Dasyhelea aliciae, Grogan & Díaz & Spinelli & Ronderos, 2019

Grogan, William L., Díaz, Florentina, Spinelli, Gustavo R. & Ronderos, Maria M., 2019, The Biting Midges of the Caribbean island Curaçao (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) I. Species in the genus Dasyhelea Kieffer, Zootaxa 4700 (3), pp. 301-325 : 308-310

Dasyhelea aliciae n. sp.

( Figs. 1–5 , 52–54 )

Diagnosis. The only Neotropical species of the leptobranchia group with the following combination of characters. Males wing with a short costa (costal ratio 0.42); aedeagus stout, heavily sclerotized, H-shaped; gonocoxal apodemes and paramere asymmetrical, left gonocoxal apodeme barely contacting base of paramere; paramere sinuate with slender elongate recurved distal portion, the basal section of which is adpressed to the apex of the distal portion; sternite 9 moderately elongate, extending just below basal arch of aedeagus, distal margin slightly curved; and apex of tergite 9 broad, curved with very widely spaced elongate, divergent apicolateral processes. Female unknown.

Male. Head ( Fig. 1 ). Dark brown. Eyes contiguous for a distance equal to the width of 4–5 ommatidia. Antennal flagellum dark brown; flagellomeres 2–9 sculptured, rhomboidal, 10–13 elongate; flagellomeres 2–10 with whorl of long sensillae chaetica comprising the moderately dense plume; antennal ratio 0.88; flagellum length 0.47 mm. Frontal sclerite elliptical, with short pointed ventral projection, with folded lower marginal ear-like lobes, difficult to see. Clypeus with 5 pairs of setae. Palpus ( Fig. 2 ) brown; segment 3 as long as 4+5 combined with 1–2 scattered hyaline capitate sensillae on distal 2/3 of mesal surface; palpal ratio 3.28. Thorax ( Fig. 3 ). Dark brown; scutellum with 6 large, 3 smaller setae. Femora, tibiae dark brown, extreme bases slightly paler; tarsi with tarsomeres 1–4 light brown, tarsomeres 5 infuscated; hind tibial comb with 8 spines; prothoracic tarsal ratio 2.14, mesothoracic tarsal ratio 2.28, metathoracic tarsal ratio 2.11. Wing ( Fig. 4 ) membrane hyaline with moderately dense macrotrichiae; radial cells without lumen, 2 nd radial cell very short; apices of costa, radius at perpendicular angle with wing margin; fork of CuA 1 slightly distal to level of apex of 2 nd radial cell; anal lobe moderately developed; wing length 0.65 mm, width 0.22 mm; costal ratio 0.42. Halter dark brown. Abdomen brown. Genitalia ( Figs. 5 , 52–54 ). Tergite 9 tapering progressively distally to rounded apex that extends to apices of gonocoxites; apicolateral processes very widely spaced, slender, elongate, cylindrical with medium-sized subapical seta; cercus very small, located at base of apicolateral process, with 2 small setae. Sternite 9 ( Figs. 5 , 52 ) 0.30 length of greatest width; anterior margin curved; distal portion moderately long, sub-triangular, tapered to broad apex that extends just below basal arch of aedeagus. Gonocoxite straight, moderately slender, 2.2 x longer than broad, with a few large setae on apicomesal side; gonostylus 0.80 length of gonocoxite, distal 1/2 greatly curved, tapering to narrow pointed tip. Gonocoxal apodemes and paramere ( Figs. 5 , 53 ) asymmetrical; proximal portions of apodemes stout; basal arm of right apodeme recurved 120°, proximal portion broadly fused to paramere; basal arm of left apodeme broad with bluntly rounded apex,” distal portion slender, slightly recurved, barely contacting base of paramere; paramere stout, broad basally, tapering and curved distally, distal portion slender, abruptly recurved anteroventrally 180°, and adpressed to apex of proximal portion. Aedeagus ( Figs. 5 , 54 ) stout, H-shaped, very heavily sclerotized, 0.71 length of greatest width; basal arch broad, extending 0.30 of total length of aedeagus, posterior margin nearly straight; basal arms short, moderately divergent; posterolateral arms slightly convergent, tips broadly rounded.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Curaçao.

Type material. Holotype male, labeled “ Curaçao, Christoffel Nat. Pk., Christoffelberg trailhead parking, 12°20ʹ40.63ʹʹ N, 69°67ʹ11.38ʹʹ W, 9-XI-2014, M. C. Thomas, BL trap ” (deposited in FSCA).

Derivation of specific epithet. This species is named for Alicia Díaz, sister of the 2nd author, Florentina Díaz.

Discussion. This new species is similar to the holotype male of the recently described D. waughi Grogan et al. (2016) from Guadeloupe which also has a stout H-shaped aedeagus; asymmetrical gonocoxal apodemes and paramere; dark brown scutum, femora and tibiae; wing with a moderately developed anal lobe; and a clypeus with 5 pairs of setae. However, the male of D. waughi differs from this new species in having a wing with a longer costa (costal ratio 0.50 vs. 0.42 in D. aliciae n. sp.), a longer sternite 9 that is narrowly tapered distally, an aedeagus with a broadly concave basal arch and the medio-distal margin has 3 small teeth, and, the apical margin of tergite 9 is more narrowly tapered and the apicolateral processes are parallel, not divergent. In addition, in the holotype of D. waughi , the right gonocoxal apodeme is only narrowly fused with the base of the paramere, but the basal portion of the paramere is much narrower, and the recurved apical section is shaped like a willow leaf and is much broader than in this new species.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Dasyhelea aliciae n. sp. Holotype male. 6-10. Dasyhelea recurva n. sp. Holotype male. 1, 6 head. 2, 7. palpus. 3, 8 thorax and abdomen. 4, 9 wing. 5, 10 genitalia. Scale bars = 0.05 mm.

FIGURES 52–69. Male Dasyhelea genitalia structures: sternites 9 (left column), gonocoxal apodemes and parameres (middle column), and aedeagi (right column). 52–54 D. aliciae n. sp., 55–57 D. recurva n. sp., 58–60 D. latiala n. sp., 61–63 D. cyrtostyla n. sp., 64–66 D. curacaoensis n. sp., 67–69 D. rhopaloparamera n. sp. Scale bars = 0.05 mm.