Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth, 1979

Huerta, Herón & Spinelli, Gustavo R., 2021, New records of the predaceous midge genus Palpomyia from Mexico, with a new species in the Palpomyia distincta group (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 5020 (3), pp. 550-560 : 553

Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth

( Figs. 1A , 2A , 4A , 6A , 7 )

Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth, 1979: 37 (female; USA, Texas; figs.). Borkent & Wirth 1997: 130 (in World catalog); Borkent & Grogan 2009: 28 (in Nearctic catalog north of Mexico; distribution); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 206 (in World catalog).

Diagnosis. The only species of the tibialis group with the following combination of characters: thorax, including legs dark brown, fore femur and distal ½ of fore tibia slightly paler, legs without femoral spines. Male unknown.

Remarks. This species was only known from the Nearctic region in USA (Texas). We provide the first record for Mexico and Guatemala, and the Neotropical region. William L. Grogan (personal communication) recently informed us that he slides mounted 2 large (WL 2.84 mm) females from Guatemala collected during 2012 with CR 0.93−0.94, which is slightly smaller than the holotype (CR 0.96).

Material examined. Mexico, Oaxaca, San Juan Juichicovi, Locality El Zacatal, 460 m., potrero, 27− jul− 2009, CDC trap, cols. Salceda−Sánchez, B., Rodríguez, A. & Ordóñez-Álvarez, J., 2 females, CAIM. New Record for Mexico and Guatemala.

Distribution. USA (Texas), Mexico (Oaxaca), Guatemala.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Heads, frontal view. A. Palpomyia aspina, female; B. P. subaspera, male; C. P. auakua sp. nov., female. Scale bars= 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Thorax, lateral view. Females. A. Palpomyia aspina; B. P. auakua sp. nov. Scale bars= 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Wings, frontal view. A. Palpomyia aspina, female; B. P. subaspera, male; C. P. auakua sp. nov., female. Scale bars= 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Female abdomens (A, C−D) and male genitalia (B). A. Palpomyia aspina, dorsal view; B. P. subaspera, male genitalia, ventral view; C−D. P. auakua sp. nov., ventral view. Scale bars: A, C= 0.5 mm; B, D= 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 7. Distributions in Mexico. Palpomyia aspina, black rectangle; P. subaspera, black circle; P. auakua sp. nov., black triangle.