Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, 1966

Lonsdale, Owen, 2021, Manual of North American Agromyzidae (Diptera, Schizophora), with revision of the fauna of the " Delmarva " states, ZooKeys 1051, pp. 1-481 : 1

Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer

Figs 289-292

Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, 1966b: 13. Spencer and Stegmaier 1973: 45; Spencer and Steyskal 1986b: 32; Scheffer et al. 2007: 770; Shi and Gaimari 2015: 51; Monteiro et al. 2019: 157; Eiseman et al. 2021: 10.

Melanagromyza radicicola Steyskal, 1981: 40. Spencer and Steyskal 1986b: 246. Syn. Spencer (1990).

Description.

Wing length 1.9-2.1 mm (♂), 2.1-2.3 mm (♀). Length of ultimate section of vein M4 divided by penultimate section: 0.6-0.7. Eye height divided by gena height: 5.0-6.3. Gena angulate, highest near midpoint of eye. Clypeus broadly rounded. Fronto-orbital plate and ocellar triangle mostly ill-defined; ocellar triangle rounded anteriorly, extending to region between ors, subshiny. Fronto-orbital plate slightly visible to not visible when head viewed laterally; well-developed but relatively narrow compared to most congeners, slightly subshiny, setae slightly inset.

Chaetotaxy: Two ori; two ors. Orbital setulae in two irregular rows, erect to reclinate. Eye bare or with few minute, sparsely arranged hairs. Ocellar and postocellar setae well-developed, but thin. Two dorsocentral setae. Acrostichal setulae in eight irregular rows. Mid tibia with two posteromedial setae.

Colouration: Body, including halter, dark brown in base colour. Gena slightly pale. Notum greenish, sometimes becoming bluish anteriorly. Calypter margin and hairs brown. Abdomen metallic green, sometimes coppery.

Genitalia: (Figs 289-292 ) Epandrium with small posterodistal spine. Surstylus small and rounded with tubercle-like setae clustered along inner and inner-marginal surfaces. Apex of hypandrium extremely elongate and tapered, subtriangular with base shallow and broadly arched; inner lobe attached to remainder of hypandrium by lightly sclerotised bridge. Metepiphallus broad and box-like with serrated ridges ventrally and irregular ridges laterally. Distiphallus separated from phallophorus by ~ 1.5 × height of basiphallus; mesophallus produced slightly past base of distiphallus; distiphallus small and ovate in ventral view with thin spinulose internal pads; distoventral plate vestigial, continuing as elongate, irregular duct that often has small, faint subapical sclerotised spot. Ejaculatory apodeme typical of Melanagromyza , blade relatively narrow and slightly pointed apically.

Hosts.

Asteraceae - Borrichia frutescens , Helenium flexuosum , Helianthus annuus , Heliopsis helianthoides , Melanthera nivea , Rudbeckia laciniata , Symphyotrichum simmondsii , Verbesina encelioides , V. virginica . Cucurbitaceae - Cucurbita foetidissima . Urticaceae - Urtica dioica , U. gracilis subsp. holosericea ( Eiseman et al. 2021).

Distribution.

USA: AR, CA, FL, IA, MD, MO*, MT*, NM*, OH, TX. Argentina. Bolivia. Brazil. Dominican Republic. Guadeloupe. Mexico. Venezuela. Uruguay.

Type material.

Holotype [ Melanagromyza minimoides ]. USA. FL: Hialeah, 10-14.ii.1964, ex. seeds of Verbesina sp., leg. 2.ii.1964, C.E. Stegmaier (1♂, USNM [on card with female paratype]).

Paratype [ Melanagromyza minimoides ]. USA. FL: Same data as holotype (1♀, USNM), Miami Dodge Is., 2.iii.1966, ex seeds Borrichia frutescens , em. 4.iii.1966, K.A. Spencer, CNC358429 (1♂, CNC).

Holotype [ Melanagromyza radicicola ]. USA. MD: Bethseda, xii.1979, G.C. Steyskal, "emerged indoors from nettle st." (1♂, USNM).

Additional material examined.

Mexico. Durango: 20.ix.1936, C.S. Rude (1♂, USNM) . USA. FL: Hialeah, 15.xi.1964, C. Stegamier, ex. Verbesina (1♂ 1♀, USNM), Key Largo, beach on NE, 13.xii.1985, A.L. Norrbom, reared ex. flower of Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC (14♂ 14♀ [seven with puparia], USNM), Key Largo, Pennekamp State Park , 13.xii.1985, A.L. Norrbom, reared ex. flower head of Borrichia frutescens (L.) (1♂, USNM), Big Pine Key, 13.xii.1985, ex. flower head of Borrichia frutescens (L.) (1♂ 2♀, USNM), Dade Co., Naranja , 12.xii.1985, A.L. Norrbom, reared ex flower head of Bidens alba v. radiata (1♂, USNM), IA: Winneshiek Co. , Decorah , Will Baker Park , 43°18'9.12"N, 91°48'42.15"W, 10-13.viii.2017, J. van der Linden, Rudbeckia laciniata , em. by 16.viii.2017, #CSE4945, CNC1643663-1643667 (2♂ 3♀, CNC), MD: Montgomery Co. , Bethseda, G. Steyskal, 31.viii.1970 (1♀, USNM), 30.viii.1970 (1♂, USNM), reared ex. flower heads of Heliopsis helianthoides , 21.viii.1970 (2♂ 7♀ 8puparia, USNM), 24.viii.1970 (4♂ 3♀, USNM), 26.viii.1970 (1♂, USNM), 27.viii.1970 (3♂ 1♀, USNM), 28.viii.1970 (2♀, USNM), 30.viii.1970 (1♂ 3♀, USNM), 31.viii.1970 (1♀, USNM), 2.ix.1970 (3♀, USNM), 9.ix.1970 (1♂ 3♀, USNM), 26.ix.1970 (2♀, USNM) reared ex. flower heads of Rudbeckia lacinata , 13.viii.1970 (1♀, USNM), 24.viii.1970 (1♀, USNM), 28.ix.1970 (1♂, USNM), 1.ix.1970 (3♂, USNM), 2.ix.1970 (1♀, USNM), 6.ix.1970 (2♂, USNM), 8.ix.1970 (1♂ 1♀, USNM), 9.ix.1970 (2♂ 1♀, USNM), 10.ix.1970 (3♂ 1♀, USNM), 11.ix.1970 (1♂ 1♀, USNM), 14.ix.1970 (1♂ 3♀, USNM), 16.ix.1970 (2♂ 1♀, USNM), 17.ix.1970 (2♂ 7♀, USNM), 20.ix.1970 (1♀, USNM), viii-ix.1971 (1♀ 7puparia, USNM), 13.viii.1974 (puparia, USNM), 23.viii.1974 (1♀, USNM), 31.viii.1971 (2♀, USNM), 2.ix.1971 (6♀, USNM), 4.ix.1971 (1♀, USNM), 3.ix.1972 (1♀, USNM), 11.ix.1972 (1♀ [with puparium], USNM), 1.ix.1974 (7♀ [with puparia], USNM), 12.ix.1974 (12♀, USNM), MO: St. Louis , 6.28, reared ex Helianthus pitcheriana , Webster Grve, No. 33125, Satterthwaite (5♂ 9♀ [gel capsule], USNM), MT: St. Louis Webster Grvs , No. 22195, “7.30”, reared from Heliopsis , Satterthwaite Collector (2♂ 3♀, USNM), NM: Roosevelt Co. , Portales , 4000ft, Malaise trap, 23-26.viii.1993, O’Hara and Jorgensen, debu00128110 (1♂, DEBU), TX: Hidalgo Co. , Weslaco, ii.1975, C.E. Rogers, larva in Helianthus annuus (3♂ 2♀, USNM) .

Figures

Figures 289 - 292. Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer, male genitalia 289 external components, ventral 290 hypandrium, ventral 291 hypandrial complex, left lateral 292 phallus and epiphallus, ventral.