Borgmeiermyia brasiliana Townsend, 1935

Nihei, Silvio & Toma, Ronaldo, 2010, Taxonomic notes on Borgmeiermyia Townsend (Diptera, Tachinidae) with the first host record for the genus, ZooKeys 42 (42), pp. 101-110 : 105-106

Borgmeiermyia brasiliana Townsend, 1935

Fig. 5

Borgmeiermyia brasiliana Townsend 1935: 293 , Figs 1–2 (male description), holotype

male (Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro; formerly at “Instituto de Biologia Vegetal,

Rio de Janeiro ”; see comments on type depository below), type locality: Brazil, Rio

de Janeiro, Jardim Botânico [22°58'03"S, 43°13'28"W].

Borgmeiermyia brasiliana ; Townsend 1940: 315 (redescription, type data); Arnaud

1963: 5, Figs 5, 8, 12–14 (male redescription, key); Guimarães 1971: 166 (cat.);

Sehnal 1998: 353 (comments).

Type material examined: Holotype male ( MNRJ) labelled as follows “ HOLOTY- PUS” (red label); “ Borgmeiermyia / brasiliana TT / Holotype ♁ / Det CHTT ”; “ Rio de Janeiro / Jard. Botanico / 7–934 / H. Souza Lopes [sic]”; “EMBRAPA” (pink label), in excellent condition. See comments on type collector below.

Other material examined: BRAZIL, State of Rio de Janeiro, Itatiaia, 1 female, no date, J.F. Zikán leg. ( MZSP).

Description of female. Body length: 5.4 mm (n=1), wing length: 4.1 mm (n=1). Differs from the male redescription provided by Arnaud (1963) by the following: Frons at vertex level about 0.35 of head width; frons at most four times width of parafrons (at narrowest point, beside ocellar triangle); parafacialia narrowing slightly below (not strongly as male); antenna not multifissicorn and yellow, but brown at extreme base and apical fourth of arista and posterior portion of flagellomere; flagellomere elongate, reaching level of vibrissa; gena about one-sixth of eye height. Length of median lateral scutellar seta about 1/2 or slightly longer than 1/2 of the posterior lateral scutellar seta (the male holotype between 1/2 and 3/5). Both female specimen and the male holotype have R 4+5 setulose dorsally on the whole distance to the r-m crossvein, although the male of Santa Catarina (examined by Arnaud, 1963) was characterized as setulose at only half the distance to r-m.

Comments: Male described by Townsend (1935), with head illustration (Figs 1–2); and later redescribed and richly illustrated by Arnaud (1963). His redescription, based on one male from Santa Catarina, was compared with the male holotype (MNRJ) and confirmed. Also, the female described herein was compared with the holotype. This species can be distinguished from B. paraguayana and B. peruana by the median lateral scutellar seta short, about one-half length of posterior lateral scutellar setae (sometimes slightly longer than one-half but not about or over 2/3) and from B. rozeni by the vein R 4+5 setulose dorsally between half and the whole distance to r-m crossvein, not beyond r-m, and by the color of male flagellomere.

Type depository and type collector: The holotype male was originally deposited in the “Instituto de Biologia Vegetal” (Rio de Janeiro) ( Townsend 1935: 293), but this institution was closed in 1938 by a federal order and the “Centro Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Agronômicas” was then created. This latter was the primordial agency which became what is now EMBRAPA. Consequently, the holotype of B. brasiliana passed from one institution to another until the middle of the 20th century when it was donated by EMBRAPA to the Museu Nacional ( MNRJ) wherein it is now securely deposited. The holotype collector in the label is not correct. The type was collected by Father Borgmeier as mentioned by Townsend (1935: 293) in the original description and by Arnaud (1963: 10) who exchanged correspondence with Father Borgmeier about some interesting facts on B. brasiliana as illustrated here “Father Borgmeier informed me (in litt.) that the holotype specimen of B. brasiliana was collected on the inside of a window in his former office in the Jardim Botanico.” ( Arnaud, 1963: 10).

Distribution: BRAZIL (Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina)