Bittacus aripuanensis ( Penny, 1977 )

Machado, Renato Jose Pires, Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello & Rafael, José Albertino, 2018, The genus Bittacus Latreille (Insecta: Mecoptera) in Brazil: key to species, distribution maps, new synonym, and three new species, Zootaxa 4526 (3), pp. 303-330 : 305

Bittacus aripuanensis ( Penny, 1977)

( Figs. 2a , 8b , 12a )

Neobittacus aripuanensis Penny, 1977:423 ; Penny & Byers, 1979b:370; Penny & Arias, 1982:271.

Bittacus aripuanensis Machado et al., 2009:31 ; Machado, 2018.

Holotype male, Mato Grosso: INPA (examined). Species also known from Rondônia (new record) ( Fig. 12a ).

Bittacus aripuanensis and B. blancheti were the two species previously placed in the genus Neobittacus , which was characterized by the large number of costal crossveins in the forewing. This character, however, is quite variable, as discussed by Machado et al. (2009), who synonymized it with Bittacus . For the same reason, Navás (1929) had synonymized Neobittacus with Thyridates . The species seems to be restricted to the southern border of the Amazon and can be easily identified by the maculation pattern of the wings and the general shape of the male epandrium.

Examined specimens. Brazil: Rondônia: Nova Mamoré, Parque Estadual Guajará-Mirim, Rio Formoso , 10 o 19’26’’S– 64 o 33’88’’W, 20–27.i.1995, luz [light], JA Rafael & AL Henriques (1♀ INPA) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Bittacus adult habitus images. a) B. aripuanensis; b) B. blancheti; c) B. maculosus. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 8. Brazilian Bittacus male epandria, dorsal view. a) B. angrensis; b) B. aripuanensis; c) B. blancheti; d) B. boraceiensis; e) B. brasiliensis; f) B. cruzi sp. n.; g) B. diversinervis; h) B. femoralis; i) B. ferreirai sp. n.; j) B. flavescens; k) B. froehlichi; l) B. genicutalus; m) B. latreillei; n) B. maculosus; o) B. omega; p) B. pintoi; q) B. varzeanus sp. n.

FIGURE 12. Distribution records of Bittacus species in Brazil. a) B. angrensis, B. aripuanensis, B. blancheti, B. brasiliensis, B. brunipennis; b) B. boraceiensis, B. cruzi sp. n., B. diversinervis, B. femoralis; c) B. ferreirai sp. n., B. flavescens, B. froehlichi, B. latreillei; d) B. maculosus, B. omega, B. pintoi, B. varzeanus sp. n. Bittacus geniculatus is not represented because of its imprecise location.