Plecia elsalvadorensis Fitzgerald, 2021

Fitzgerald, Scott J., 2021, New species of Neotropical Plecia Wiedemann (Diptera: Bibionidae) and delineation of the americana-, nigra-, and xyele- species-groups, Zootaxa 5005 (1), pp. 21-40 : 25-26

Plecia elsalvadorensis Fitzgerald sp. n.

( Figs. 6–9)

Type Material. Holotype: Male , point-pinned ( USNM), “ EL SALVADOR, Monte Cristo, 7–9 May 1958, OL Cartwright” [white label]. USNMENT 01556013 [white data matrix label] . HOLOTYPE, Plecia elsalvadorensis Fitzgerald [red label]. Paratypes: same as holotype except: USNMENT 01556014, 01556011, & 01556012, 3 males (2 USNM, 1 SFC) .

Description. Male ( Fig. 6). General coloration. Scutum and scutellum matte orange, thoracic pleurae light brown with orange tint to orange with brownish tint. Abdomen and legs dark brown. Head black. Wings brown fumose. Head. Three ocelli. Antennae brown with apex of pedicel and base of flagellomere one with orange tint. Antenna with seven bead-like flagellomeres with short dark setae, basal flagellomere about twice as long as broad, apical flagellomere round, minute. Compound eye holoptic with minute sparse ommatrichia, divided into upper and lower section of larger and smaller facets by slight depression. Face not produced anteriorly. Mouthparts not elongated, clypeus + proboscis shorter than antennae; clypeus rectangular, broader than long. Maxillary palps apparently with only four segments (five is typical, but as these are very shriveled and difficult to count it is possible a fifth palpomere is present). Face, clypeus, and palps with short dark setae. Thorax. Mesonotum matte with a subtle median and a pair of more distinctive dorsocentral grooves. Mesonotum largely bare with short dark sparse setae in median and dorsocentral grooves as well as laterally. Thoracic pleurae bare except katepisternum with patch of dorsal setae. Legs. Legs slender, long, with dense short dark setae. Hind femur only slightly clavate distally. Hind tibia slender, parallel-sided. Hind basitarsus slender, parallel-sided, approximately six times as long as wide. Wing. 6.5 mm, brown fumose. Veins brown, anterior veins darker and bolder. Venation typical for the genus ( Fig. 6). R 2+3 short, curved (bent most strongly at midpoint), strongly divergent from R 4+5, ending in C. Pterostigma present but nearly concolorous with wing membrane. Halters dark brown, base of stem tinted with orange. Abdomen. With short dark hair. Terminalia ( Figs. 7–9 ). Epandrium (tergite nine) posteromedially with deep, broad, V-shaped cleft extending about ½ length of sclerite, median projection absent. Epandrium long (almost as long as broad), extending beyond apex of lateral lobe of gonocoxite, epandrial lobes somewhat triangular. Anteromedial edge of epandrium with a shallow broad V-shaped cleft. Gonocoxites ventrally with V-shaped posteromedial cleft which includes a small step about 1/3 from anterior end of cleft. In ventral view, a broad median membranous hump present immediately dorsal to posteromedial cleft of gonocoxites. Lateral lobes of gonocoxites laterally flattened, flap-like, apically rounded, extending well beyond gonostylus. Gonostylus minute, droplet-shaped; subspherical in ventral view, but in posterolateral view strongly tapered to slightly hooked point.

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis & Remarks. This species is most similar to P. americana Hardy but differs in the shape of the epandrium; posteromedially deeply cleft with triangular lobes in P. elsalvadorensis versus with a minute V-shaped cleft and truncate lobes in P. americana . The epandrium in P. elsalvadorensis is almost as long as broad whereas it is distinctly broader than long in P. americana . Additionally, the lateral lobes of the gonocoxites are longer in P. elsalvadorensis (extending well beyond the gonostylus in ventral view) whereas in P. americana they are very short (apex of the lateral lobe of the gonocoxite barely extending beyond gonostylus in ventral view). P. elsalvadorensis is also quite similar to P. parvistylata Hardy but differs by the lateral lobes of the gonocoxite not developed into apical knobs, epandrium without a median projection, and shape of the posteromedian cleft of gonocoxites; stair-step-Vshaped rather than gently rounded. P. elsalvadorensis belongs to the americana -species-group (see Discussion). Using Hardy’s 1945 key it is not possible to get beyond couplet 1 with this species since the thoracic pleurae are neither black as in couplet 1a nor concolorous with the dorsum as in couplet 1b, but are orange tinged with brown while dorsum is entirely orange.

Etymology. The specific epithet is from the type locality El Salvador.

Distribution. Known only from the type series collected in El Salvador.

Figures

FIGURES 7–9. P. elsalvadorensis sp. n., male terminalia. 7. Dorsal. 8. Ventral. 9. Posterolateral. Scale bar = ca. 0.5 mm. Abbreviations: gc, gonocoxite; gs, gonostylus; llgc, lateral lobe of the gonocoxite; t9, tergite nine.