Amiota nanonigrescens, Jones & Grimaldi, 2022

Jones, Lance E. & Grimaldi, David A., 2022, Revision Of The Nearctic Species Of The Genus Amiota Loew (Diptera: Drosophilidae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2022 (458), pp. 1-181 : 120

Amiota nanonigrescens , sp. nov.

Figures 61C–D , 62B , 64 , 93B

DIAGNOSIS: Medium-sized fly (ThL 1.22 mm), body black grading dark brown ventrally, femora light brown, tibiae and tarsi light yellow; male terminalia entirely faint (except for tips of outer paraphyses, which are sclerotized), lightly sclerotized; outer paraphysis swollen, distal end tapered to small, slightly curved, blunt point; inner paraphysis lost; similar to A. nigrescens Wheeler , but differing in the faint sclerotization; deep-pocketed lobes of the aedeagal apodeme; surstylus with distal end narrow and 4 prensisetae, the most medial one pointed and 2× length of the others.

DESCRIPTION: Medium-sized fly (ThL 1.22 mm), black grading dark brown ventrally. Femora brown, tibiae and tarsi light yellow. Frons black except orbital plates. Cheek brown. Palp dark brown. Arista: Short, plumose; longest branch D3; A.R. 0.32; 3 long dorsal, 0 long ventral branches, none pointed mediad/laterad; arista trunk with long microtrichia along entire length. Male genitalia: Epandrium dorsal complete, faintly sclerotized. Cercus large, occupying most of the space surrounded by the epandrium, distinct from surrounding membrane. Surstylus armlike, ventral portion narrowed, covered with setulae, dorsal portion glabrous; 4 prensisetae, apices blunt, medialmost one long and pointed, twice the length of the other prensisetae, widely spaced and at sharp angle; lateral prensisetae small, closely spaced. Subepandrial sclerite small. Outer paraphysis on long stalk; distal portion swollen in middle, the distal end with small, blunt, tapered point. Inner paraphysis lost. Aedeagal apodeme flared widely at anterior end, distal margin not emarginate; base deeply constricted; curved in lateral view, with deep lobes. Hypandrium simple, apex notched; lateral arm wide, with prominent posterior gonopod. Ejaculatory apodeme not studied. Head and thorax measurements: (n = 1, Am 540) FL/FW 0.78, EL/EW 1.50, EL/CW 14.25, FML/FMW 0.23, PR /RR 0.66, ThL 1.22 mm.

TYPE MATERIAL: Holotype: male: CANADA: Algonquin Pk., Swan Lake Stn., Scott Lake Survey, 45*29′15″N, 78*43′20″W, [45.489399, -78.715496], malaise A1, lakeshore, 3-14.vi.1993, Larson/Marshall/Barr, Am 540, [specimen glued to paper point, dissected]. Deposited in the University of Guelph ( DEBU).

OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: Known only from the holotype.

ETYMOLOGY: Formed from nanos, Greek for “dwarf,” and nigrescens , a previously named species in the genus, in reference to a smaller version of A. nigrescens Wheeler , a species to which it is closely related.

DISTRIBUTION: This species is only known from Ontario, Canada.

COMMENTS: It is unknown whether this species is attracted to the face and eyes as is common in other species of Amiota . The holotype of Amiota nanonigrescens was caught in a Malaise trap, a very common method for catching species in this species group.

Figures

FIG. 61. Heads and lateral views, A. nigrescens species group. A–B. A. fulvitibia, sp. nov. (Am 577). C–D. A. nanonigrescens, sp. nov. (Am 540, holotype). E–F. A. nigrescens Wheeler (Am 146, paratype, lateral image flipped).

FIG. 62. Aristae, A. nigrescens species group. A. fulvitibia. B. A. nanonigrescens. C. A. nigrescens Wheeler. Not to the same scale.

FIG. 64. Male terminalia, A. nanonigrescens. A. Interior view of epandrium, surstyli, aedeagal apodeme, and subepandrial sclerite. B. Lateral view. (Am 540, holotype).

FIG. 93. Distribution maps, A. nigrescens species group. A. A. fulvitibia. B. A. nanonigrescens. C. A. nigrescens Wheeler.