Ameromyia dimidiata Navas , 1915

Tavares, Leon Gustavo de Miranda, Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Calor, Adolfo Ricardo, 2023, The Neotropical antlion genus Ameromyia Banks, 1913 (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), systematics and redefinition under a phylogenetic approach, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 81, pp. 499-553 : 499

4.5. Ameromyia dimidiata Navas, 1915

Figs 20 , 21

Ameromyia dimidiata Navás 1915a: 464. [Holotype female, Chaco de Santa Fe, Argentina (MNHN)]. - Penny 1977: 38 [distribution, species list]. - Stange 1994: 81 [species list]. - Stange 2004: 227 [species catalog]. - Oswald 2021 [species catalog]. - Machado and Martins 2022 [faunal catalog].

= Ameromyia baronei Navás 1921: 49 [Holotype female, Santa Fe (Rep. Argentina), I.1920, S. Carmelo Barone (NAT)]. - Navás 1926a: 107 [male description and distribution]. - Navás 1928:141 [distribution]. - Navás 1929: 222 [distribution]. - Navás 1933: 80 [distribution]. - Stange 1967:45 [synonymy and distribution].

Distribution.

Argentina; Paraguay (Fig. 12 ).

Diagnosis.

Wing veins all pale. Cells in mediocubital area at least half brown suffused until at least 1/3 of wing span. Legs pale colored in contrast with dark abdomen and ventral thorax. Male ectoproct posterior margin with a weak dorsal notch.

Description.

Adult. Head: Antennae clubbed, 33 flagellomeres, dark brown with flagellum darker than scapus and pedicel. Vertex dark brown anteriorly, and light brown with dark brown patches posteriorly to anterior row. Vertex decumbent setae black, sometimes white on interantennal area. Interantennal area brown, usually with dark brown patches under scapus, in the middle of frons and just above clypeus. Frons pale brown, dark brown, or pale brown with dark brown patches. Frons setae black. Interocular distance less than eye width. Clypeus and labrum light brown. Mandibles dark brown. Palpi light brown, with external face of palpomeres slightly darker. - Thorax: Thorax dark brown, with light brown markings. Thorax on lateral view dorsally light brown and ventrally dark brown, with an evident longitudinal pale brown band under wings. Pronotum as broad as long, dark brown, with lateral margins pale brown, and a longitudinal medial pale brown streak. Pronotum marginal setae white. Mesonotum dark brown, with small light brown patches. Mesonotum with scattered white setae and curved white setae pointing posteriorly on mesoscutellum posterior margin. Mesoscutellum with white curved setae pointing posteriorly on posterior margin. Metanotum medially light brown and laterally dark brown, with white setae on posterior margins of metascutum and metascutellum. - Wings: Wing tip acute. Veins pale brown. Wing membrane hyaline, with dark brown infuscation on forewing mediocubital area, which is heavily suffused at forewing base and fading until apical third. Rhegmal area hyaline. Forewing vein CuP and hind wing vein CuA extending well before CuA fork and MP fork respectively, with at least nine crossveins connecting them and posterior branch of fork. Pterostigma light brown, opaque, encompassing six veins. Cells delimited by transversal veins in hind wing posterior margin higher than long. - Legs: Coxae pale brown. Femur and tibia with black bristles. Femur pale brown, with external face slightly darker than internal face. Meso and metafemur pale brown with internal face slightly darker than external face. Decumbent setae on basal half of profemur white, and black on distal half. Profemural sense hair longer than profemur and mesofemural sense hair much shorter than mesofemur. Tibia pale brown. Tibial spurs slightly shorter than pretarsal claws. Five tarsomeres, pale brown with distal joint slightly darker. Pretarsal claws at least 1.5 times longer than basitarsus. - Abdomen: Abdomen dark brown with many setae, which are white on tergites and sternites I-III and black on remaining sclerites. Male ectoproct with a short round postventral lobes on ventral face. Parameres subtriangular on lateral view, when folded. Gonarcus arch positioned not above paramere plates on lateral view. Male genitalia clavate setae with globose club. - Larva. Larvae unknown.

Remarks.

The type of A. dimidiata has lost both its hind wings (Fig. 20A ). The type of A. baronei could not be analyzed during this work, but another specimen with this name identified by Navás, who described this species, was analyzed through photographs (from FML collection) and it agrees with A. dimidiata . The original description of A. baronei also agrees with A. dimidiata and therefore, we chose to maintain Stange’s (1967) synonymy.

A single male specimen labeled from Colombia were identified from the CASC collection. As Colombia is way beyond A. dimidiata distributional range, and this particular batch of specimens (the ones labeled as bought from F. H. Walz.) also had many other label issues, in this sense, we interpret this Colombian record as dubious data. Stange (1967) registered this species for Uruguay (to Colonia and Rivera provinces), but it is unclear where the specimens analyzed in his work are deposited. These specimens are probably deposited in the institutions mentioned in his aknowledgements (Universidad de la República de Montevideo, Museu Argentino de Ciencias Natrales, the MLPA, and Observatorio de Física Cosmica), but as it is currently uncertain, we chose to refrain from register this species to Uruguay, although it is highly probable that A. dimidiata can indeed be found in Uruguay. Stange (2004) also previously registered this species for Brazil, but upon analysis of the registered specimen, it was in fact a misidentified specimen of A. tendinosa collected at the state of Mato Grosso.

This species is distinguishable from other Ameromyia species due to its veins on forewing which are all pale, and the absence of a rhegmal infuscation on forewing (Figs 20A , 21A ). A. pleuralis and A. tendinosa look very similar, but the first has a brown tint on forewing membrane and a dark colored forewing CuP, and the latter has a much darker overall coloration and also has a dark CuP vein.

Examined material.

(32♀ 21♂) ARGENTINA • 1♂; 16.ii.2014; sweep; BMC; FSCA • 1♂ 1♀ 1901; O.W. Thomas; BMNH • 1♀; 1903; Wagner; BMNH. - ENTRE RIOS • 2♀; El Palmar; i.1959; Bought by F.H. Walz; CASC • 5♀ 2♂; ii.1960; Bought by F.H. Walz; CASC. - CORDOBA • 1♂ 1♀; La Carlota; 22.i.1971; L.A. Stange; FSCA. - FORMOSA • 1♀; Gran Guardia; 8.xii.1952; Bought by F.H.Walz; CASC • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; ii.1953 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; 16.ii.1953 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; xii.1952 • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; 23.i.1953 • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; ii.1953 • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; i.1953 . - SANTA FE • 1♀; i.1927 ; FSCA • 1♂; El Piquete; M. i.1927; Bridarolli S.J.; FSCA • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; FML • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; F. i.1927 ; FSCA • 1♀; Villa Ana; xiii.1924; K.J.Hayward; BMNH • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; ii.1926 ; K.J.Hayward • 1♀; Villa Ana; i.1925; BMNH • 1♀; Villa Ana; 27.xi.1923; K.J.Hayward; BMNH • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; 10-30.i.1927 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; xii.1924 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; xii.1925 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; i.1925 • 1♂; same collection data as for preceding; 10-31.x.1926 • 1♂; Ruta 11; Arroyo Malabirgo; 25.ii.1965; C.S.Carbonell and A.Mesa; FSCA. - SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO • 1♂; El Pinto; xii.1956; F.H. Walz; FSCA. - TUCUMAN • 1♂ 1♀ 12km sw Aráoz (station); 15.iv.1967; L.A. Stange; FSCA. - PARAGUAY: • 1♂; 1924; Bridarolli S.J.; FSCA • 1♀; Paraguayan Chaco; Nanabua; iii.1927; G.S. Carter; BMNH. - HAYES: • 8♀ 3♂; Puerto Falileo; 25°04′S 57°52′W; 5-8.iii.2008; U. Dreschel; FSCA. - PROBABLE MISLABELS: COLOMBIA • 1♂; Cumaral; 20.i.1959 ; Bought by F.H.Walz; CASC.

Figures

Figure 12. South America map showing the current distributional records for Ameromyia species in the Ameromyia nigriventris species group.

Figure 20. Ameromyia dimidata: A holotype, habitus, dorsal view. B Type labels. Photographs by Andre Nel (MNHN).

Figure 21. Ameromyia dimidiata: A male habitus, dorsal view. B Head, thorax and legs, lateral view. C Male terminalia, lateral view. D Head and forelegs, frontal view. E illustration of male genitalia, lateral view. - Abbreviations: cs, clavate setae; et, ectoproct; etl, ectoproct postventral lobe; go, gonarcus; hs, hinge setae; pah, paramere hinge; pap, paramere plate; pat, paramere tooth; st, sternite; tg, tergite.