Metasiphonella amorimi, Riccardi & Bazyar & Ismay, 2020

Riccardi, Paula Raile, Bazyar, Zeinab & Ismay, Barbara, 2020, A revision of the Neotropical genus Metasiphonella Duda, 1930 (Diptera Chloropidae), Zootaxa 4885 (3), pp. 437-446 : 440-443

Metasiphonella amorimi sp. nov.

( Figs. 3–4, 6, 8 , 11–12 )

Type specimens examined: Holotype ♂ ( MZUSP), with the following labels: BRAZIL, São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, USP-RP, Guest House , S21°09’54” W47°50’56”, 20.xi.2016, sweeping, P. R. Riccardi leg. Paratypes. BRAZIL: 1 ♀ ( MZUSP), Minas Gerais, Uberlândia, P.E. Pau Furado , rio Araguari , S 18°48’23” W48°09’57”, Malaise trap, 26.ix–4.xi.2019, R.S. Capellari & S.H. Seike leg. ; 3 ♀ ( MZUSP), Minas Gerais, Cabo Verde, Fazenda da Cata , 593 m, 21°27’08.46”S 46°20’52.8’W, Malaise trap glade, 14.vii.2011 – 4.i.2012, Amorim & Oliveira leg.

Diagnosis. Eye dark; facial carina not acute; arista entirely black; scutal inner longitudinal stripes not reaching the posterior margin; an oblique black stripe usually from the base of the postpronotum to the anepisternum; scutellum entirely yellow; base of surstylus narrower than maximum width; cercus broader than long in terminal view, proximal half with two lobes.

Description. Body length, 1.5–1.8 mm. Wing length, 1.4–1.75 mm.

Head (figs 3–4, 6). Wider than long dorsally and slightly higher than long in profile, entirely yellow except for black ocellar tubercle and a black longitudinal stripe on the ocellar triangle. Head and thoracic setae black. Ocellar setae ca. 1.25 times as long as posterior margin of ocellar triangle, convergent and reclinate, postocellar setae ca. 1.5 times as long as posterior margin of ocellar triangle, cruciate, reclinate. Six fronto-orbitals developed, as long as the ocellar seta. Outer vertical seta strongly developed, slightly longer than postocellars; inner vertical seta circa three quarters length of outer vertical seta. Frons slightly longer than wide, lateral margins subparallel, front margin very slightly concave, yellow, pollinose outside the ocellar triangle. Few frontal setulae as long as the setulae along the outside margin of the ocellar triangle; one pair of central apical longer setulae convergent, as long as inner vertical setae. Ocellar triangle bare, extending to three quarters length of frons, posterior margin two thirds width of frons, lateral margins straight, shiny, yellow, with a black longitudinal stripe, which ends 2/3 width of postpedicel before anterior margin of frons, widening posteriorly to enclose two posterior ocelli. Eye oval, long axis slightly oblique with short, sparse pubescence. Face as broad as deep; a flat carina between antennae, reaching the frontoclypeal suture; antennae yellow, postpedicel round, as deep as long and with basal arista; arista black, with short pubescence, about 3 times as long as postpedicel; gena slightly narrower than length of postpedicel, with dark setulae on apical half; occiput yellow; proboscis yellow, long, thin, sclerotized with distal part of the labrum and proximal part of the labellum dark; palpus yellow, small, equal in length to antenna, slightly curved upwards, with brown setulae; mouth edge not protruding; clypeus yellow. Thorax (figs. 3–4). Scutum slightly longer than wide, yellow, with four black stripes circa half as wide as the postpedicel over the entire length, the dorsocentral stripes end at the margin of the scutum, the medial stripes end slightly before the posterior margin of the scutum; scutum entirely yellow, shiny with sparse dark setulae; one posterior dorsocentral seta developed, longer than outer vertical seta, no acrostichal setae developed; postpronotal lobe yellow, shiny with one long seta equal to notopleurals; notopleuron with 1 plus 2 setae as long as the dorsocentral seta; anterior post-alar as long as outer vertical seta. Pleuron yellow, shiny. with an oblique black stripe from the postpronotum to the ventral margin of the anepisternum. Scutellum yellow, shiny, slightly broader than long, shield-shaped with few black setulae on slightly convex disc; apical scutellar setae with separation equal to that of posterior ocelli, as long as 1.5 times the length of the scutellum; two pairs of lateral setae developed, inner pair half the length of the scutellum and outer pair slightly shorter; post-scutellum orange-yellow, shiny. Halter pale yellow. Wing (fig. 8). Hyaline with brown veins covered in sparse brown microtrichia; costal sections 1–4: 13: 14: 9: 3; cell r 1 as wide as cell r 2+3, veins R 4+5 and M 1 almost parallel close to the costal wing margin, where they diverge very slightly; distance between r-m and dm-m four times length of r-m. Legs (fig. 4). Mainly yellow, shiny; posterior tibia black; apical tarsomeres blackish; posterior tibial organ well developed, elongate, occupying slightly more than middle third of tibia and slightly more than half width of tibia, yellow; small elongate bright orange femoral organ developed with the comb consisting of two rows of setulae, circa 1.5 times width of postpedicel; setulae black. Abdomen (figs. 3–4). Tergites 1 and 2 largely yellow with the lateral margin darkened, the remaining tergites dark brown with yellow lateral margins. Male terminalia (figs. 11–12). Remnant of the 6th sternite about quadrate. Epandrium as wide as long, surstylus long, with base narrower than the remainder; cercus wider than long, with two basal lobes and one apical lobe, the latter with a very long basal seta. Hypandrium weakly sclerotized, with inner arm short, faint distally; basiphallus cylindrical; distiphallus short and membranous, longitudinally striate; pre- and postgonite fused, rectangular, with small pores and one seta; sclerite with a serrated margin attached to the inner margin of the pre- and postgonite; phallapodeme short, bifid basally; sperm pump present. Female. Same as male, except scutellum slightly darkened. Terminalia. Segments 6–8 narrow; epiproct bare, with a pair of setae; hypoproct pilose; cerci brown, long and narrow, with short setae at base. Egg. Length 0.51 mm, width 0.14 mm, as M. magnifica .

Etymology. The specific epithet amorimi is a patronym to honor the Brazilian dipterist Dalton de Souza Amorim, who has made huge contributions to the understanding of the diversity and evolution of Neotropical flies.

Comments. There is an additional sclerite attached to the fused pre- and postgonite with a serrated margin (fig. 12, arrow) which does not correspond to any known male structure of Oscinellinae when we consider its shape and position. The most striking external difference of M. amorimi sp. nov. are the scutellum being completely yellow and the scutal inner longitudinal stripes not reaching the posterior margin.

Biology. The holotype was collected in a relatively open area on the campus of the Universidade de S„o Paulo in Ribeir„o Preto from a tropical lawn slightly overshadowed by tall trees beside a house.

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Figs 1–2, 5, 7. Metasiphonella magnifica external morphology. 1, habitus. 2, dorsal view. 5, head in frontal view. 7, femoral organ. Figs 3–4, 6, 8. Metasiphonella amorimi sp. nov. external morphology. 3, dorsal view. 4, habitus. 6, head in frontal view. 8, wing. Scale bar 1 mm.

FIGURES 9–13. Metasiphonella postabdomen. 9, M. magnifica epandrium in terminal view (arrow points to the remnant of the 6th sternite). 10, M. magnifica male terminalia in ventral view. 11, M. amorimi sp. nov. epandrium in terminal view (arrow points to the remnant of the 6th sternite). 12, M. amorimi sp. nov. male terminalia in apical ventral view (arrow points to the sclerite with a serrated margin). 13, M. magnifica female terminalia in ventral view. Scale bar 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: bas, basiphallus; cer, cercus; dis, distiphallus; ep, epandrium; gon, pre- and postgonite fused; hyp, hypandrium; phal, phallapodeme; spm, sperm pump; sur, surstylus.