Corethrella (Corethrella) librata Belkin, Heinemann, and Page

Published, First, 2008, The Frog-Biting Midges of the World (Corethrellidae: Diptera), Zootaxa 1804, pp. 1-456 : 198-199

Corethrella (Corethrella) librata Belkin, Heinemann, and Page

Corethrella librata Belkin, Heinemann, and Page 1970:246 . Type locality: Petersville (Westmoreland), Jamaica. Holo-

type male pupal exuviae ( USNM) .

DIAGNOSIS: Male and female adults: unknown. Pupa: only extant species of Corethrella from Jamaica with elongate paddles and without elongate lateral setae on each of abdominal segments 5–7 (Fig. 112A).

DESCRIPTION: Male and female adult. Unknown.

Pupa. Thorax: Scutum, metathorax each with spherical sensory pit (as in Fig. 100A). Respiratory organ (Fig. 103L): Tubular, with apical portion somewhat flattened. Abdomen (Fig. 112A): Segments 3–7 not expanded laterally. Paddle only moderately elongate; apicodorsal thick spine articulating; apicoventral seta longer than thick spine.

Larva. Described by Belkin et al. (1970).

Egg. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION AND BIONOMICS: Corethrella librata is known only from the type locality in Jamaica at an altitude of ranging from 225 m. The pupal exuviae and whole larva were collected from a small pond in a grazing area. These specimens from the Belkin “Mosquitoes of Middle America” project are identified in Table 12 .

TAXONOMIC DISCUSSION: Because C. librata is only known from a pupal exuviae and tentatively associated whole larva, it cannot be interpreted taxonomically at the present time. When more species of Neotropical Corethrella have been reared and the immature stages studied, it will be possible to know if C. librata is a valid name. The holotype is in excellent condition on a slide. A full locality label was added. I did not examine the whole larva associated with this pupa by Belkin et al. (1970).

The pupa of C. librata is similar to that of C. dicosimoae but the interpretation of this must await further study of the pupae of Corethrella . Reinert (1999) described the dorsal apotome of the pupa.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: Holotype, male pupal exuviae on microscope slide, labeled “ HOLOTYPE Corethrella (C.) librata B., H.& P., 1970", ”Drawing NM Whole”, “JA361-3-65, Jamaica Mosq. Mid. Amer.”, “ ♂ ”, “librata B. H. & P. UCLA-ZOOL”, “UNIV. CALIF. LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGY-ENT”, “ Jamaica, Westmoreland, Whitehouse, Petersville , behind postal agency, 225 m, 11-IX-1965, J.N. Belkin, W.A. Page ” ( USNM).

DERIVATION OF SPECIFIC EPITHET: The name librata (freed, escaped) perhaps refers to the missing adult which might otherwise have been associated with the pupal exuviae.

DESCRIPTIONS OF FOSSIL SPECIES

Six of the seven named fossil species of Corethrella are at least partially redescribed below. The recently described C. andersoni was unfortunately unavailable for study (Poinar, pers. comm.).

In addition to the material described below, I also examined four female Corethrella in Dominican amber from the AMNH (DR-8-103, DR-13, DR-14-720, DR-14-999) but was unable to interpret these phylogenetically, in part because of a lack of any distinctive features and in part because of awkward positions in the amber (see further discussion under C. nudistyla ). One of these (DR-14-999), had a bloated abdomen, likely indicating the presence of a recent bloodmeal on a frog but also possibly nectar (although flower visitation has never been seen in the genus).

All fossil specimens of Corethrella , typical of most nematocerous Diptera in amber, lack pigmentation patterns and are uniformly brown. This is likely, at least for most species, due to modification in the amber. As such, the descriptions below do not refer to pigmentation.