Bezzia (Bezzia) folkertsi, Grogan, 2020

Grogan, William L., 2020, A Revision of the Nearctic Predaceous Midges in the Bezzia (Bezzia) pulverea complex (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 4877 (3), pp. 429-467 : 452-455

Bezzia (Bezzia) folkertsi n. sp.

( Figs. 43–48 )

Diagnosis. The only Nearctic species of the B. pulverea complex with the following combination of characters. Males very small (WL 1.41–1.50 mm); with dark brown femora and tibiae that are darkest on hind legs, but lack well defined pale bands except for a poorly developed pale apical band on fore femur and base of fore tibia; only fore femur with 1–3 ventral spines; hind tibia with 3–4 large, stout, black apical spines; hind tarsomere 1 dark brown; gonocoxite stout, outer margin greatly curved, slightly tapered distally with oblique apex; gonostylus elongate, slightly curved distally, apex rounded (paratypes) or with very small inner point (holotype); parameres elongate, basal arms straight, mid-section moderately broad, apical 1/3 narrowed with rounded apex; aedeagus broad with very slender, greatly elongate apical section with bifid tip. Female very small (WL 1.50 mm) with brown femora and tibiae that are darkest on hind leg, with a poorly marked narrow light brown band on apex of fore femur; only fore femur with 2 ventral spines; hind tibia with 4 long, massive apical spines; hind tarsomere 1 light brown; spermathecae very small, subequal-size, the larger 0.09 mm long, smaller 0.08 mm long.

Male. Head. Dark brown. Eyes separated by the width of 2 ommatidia.Antennal flagellum brown, bases of flagellomeres 1–10 light brown; flagellomere 1 moderately elongate, proximal 1/3 tapered, distal 2/3 slightly bulbous; flagellomeres 2–5 short, vasiform, 6–9 elongate vasiform, 9 longest, 10–13 greatly elongate; plume dark brown, dense, extending beyond mid-length of flagellomere 11; AR 0.78–0.83 (0.81, n=2); flagellum length 1.01–1.08 (1.05 mm, n=2). Palpus moderately long; segment 3 moderately slender with 2–3 meso-central capitate sensillae; segment 5 extending beyond apex of labellum; PR 3.25–4.00 (3.54, n=2). Mandible slender with 2–3 slender apicomedial teeth. Thorax ( Fig. 43 ). Dark reddish brown. Scutum with 8–9 moderately long stout setae and a similar number of shorter, thinner pre-alar setae; scutellum with 6–7 long setae. Femora, tibiae dark brown, darkest on hind leg, fore femur, tibia with poorly developed narrow pale brown subapical band; femora, tibiae with dense long setae; fore femur with 1–3 stout ventral spines, mid, hind femora without ventral spines; fore, mid femora and fore, mid tibiae with single row of sparse dorsal spines, hind femur, tibia with double row of larger dorsal spines; 2 fore, 3–5 mid, 3–4 hind large stout apical tibial spines, most massive on hind tibia. Tarsi with tarsomeres 1–3 of fore, mid legs light brown, 4–5 darker, hind tarsomere 1 dark brown, 2–3 light brown, 4–5 darker brown; claws as in males of B. pulverea . Wing moderately slender; costa, radius, radial cell, base of medius and membrane between costa, radius and medius light brown; membrane hyaline, light brown below and beyond apex of radial cells; posterior veins very narrow, well developed; WL 1.41–1.50 (1.47 mm, n=3), WW 0.38–0.45 (0.43 mm, n=3); CR 0.67 (n=3). Halter brown, distal half of knob darker brown. Abdomen. Tergites reddish brown, with moderately long setae; sternites lighter brown with sparse shorter setae. Genitalia ( Figs.44–45 ). Tergite 9 moderately short, broad; cerci elongate, extending 0.8 length of gonocoxites with several long apical, subapical setae. Sternite 9 with broad, deep, U-shaped apicocentral excavation, inner margin without fringe of long setae, apicolateral extensions very short, overlapping basal arms of aedeagus. Gonocoxite moderately short, slightly curved, tapering slightly distally, apex obliquely truncate. Gonostylus elongate, slightly shorter than gonocoxite, slightly curved, tapered slightly distally, apex broadly rounded with very small inner prong in holotype, that is not present in both paratypes. Parameres ( Fig. 44 ) fused, much narrower than in other species in the pulverea complex; basal arms stout, divergent, heavily sclerotized, apices tapered, tips truncate or rounded; mid portion more lightly sclerotized, tapered abruptly at 2/3 length; apical section moderately broad, becoming increasingly lighter sclerotized distally, tip rounded. Aedeagus ( Fig. 45 ) broad, triangular on proximal 1/2; basal arch broad, moderately deep, extending 1/4 of total aedeagal length; basal arm stout, heavily sclerotized, apices recurved nearly 90˚; mid-portion broad, more lightly sclerotized except for lateral margins, with low, broad sub-basolateral extensions; apical portion very slender, elongate, enclosed in a thin hyaline envelope, tip bifid.

Female allotype. Similar to males with the following notable sexual and other differences. Head ( Fig. 46 ). Eyes more narrowly separated, equal to the diameter of 1.5 ommatidia. Antennal flagellum shorter than males; flagellomere 1 elongate, proximal 1/3 pale yellow, distal 2/3 brown; flagellomeres 2–8 vasiform, proximal 1/3 light brown, distal 2/3 brown; 1–8 with subbasal whorl of long stout setae; 9–13 elongate, 13 longest, proximal 1/5 light brown, distal 4/5 brown, with sub-basal whorl of long hyaline setae, 2–8 with numerous similar shorter setae; AR 1.18; flagellum length 0.78 mm. Palpus more slender than males; segment 3 with 1–2 meso-central capitate sensillae; PR 4.29. Mandible broad with 7–8 moderately large distal, 3 smaller proximal medial teeth; lateral margin without teeth. Thorax ( Fig. 47 ). Scutum similar to males with 5 large long setae and 6 smaller pre-alar setae; scutellum with 5 long setae. Femora, tibiae brown; mid tibia, hind femur and tibia dark brown; fore, mid femora and fore tibia light-er brown; fore femur with poorly developed pale apical band, fore tibia lacking pale basal band present in males; fore femur with 2 large central ventral spines, mid, hind femora without ventral spines; 1–2 fore, 2 mid, 4 hind large apical tibial spines, most massive on hind tibia ( Fig. 48 ); tarsi with tarsomeres 1–3 of fore, mid legs yellowish, 4–5 brown, tarsomeres 1–3 of hind leg light brown, 4–5 darker brown; claws similar to females of B. pulverea . Wing similar to male but broader with longer costa, radial cell; proximal ½ of costa, radial veins pale; membrane below and beyond radial cell in cell r 3 hyaline; WL 1.50 mm, WW 0.59 mm; CR 0.77. Abdomen. Coloration similar to males; tergites, sternites with shorter, sparse setae; internal tergal apodemes not visible, perhaps because the allotype is gravid with fully developed eggs. Spermathecae subequal-size, elongate ovoidal, tapered distally, necks not visible; larger 0.09 x 0.04 mm, smaller 0.08 x 0.04 mm.

Distribution. This new species is known only from the type locality, the Florida A & M University (FAMU), Blackwater Biological Station in extreme eastern Santa Rosa County, Florida. The FAMU Biological Station is just east of a tributary of the Blackwater River, Ates Creek (30˚ 44ʹ 20.85ʺ N, 86˚ 48ʹ 18.02ʺ W), ca. 6.6 km WNW of the town of Holt and NW of the Florida State Fish Hatchery complex on Fish Hatchery Road, N of Bryant Bridge Cutoff Road that crosses the Blackwater River SSE of this site. I suspect that the collector of the type series, G. B. (Sandy) Fairchild (son of botanist David Fairchild; grandson of Alexander Graham Bell), probably placed his blacklight trap near Ates Creek.

Etymology. I am pleased to name this new species for my friend and colleague, George W. Folkerts, former professor at Auburn University, Alabama who died suddenly from an apparent heart attack on 14 December 2007. During his 38 years at Auburn, George was a mentor to numerous graduate and undergraduate students that consulted him on a variety of biological topics. He was an outstanding naturalist and conservationist, and an expert on the biota of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and other nearby southeastern states. George was especially interested in amphibians, reptiles, fishes, insects, other invertebrates, pitcher plant bogs and the fauna and flora of the numerous river systems that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, including the Blackwater River watershed, the type-locality of this new predaceous midge. George’s PhD dissertation at Auburn dealt with the distribution and life history of Dusky ( Desmognathus ) Salamanders in Alabama. He has nine other previous zoological patronyms including the recently described Dwarf Black-bellied Salamander, Desmognathus folkertsi Camp et al. (2002) . His other patronyms include a grasshopper ( Hill 2015); 4 beetles: a dytiscid ( Wolfe & Matta 1979), a staphylinid ( Carlton 2008), a carabid ( Sokolov et al. 2004), and a chrysomelid ( Kingsolver et al. 1989); a braconid wasp ( Boring et al. 2011); a sarcophagid fly ( Dahlem & Naczi 2006); and a mouse tapeworm ( Makarikov et al. 2015).

Type Material. Holotype male, allotype female, 2 male paratypes. FLORIDA, Santa Rosa Co., Blackwater A & M Biological Station , 21 May 1971, G. B. Fairchild, B. L. Trap ( USNM; 1 male paratype in FSCA).

Discussion. This new species is similar to other species in the B. pulverea complex, but the male genitalia differ from other species in this complex in having narrower parameres, but, as with other species, the aedeagus is also broad with an elongate slender apical section. Finally, the moderately elongate gonostylus lacks well developed apical inner and outer prongs which are also absent in some males of B. amblystyla , n. sp.

Figures

FIGURES 43–48. Bezzia folkertsi n. sp. Male, 43–45, Female, 46–48. 43, 47 Thorax and legs. 44 Genitalia at focal level of parameres, gonocoxites and gonostyli. 45 Genitalia at focal level of aedeagus. 46 Head. 48 Apical hind tibial spines.