc complete, well sclerotized, short, reaching C at level of origin of Rs; R1 long, more than five times r–m length, reaching C at distal third of wing; r–m short, slightly longer than base of Rs; R5 long, reaching C close to wing apex; C extending two fifth the distance between R5 and M1; r–m oblique; M1+2 short, slightly longer than r–m; medial fork complete; M4 entirely absent; A1 very short, scarcely visible. Abdomen. Abdominal tergites and sternites 1–7 light brown. S8 U–shape, T8 wide and short. Terminalia ( Figure 37 ). Terminalia yellowish. Syngonocoxites covering the entire ventral face of the terminalia, with a conical projection laterally just before the insertion of the gonostyle bearing two short and strong spines. Gonostyle with the shape of a short, wide spoon, relatively well sclerotized. Aedeagus weakly sclerotized, with apodemes laterally projected, expanded at apex. T9 wider than long, with no projections or spines laterally at distal margin. Cercus simple, large, but weakly sclerotized and without setae.

Etymology. The name of this species is feminine and comes from the Greek name elpis, that means hope, as a reference to the biological reserve of the type locality, Mata Esperança, meaning “good hope”.

Comments. This species does not properly fits into any of the groups of species described by Matile (1996). The species has an apparently unique combination of features, not seen in any other of the groups of species of Cluzobra – a quite homogeneous brownish wing membrane, loss of mid ocellus, long Sc, brownish legs and abdomen, and the shape of the male terminalia, with a simple syngonocoxite covering the entire ventral face and a projection just ventrad to the insertion of the gonostyle, bearing a pair of short and strong spines, and the unique shape of the gonostyle. The gonocoxal projection ventrad to the gonostyle insertion is also seen in species of the fascipennis – group, such as C. vockerothi sp.n., but in many other details the species does not fit in that group. In Matile’s (1996) key, it would run into couplet 28, but it differs significantly from both species.

Figures

FIGURES 11 – 19. Wings of Cluzobra species. 11. Cluzobra vockerothi, sp. n. 12. Cluzobra sapiranga, sp. n. 13. Cluzobra fluminense, sp. n. 14. Cluzobra binocellaris (Edwards). 15. Cluzobra fuscipennis Edwards, specimen from Embu, State of São Paulo. 16. Cluzobra plaumanni Edwards, specimen from Nova Teutônia, State of Santa Catarina. 17. Cluzobra fritzmuelleri, sp. n. 18. Cluzobra spinata, sp. n. 19. Cluzobra elpidia, sp. n.

FIGURES 35 – 37. Male terminalia of Cluzobra species. 35. Cluzobra spinata, sp. n., ventral view. 36. Same, dorsal view. 37. Cluzobra elpidia, sp. n., dorsal view. Abbreviations: ae, aedeagus; ce, cercus; dc, dorsal crypt of syngonocoxite; gp, gonocoxite projection ventrad to gonostyle insertion; gs, gonostyle; s 8, sternite 8; sg, syngonocoxite; t 8, tergite 8; t 9, tergite 9.