Notomyza bipartita (Becker) Becker, 2014

Boucher, Stéphanie & Wheeler, Terry A., 2014, Neotropical Agromyzidae (Diptera) of the Mission Géodésique de l’Équateur: Becker (1920) revisited, Zootaxa 3779 (2), pp. 157-176 : 174-175

Notomyza bipartita (Becker) comb. n.

( Figs. 55–56 )

Agromyza bipartita Becker 1920: 213 .

MNHN specimen. Holotype ♀: Ecuador: El Pelado, alt. 4150 m, P. Rivet, 1903 (see Comments).

Description. Description (female only): Total length 4.2 mm. Frons setulose; parallel-sided, yellow anteriorly, velvety black posteriorly surrounding ocellar tubercle; ocellar tubercle dull gray with long, proclinate or erect ocellar setae (one missing); orbital plate dull gray; 2 fronto-orbital setae, anterior fronto-orbital longer and lateroclinate-proclinate; posterior fronto-orbital lateroclinate-reclinate; outer vertical seta lateroclinate, as long as anterior fronto-orbital and ocellar setae, inner vertical seta inclinate, one-third length of outer; postocellar setae long, erect, cruciate; face black; antenna with pedicel, scape and first flagellomere dark yellow, arista dark brown, micropubescent, as long as eye diameter; parafacial narrow, yellow; gena yellow in middle anteroventral to eye, rest of gena and postgena dull gray, strong vibrissa and several genal setae, postgena with several setae as long and as strong as genal setae, longer at posteroventral margin; occiput dull gray, same color as ocellar tubercle, occiput with marginal row of long setulae extending to postgena; palpus yellow, proboscis gray.

Thorax uniformly dull gray; 1 presutural and 2 postsutural dorsocentrals, 1 presutural and 2 postsutural intraalars, 1 post-alar, 1 notopleural, 8 irregular rows of acrostichal setulae, those in medial rows longer, 1 stronger prescutellar acrostichal seta; 1 postpronotal seta; proepisternal and proepimeral setae apparently absent, prosternum, anepimeron and anepisternum bare, katepisternal setae broken, but two sockets present, anterior one smaller; scutellum with 1 strong apical and 1 strong lateral setae. Wing length 4.5 mm; wing hyaline, costal spines weak, A1+CuA2 not reaching wing margin; halter pale yellow. Legs mostly yellow-gray, fore femur and fore tibia gray, yellow at femoral-tibial joint; fore femur with 2 long, weak dorsal setae in apical third, mid-femur with row of 4 strong anterior setae on apical third, and weaker anterodorsal row basal to these; hind-femur with 2–3 long, weak anterior setae on apical third; mid tibia with 1 long apicoventral seta and some short apical setae; all tibiae with preapical dorsal seta present but weak. Abdomen dull gray, tergites 1–3 orange brown medially.

Female postabdomen telescoping, tergites with long setae, cerci shrivelled, shape and size not clear; spermathecae not examined (holotype not dissected).

Comments. Becker (1920) did not explicitly designate a holotype or “ type ” in the original publication, but the species was described from a single female specimen. The collection data of the specimen we examined correspond exactly to Becker’s original description, and although the specimen does not bear a type label, it does have a determination label in Becker’s handwriting. We have seen no evidence to suggest that other type specimens exist, so we consider this specimen the holotype, fixed by monotypy. We have added a label to that effect.

Although Becker described this species as an agromyzid, Spencer (1963) excluded it from the family, but did not suggest what family it might belong to. Martinez & Etienne (2002) treated it as a nomen dubium. Although the holotype is slightly damaged (some missing and/or misdirected setae, damaged legs), it is identifiable as Heleomyzidae and keys to the couplet containing Notomyza Malloch and Prosopantrum Enderlein in McAlpine’s (1985) key to Neotropical heleomyzid genera. The specimen resembles Notomyza in most respects except for the apparent possession of two katepisternal setae (generally 2 in Prosopantrum , 1 in Notomyza ). The katepisternal setae are broken but two sockets are visible on each side of the body. The specimen does not correspond to any of the three described species of Notomyza ( Malloch 1933) and is considerably larger than any of those species. Thus, we have assigned it tentatively to Notomyza pending discovery of specimens, hopefully males, in better condition. The other three described species of Notomyza are from temperate Chile, so this is the northernmost record to date of the genus.

Figures

FIGURES 55 – 56. Notomyza bipartita (Becker), (55) body, lateral, (56) Head, lateral.