Paratrizygia balbii, Oliveira, Sarah Siqueira & Amorim, Dalton De Souza, 2010

Oliveira, Sarah Siqueira & Amorim, Dalton De Souza, 2010, Four new species of Paratrizygia Tonnoir from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Sciophilinae), Zootaxa 2629, pp. 29-46 : 30-32

Paratrizygia balbii , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 , 3 , 7 )

Diagnosis. Gonostyle directed laterally on basal thirds and then strongly curved apically, bifid at apex, main apical branch with four elongated spines. Aedeagus trifid at base.

Material examined. Holotype ɗ, BRAZIL, State of São Paulo, Salesópolis, Estação Ecológica de Boracéia, Malaise trap open vegetation, 23°39’05” S, 45°53’51” W, 01–04.xii.2008, Amorim, Falaschi & Miranda cols. (BIOTA-FAPESP).

Description. Male ( Fig. 1 ). Wing length, 2.3 mm, wing width, 0.6 mm. Head. Vertex brown, with scattered setae. Three ocelli, mid ocellus smaller and slightly more ventral in position than lateral ones, lateral ocelli separated from mid ocellus by about 1.5 times its width. Occiput brown. Eyes setose. Scape yellowish brown, pedicel light yellow, with longer setae dorsally along apical margin; 14 brownish flagellomeres, almost twice as long as wide, with scattered setae and a short apical neck. Frons brown, clypeus light brown, covered with short setae; labella yellowish; maxillary palpus light yellow, lighter towards the apex, five palpomeres, basal palpomere very small, apical ones increasingly longer, last palpomere almost twice length of penultimate. Thorax. Scutum brown, lighter laterally, scutellum brown. Pleural sclerites brown, katepisternum and anepisternum light brown, metepisternum yellowish brown. Pleural membrane yellowish. Scutum moderately arched, covered with scattered small setae and stronger supra-alar, dorsocentral and acrostical setae. Scutellum with six scutellar bristles of slightly different sizes and many setulae. Pronotum densely setose, with some stronger setae. Anepisternum with some stronger setae and many setulae; katepisternum more or less squared ventrally. Mesepimeron reaching ventral margin of thorax, bare. Laterotergite projecting slightly, with 6–9 setae of different sizes, suture with mediotergite incomplete dorsally. Mediotergite slightly curved in profile, ventral half with a pair of patches of longer setae and some setulae. Haltere whitish yellow, with some few setae on pedicel and more densely setose on knob. Coxae whitish yellow, femora, tibiae and tarsi light yellowish brown, darker towards the apex. Mid- and hind first tarsomere more than twice the length of second tarsomere; mid- and hind tibiae and tarsi with erect darker short bristles along almost entirely length, those on hind tibia more or less aligned dorsally and laterally. Tibial spurs 1:2:2, about twice the length of tibial width at apex, internal spurs shorter. Tarsal claws with a large apical tooth and a smaller, more basal one. Wing ( Fig. 3 ). Membrane homogenously light brown, no maculation; membrane densely covered with microtrichia in all cells, macrotrichia densely distributed, but sparser in basal cells. Sc complete, reaching C just beyond base of Rs, setose, well sclerotized. C ending before wing apex, extending about a third the distance between R5 and M1. First sector of Rs almost transverse, devoid of setae, about as long as r-m. R1 relatively long, reaching C on apical third of wing; R5 reaching C just before wing apex, well sclerotized; r-m almost longitudinal, well sclerotized, setose. M1+2 unforked; an unattached vein between M1+2 and unforked CuA (possibly M4); CuA complete, well sclerotized. A1 incomplete, not present on the apical half. All apical veins with dorsal macrotrichia. Abdomen. Abdomen light brown, setose, slender. T8 short and wide, S8 slender, longer than wide, rounded apically. Terminalia light brown, conspicuous, quite elongate. Terminalia ( Fig. 7 ). Gonocoxites setose, elongate, fused to each other only at ventral margin, with a pair of distinctive apical medial extensions, pointed outwards at apex, which on untreated specimens fold, covering inner structures of the terminalia; gonostyle very long, with a strong curve on basal third, bifid apically, the main branch with four apical spines; aedeagus slightly sclerotized, pointed at apex, with a pair of lateral extensions at base and a medial short projection directed anteriorly; gonocoxal apodeme complete; T9 long, setose, with four characteristic regular rows of spines on a apical fold facing ventrally; cerci medially fused, weakly sclerotized, covered with setulae.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The species name is feminine, named after Maria Isabel Protti de Andrade Balbi, of the Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, who has been a constant support to the Diptera systematic research in our lab.

Comments. This is the only species of the genus with the gonostyle bifid apically. The four spines at the apex of one of the branches of the gonostyle are quite similar to those of P. c a m a rg o i, sp. nov., but in the latter species the gonostyle is not bifid and is strongly curved on its basal third. Also, the apical medial projections of the gonocoxites are more rounded in P. balbii , sp. nov., while they are more pointed in P. c a m a rg o i, sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Paratrizygia balbii, sp. nov. Habitus, lateral view. Holotype. Scale 1 mm.

FIGURE 7. Paratrizygia balbii, sp. nov. Male terminalia, ventral view. Holotype. Scale 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 3 – 6. Wings of Paratrizygia. 3. P. balbii, sp. nov. Holotype. 4. P. alvesi, sp. nov. Holotype. 5. P. c a m a rg o i, sp. nov. Holotype. 6. P. albidens, sp. nov. Holotype. Scale 0.25 mm.