Parabezzia indistincta Felippe-Bauer & Spinelli

Felippe-Bauer, Maria Luiza & Spinelli, Gustavo R., 2015, New species and new records of the predaceous midge genus Parabezzia Malloch (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 3915 (3), pp. 390-402 : 393-396

Parabezzia indistincta Felippe-Bauer & Spinelli , sp.nov.

Figs. 8–13

Diagnosis. The only Neotropical species of the Parabezzia brunnea group in which the females have an evidente, but pale costal section III, the clypeus has 20 setae, the scutellum 13 setae, the fore and hind tarsomere 5 have prominent ventral swellings, and the longest talon of the hind leg claws is longer than the lenght of their respective tarsomeres 5.

Female. Head brown. Eyes separated by V-shaped space equal to diameter of 2.5 ommatidia at level of interocular setae ( Fig. 11 ). Antennal flagellum pale brown ( Fig. 9 ); pedicel brown; antennal ratio 1.11. Clypeus with 20 slender setae. Palpus pale brown ( Fig. 10 ); segment 3 with few capitate hyaline sensilla on inner mesal surface; palpal ratio 3.5. Mandible with 9 teeth.

FIGURE 8. Parabezzia indistincta sp. nov., female. A. Wing; B. Wing base, showing costa; C. Wing apex, showing r3.

Thorax dark brown. Scutum with 2 presutural, 3 posterolateral setae; scutellum with 13 (8 stout, 5 delicate) setae. Wing (Fig. 8) length 1.23 mm; breadth 0.55 mm; membrane slightly infuscated; Sc, M, r-m, R1 and R3 slightly darker than membrane; wing sections lenght 770–430–90µ, four setae on costa proximad of basal arculus; costal fringe long in the margin and center of costa, uniformly distributed along margin of vein, sparsely distributed on center of vein in distal ½ of section I and in section II of costa; section III and costal extension beyond apex of second radial cell pale; R3 ending at 0.98 of wing lenght; costal extension reaching 0.47 the length from tip of R3 to tip of M1. Halter pale brown. Legs brown ( Fig. 13 ), hind leg darker; hind tibial comb with 10 spines; tarsi paler ( Figs. 12–13 ), palisade setae in single row on hind tarsomere 1; fore and hind tarsomere 5 with prominent ventral swelling, inconspicuous on mid tarsomere 5; hind tarsal claws longer than fore and mid tarsal claws, being the mid claws the smallest, lengths of larger and smaller talons of fore, mid and hind claws: 125/50 – 113/37.5 – 150/50 µ; longest talon of hind leg claws longer than lenght of their respective tarsomeres 5, LC/T ratios of fore, mid and hind legs 0.91–0.96–1.01; hind tarsal ratio 2.5.

Abdomen brown. Two slightly unequal ovoid spermathecae, with very short necks, measuring 75 X 63 and 65 X 58 µ, collapsed, not illustrated.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).

Types. Holotype ♀, BRAZIL, Rio de Janeiro, Casimiro de Abreu, Union Biological Reserve (22° 25′ 35″ S, 42° 2′ 4″ W), 28.IV–17.V.2013, “ Biota Diptera Fluminense ” team col., Malaise trap (CCER).

Etymology. The specific epithet is from Latim: indistincta = indistinct, referring the pale costal section III of this species, difficult to see at the first sight.

Taxonomic discussion. Parabezzia indistincta can be distinguished from the other species of Parabezzia by the pale, indistinct costal section III. Due to the pattern of distribution of setae on costal vein, Parabezzia indistincta is placed in the brunnea species group. The females of the new species differ from the Neotropical species of the brunnea species group by the presence of 4 setae on costa proximad of basal arculus (2 setae in P. arenosa , P. casimirensis sp. nov., P. caribbeana and P. un i c a sp. nov., not described in P. fuscipennis ), by the presence of ventral swelling on fore and hind tarsomere 5, inconspicuous on mid tarsomere 5 (ventral swelling absent on hind tarsomere 5 in P. arenosa and P. caribbeana , on mid tarsomere 5 in P. unica sp. nov., on all tarsomeres in P. brunnea ), by the presence of 20 setae on clypeus (12–14 in P. ca s i m i re ns i s sp. nov., 10–13 in P. unica sp. nov., not described in the remaining species), by the presence of 13 setae on scutellum (9–11 in P. casimirensis sp. nov., 4–6 in P. unica sp. nov., not described in the remaining species), and by hind tarsal ratio 2.5 (3.6 in P. fuscipennis ).

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 13. Parabezzia indistincta sp. nov., female. 9. Antenna; 10. Palpus, lateral view; 11. Eyes separation, anterior view; 12. Tarsi (left to right) fore, mid-and hind tarsomeres, lateral view; 13. Legs (left to right) of fore, mid- and hindlegs, lateral view.