Bezzia (Homobezzia) venustula (Williston)

Huerta, Herón, Spinelli, Gustavo R. & Grogan Jr, William L., 2023, New records of predaceous midges in Bezzia Kieffer and Phaenobezzia Haeselbarth from Mexico with description of two new species of Bezzia (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 5323 (4), pp. 535-552 : 547-548

Bezzia (Homobezzia) venustula (Williston)

( Fig. 5A–D )

Ceratopogon venustulus Williston, 1896: 278 (female; figs.; St. Vincent, Trinidad).

Bezzia concoloripes Macfie, 1940: 31 (female; Guyana); Lane 1958: 26 (key); Wirth 1974: 52 (catalog); Spinelli & Wirth 1991: 7 (synonymy).

Bezzia venustula (Williston) : Lane 1958: 27 (key); Wirth 1974: 53 (catalogue of the Americas south of the USA); Spinelli & Wirth 1991: 7 (redescription, female, male; synonymy, key, figures); Huerta 1996: 155 (Chiapas record, Mexico; distribution; figures); Borkent & Wirth 1997: 129 (world catalog); Borkent & Spinelli 2000: 62 (catalog of new world south of the United States); Spinelli & Cazorla 2003: 47 ( Argentina records); Borkent & Spinelli 2007: 949 (Neotropical catalog; distribution); Spinelli & Wolff 2016: 126 (catalogue Colombia; distribution); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 205 (world catalog); Santarém & Felippe˗Bauer 2021: 35 (Brazilian distribution); Spinelli et al. 2023: 64 (catalog of biting midges from Argentina).

Diagnosis. The only species in the venustula group with the following combination of characters: 2–3 prealar setae; legs dark brown ( Figs. 5B–D ), bases of tibiae pale (in some specimens, bases of femora and apices of fore or mid tibiae faintly pale); fore femur slender with 2–8 ventral spines of similar lengths with a stout basal tubercle; mid tibia with stout apical spine-like seta; tarsi brown, 5 th tarsomeres deeply infuscated; female abdomen with 4 pairs of slender gland rods; aedeagus triangular; basal arms slender, tapering distally to blunt tip, ventral surface spiculate; parameres with bilobed anterolateral plates, distal process long, slender with rounded tip.

Material examined. MEXICO, Veracruz, Actopan, El Farallón , 13-aug-2009, Malaise trap, Pérez-Rentería, C., Rodríguez, A.A., 1 female CAIM ; Vega de Alatorre , Emiliano Carranza, LC 20, acahual, 26-aug-2008, CDC trap, 1 female CAIM . Chiapas, Esquipula , 4-aug-1932, light trap, Dampf, A., 18 females CAIM [ CAIM / Crt /lam-00246- 00263] . Guerrero, Quechultenango, Los Manantiales , mar-2011, CDC trap, Dzul-Manzanilla, F., 2 females CAIM . Oaxaca, San Juan Guichicovi, Zacatal , potrero, 26-jul-2009, CDC trap, Salceda-Sanchez, B., Rodríguez, A.A., 1 female CAIM . New records from Guerrero and Oaxaca.

Distribution. Widely distributed in the Neotropical region, from Mexico (Morelos, Veracruz, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas) south to northern Argentina.

Remarks. This is the most widely distributed species of the venustula group in Mexico, that is known from the central part to the southern region of the country. Spinelli & Wirth (1991) included it in a key to Neotropical species.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Bezzia (Homobezzia) venustula (female).A. Wing, lateral view; B. Fore leg, lateral view; C. Mid leg, lateral view; D. Hind leg, lateral view. Scale bars: A–D = 0.5 mm.