Lewinsohnia magna Norrbom & Prado

Norrbom, Allen L. & Prado, Paulo Inácio, 2006, New genera and host plant records of Asteraceae­feeding Tephritidae (Diptera) from Brazil, Zootaxa 1139, pp. 1-17 : 12-16

Lewinsohnia magna Norrbom & Prado , new species

Figs. 3 , 15–22

Description

Length 6.5–7.5 mm; wing length 6.3–6.5 mm; mesonotum length 3.10–3.15 mm.

Head: Genal height 0.17–0.21 times long diameter of eye. Eye 0.78–0.82 times as long as high (shortest vs. longest diameter). Face with broad, weak carina. Frons 1.2 times as broad as eye, with 3 frontal setae dark brown to black, acuminate; ocellar seta large, longer than frontal setae. Genal seta yellow to dark brown; gena and postgena with numerous white, slightly lanceolate setulae, many as long as genal seta. Facial ridge with 2–3 rows of minute, pale brown, acuminate setulae. Antenna short, first flagellomere as long as pedicel, 1.2 times as long as wide; arista pale brown, minutely pubescent on broader basal part, rest dark brown, bare. Labella capitate; palpus relatively slender, slightly dorsally curved.

Thorax ( Figs. 15, 16 ): Entirely densely gray to tan microtrichose except ventral margin of mediotergite bare and shiny; with dark brown, oval microtrichose area posterior to and including acrostichal seta, similar but smaller area posterior to and including intraalar seta, and sometimes a small similar area posterior to and including basal scutellar seta.

Scutellum with base darker brown basolaterally, brown area barely including basal seta; apex yellow. Thoracic setulae all white. Scutal setulae slightly lanceolate, nearly evenly distributed. Scutellum relatively flat, with numerous setulae evenly distributed on disk. Anepisternum setulose on posterior 2/3, setulae posteriorly directed except along dorsal margin where dorsally directed.

Legs: Yellow, except femora usually partially to mostly brown, especially on mid and hind legs.

Wing ( Fig. 3 ): Pattern mostly dark brown, with numerous (8–12) small, paler, circular argents (areas with silvery microtrichia, more visible when viewed at oblique angle) in cells br, R2+3, and R4+5; radiate distally, with narrow rays extending from middle of cell r4+5 to apices of veins R2+3, R4+5, and M, middle of apical margin of cell r2+3, and in cell m. Most of wing base hyaline, including cell bc except bordering crossvein h, cell c except narrow subbasal pale brown spot and narrow medial dark brown mark, most of cell br proximal to fork of Rs, and basal 3/5 of cells bm and bcu. Cell br often with 1–2 small yellow to hyaline spots in distal third (replacing argents). Pterostigma entirely dark brown. Cell r1 with 3 marginal hyaline marks, wedge­shaped or medial mark sometimes rectangular; proximal 2 marks just distal to apex of vein R1, well separated from distal mark, ending at vein R2+3; distal mark extending into cell R2+3. Cell dm with 3–5 large ovoid hyaline spots in distal 2/3, these spots near posterior margin except for most distal spot slightly anterior to middle. Cell cu1 with 5–6 large ovoid hyaline spots on distal 2/3. Anal lobe with 5–6 smaller ovoid hyaline spots. Cells r2+3, r4+5, and m with 5 large, wedge­shaped, marginal hyaline marks; cell m also with subbasal marginal hyaline spot and smaller hyaline spot anterior to it. Cell r4+5 with strong bulla in anterior half aligned slightly distal to dm­cu.

Abdomen: Setulae and setae predominantly pale to moderate brown, except most setulae and setae on syntergite 1+2 and marginal setae on tergites 3 and 4 whitish; marginal setae on tergites 5 and 6 large, approximately 2 times as long as those on tergites 3 and 4. Tergites entirely microtrichose, matte.

Male terminalia: Lateral surstylus ( Figs. 21–22 ) about half as long as height of epandrium, broad and thick distally (posterior surface slightly concave). Glans ( Fig. 20 ) mostly sclerotized.

Female terminalia: Oviscape 2.1 mm long, 0.67 times as long as mesonotum, orange, with slender, acuminate, posteriorly directed yellow to pale brown setulae and longer, slender, acuminate, erect brown setae. Aculeus ( Figs. 18–19 ) 2.0 mm long, 0.30 mm wide, relatively slender, straight, gradually tapered to slightly blunt apex. Spermathecae rounded cylindrical.

Biology

Lewinsohnia magna was reared from flowerheads of Wunderlichia mirabilis Riedel ex Baker (Asteraceae) , collected in five localities of campo rupestre in Minas Gerais State. To date, a total of 2,606 samples of flowerheads belonging to 508 other Asteraceae species have been collected in the same and other localities in southern Brazil, but no specimens of L. magna were reared from them ( Prado et al. 2002, Lewinsohn et al. unpublished). These samples included 95 from other genera that along with Wunderlichia belong to the subtribe Mutisiinae (tribe Mutiseae) (eight species of Actinoseris (Endl.) Cabrera , four of Chaptalia Ve nt., nine of Gochnatia Kunth , one of Mutisia L. f., and two of Trichocline Cass. ), and one sample of a congeneric plant (35 flowerheads of Wunderlichia sennaei Glaz. ex Maguire & G.M. Barroso collected in Diamantina). Hence, we hypothesize that L.

magna is a specialist on species of Wunderlichia Riedel ex Benth. & Hook. f., although additional sampling is necessary to ascertain if it can breed in flowerheads of other species of the genus (e.g., W. cruelsiana Taub. , which is commonly found in cerrado areas). If this hypothesis is correct, L. magna is endemic to Brazil, to which its host genus is restricted. Wunderlichia is a distinctive genus with eight known species, and it may be among the ancient, basal lineages within the Asteraceae ( Bremer 1994) . Wunderlichia mirabilis is a 3–5 m tall small tree that occurs in rocky outcrops and sandy soils of campo rupestre, and probably also in adjacent cerrados. It has one of the largest flowerheads among Brazilian Asteraceae (4–6 cm. in diameter and 17–20 g of dry weight), and from one sample of only 13 capitula (PIC96605) we reared 141 adult flies.

Distribution

Brazil (Minas Gerais).

Type data

Holotype ɗ ( MZUSP), BRAZIL: Minas Gerais: Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, próximo a Matinha, 17°41.37’’S, 44°11.88’’W, 3 Sep 1996, T. Lewinsohn, P. Prado, A. Santos, J. Silva, PIC96605 [reared ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ]. Paratypes: BRAZIL: Minas Gerais: Diamantina, Estrada de Conselheiro Matta, 18°17.89’’S, 43°50.16’’W, 8 Sep 1996, T. Lewinsohn, P. Prado, A. Santos, J. Silva, PIC96721 [reared ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ], 20ɗ11Ψ ( ZUEC); Diamantina, Estrada Guinda ­ São João da Chapada, 18°09.59’’S, 43°43.00’’W, 7 Sep 1996, T. Lewinsohn, P. Prado, A. Santos, J. Silva, PIC96706 [reared ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ], 15ɗ9Ψ ( ZUEC); Grão Mogol, Trilha da Tropa, 16°33’’S, 42°54’’W, 5 Sep 1996, P. Prado, A. Santos, PIC96733 [ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ], 13ɗ9Ψ ( ZUEC), 1ɗ1Ψ ( USNM USNME NT00213274­75); Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, vale do córrego do Jucão, 17°41.91’’S, 44°16.66’’W, 2 Sep 1996, T. Lewinsohn, P. Prado, A. Santos, J. Silva, PIC96586 [reared ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ], 13ɗ5Ψ ( ZUEC); Joaquim Felício, Serra do Cabral, próximo a Matinha, 17°41.37’’S, 44°11.88’’W, 3 Sep 1996, T. Lewinsohn, P. Prado, A. Santos, J. Silva, PIC96605 [reared ex capitula Wunderlichia mirabilis ], 65ɗ75Ψ ( ZUEC).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Wings: 1, Cipomyia totofusca; 2, Eutretopsis albipunctata; and Lewinsohnia magna.

FIGURES 15 – 16. Lewinsohnia magna, female habitus: 15, dorsal; 16, lateral.

FIGURES 17 – 22. Lewinsohnia magna: 17, head, lateral; 18, aculeus, ventral; 19, aculeus tip, ventral; 20, glans, dorsal; 21, epandrium and surstyli, posterior; 22, epandrium, surstyli, hypandrium, phallapodeme and phallus, lateral, with glans, lateral.