Neoephydra pravoneura (Hendel) Hendel, 2016

Mathis, Wayne N. & Marinoni, Luciane, 2016, Revision of Ephydrini Zetterstedt (Diptera: Ephydridae) from the Americas south of the United States, Zootaxa 4116 (1), pp. 1-110 : 64-67

20. Neoephydra pravoneura (Hendel) , New Combination

Figs. 88–91 , Map 20

Ephydra pravoneura Hendel 1930: 150 .

Dimecoenia pravoneura .— Hendel 1933: 223 [generic combination].— Mathis and Zatwarnicki 1995: 138 –239 [world catalog, as a synonym of D. caesia ].

Dimecoenia caesia in part of authors [misidentification], not van der Wulp 1883: 58.— Cresson 1935: 352 [review].— Oliveira 1954a: 188 [list].— Wirth 1968: 23 [Neotropical catalog].— Mathis and Zatwarnicki 1995: 238 –239 [world catalog].

Diagnosis. Specimens of N. pravoneura are distinguished from similar congeners of the araucaria group by the following characters: appearance generally dark, particularly the legs; face moderately setose; gena moderately short; and structures of male terminalia with distinctive conformation. Medium-sized to moderately large shore flies, body length 3.50–4.30 mm; generally dull, grayish brown to gray with some subshiny areas dorsally.

Head: Head ratio 0.71–0.75; frontal ratio 0.52–0.55; mesofrons with dark, brassy, blackish blue to green, metallic luster; ocellar triangle and parafrons nearly concolorous, microtomentose, brownish gray to charcoal gray; parafrons becoming more charcoal colored anteriorly; fronto-orbits with narrow strip through insertions of frontoorbital setae subshiny, with some faint metallic luster; number of fronto-orbital setae 2. Antenna mostly concolorous, blackish brown. Facial ratio 0.89–0.92; mostly moderately setulose particularly along oral margin and toward posteroventral portions of face; dorsum of interfoveal hump with subshiny area more or less concolorous with mesofrons, otherwise face densely microtomentose, brownish gray to gray, gradually paler ventrally. Eye ratio 0.89–0.93; gena-to-eye ratio 0.28–0.32; gena moderately short, coloration gray to whitish gray but with faint tinges of olivaceous green.

Thorax: Mostly microtomentose; mesonotum darker, mostly brassy brown, darker and subshinier posteriorly; anterior margin microtomentose, gray to bluish gray, subshiny luster concolorous with mesofrons; pleural areas paler, more gray colored ventrally; anepisternum either with central area and dorsal margin brownish and otherwise olivaceous to faintly bluish gray or mostly olivaceous to bluish gray; other pleural areas including coxae mostly whitish gray, concolorous. Wing length averaging 3.85–3.93 mm; mostly very palely infuscate, faintly grayish brown; costal vein ratio 0.20–0.25; M vein ratio 0.73–0.77. Legs dark generally; femora mostly gray, microtomentose, only slightly darker than ventral pleural areas; tibiae and tarsi reddish yellow, sometimes thinly microtomentose.

Abdomen: Generally microtomentose and unicolorous, grayish olivaceous green to gray, becoming paler toward lateral margins, some specimens with faint bluish tinges of metallic luster; ventral surface of tergites frequently whitish gray. Tergite 5 of male somewhat trapezoidal, truncate apically. Male terminalia ( Figs. 88–91 ): margins of epandrium in posterior view roughly parallel, tapered medially just before merger with surstyli, rounded dorsally; surstyli in posterior view roughly forming isosceles triangle, longer than wide, with apical half as 2, narrow, elongate processes with a narrow gap between; surstylus in lateral view twice as long as wide, robustly elongate, curved apically, tapered to a point, lateral prong elongate, length equal to width of base of surstylus, curved, bearing an apical, long tuft of setulae, wide gap from by lateral prong with setulae; lateral margin between lateral prong and apex of surstylus with shallowly produced and bearing short setulae.

Type material. The lectotype male of Ephydra pravoneura Hendel , here designated to stabilize and make more universal the use of this name, is labeled “Sierra Cordoba Arg[entina]. VII 25. Lind. D[eutschen]. Chaco- Exped [black border white label]/ Ephydra pravoneura Hend. ♂ [handwritten]/Coll. Hendel/ LECTOTYPE Ephydra pravoneura Hendel ♂ [red, handwritten].” Both the lectotype and paralectotype are deposited in the NMW and are in excellent condition. One female paralectotype, here designated, bears the same label data as the lectotype except for the ♀ sex symbol and the paralectotype label. Both specimens are double mounted (minute nadel); the abdomen of the lectotype has been removed and dissected (total length before dissection 3.48 mm), the structures are in an attached microvial.

MAP 20. Distribution map for Neoephydra pravoneura (Hendel) .

Type locality. Argentina. Córdoba: Córdoba (31°24'S, 64°11'W).

Additional specimens examined. ARGENTINA. Buenos Aires: Bahia Blanca (38°43'S, 62°17'W), 12 Nov 1970, M. L. de Grosso (4♂, 3♀; FML); Baradero, Balneario Municipal (33°47.8'S, 59°31.2'W), 15 Dec 1979, C. M. and O. S. Flint, Jr. (1♀; USNM); Berisso (34°52'S, 57°53'W), 3 Feb 1970, M. L. de Grosso (9♂, 8♀; FML); Buenos Aires (34°40'S, 58°24'W), 11 Nov 1946, K. Hayward (3♂, 3♀; USNM); Chascomús (1 km S; Cabeza de Vaca; 35°35'S, 58°01'W), 28 Nov 1979, C. M. and O. S. Flint, Jr. (6♂, 8♀; USNM); Chascomús (N Arroyo Vitel; 35°34'S, 58°01'W), 27–28 Nov 1979, C. M. and O. S. Flint, Jr. (3♂, 1♀; USNM); General Gelly (3 km S Arroyo del Medio; 33°36'S, 60°36'W), 14 Dec 1979, C. M. and O. S. Flint, Jr. (1♀; USNM); Manuel J. Cobo (17 km NW Arroyo Las Encadenadas; 35°51.9'S, 57°54'W), 29 Nov 1979, C. M. and O. S. Flint, Jr. (3♀; USNM); Médanos (38°50'S, 62°41'W), 11 Nov 1946, K. Hayward (3♂, 11♀; USNM). Cordoba: INTA Experimental Station near Manfredi (31°50'S, 63°45'W), 7 Dec 1967, C. R. Ward (4♂, 4♀; USNM). Corrientes: Manantiales (27°57'S, 58°08'W), 7 Nov 1949, M. L. Aczel (1♂; USNM). Neuquen: Zapala (38°54'S, 70°04'W), 19–22 Dec 1946 (3♂, 1♀; USNM). Rio Negro: Pichi Mahiuda, Río Colorado (39°50'S, 22°08'W), 14 Dec 1946, K. Hayward (3♂, 6♀; USNM).

BRAZIL. Paraná: Bocaiúva do Sul (ca. 10 km NW; 25°14.9'S, 49°08.9'W; 890 m), 2–4 Nov 2010, D. and W. N. Mathis (1♀; USNM); Prainha (5 km S Matinhos; 25°51.2'S, 48°33.6'W; beach), 15 Nov 2010, D. and W. N. Mathis (2♂, 2♀; DZUP, USNM); Rio Mae Catira, Serra do Mar (25°21.8'S, 48°52.6'W), 29 Aug 2000, D. and W. N. Mathis (1♂; USNM). Rio Grande do Sul: Pelotas (31°40'S, 52°20'W), C. Biezanko (1♂, AMNH).

BOLIVIA. Cochabamba: Cochabamba (16°23.3'S, 66°07'W), Apr 1965, T. Steinbach (11♂, 16♀; USNM); Cochabamba (17°23.3'S, 66°07'W; 2610 m), 25 Mar 2001, W. N. Mathis (1♂, 1♀; USNM); Parotani (17°34'S, 66°21'W), 25 May 1990, A. Visinoni (1♂, 2♀; ROSSI).

CHILE. O'Higgins: Rancaqua (23 km N; 33°50'S, 70°44.5'W), 21 Dec 1950, E. S. Ross, A. E. Michelbacher (6♂, 2♀; USNM).

PARAGUAY. Distrito Federal: Asunción (25°15.9'S, 57°40'W), 23–25 Mar 1986, M. Pogue, A. Solis (2♂, 2♀; USNM).

URUGUAY. Maldonado: Maldonado (34°54'S, 54°57'W; on sandy beach), 11 Oct 1941, H. L. Parker (2♂, 3♀; USNM).

Distribution (Map 20): Neotropical: Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Corrientes, Rio Negro), Brazil (Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul), Bolivia (Cochabamba), Chile (O'Higgins), Paraguay (Distrito Federal), Uruguay (Maldonado). Widespread in southern South America between 17–39°S and 52°–72°W.

Remarks. Considerable color variation is evident for this species, which is widespread, and we have generally had to rely on characters of the male terminalia for specific determinations.

Hendel (1930) first described this species in the genus Ephydra then transferred it to Dimecoenia ( Hendel 1933) , and here we transfer it to Neoephydra .

Figures

FIGURES 88 – 91. Structures of male terminalia of Neoephydra pravoneura (Hendel). (88) epandrium, cerci, surstyli, posterior view; (89) same, lateral view; (90) epandrium, cerci, surstyli, lateral view; (91) surstylus, lateral view.