Atrichobrunettia (Pachybrunettia) Bravo

Bravo, Freddy, 2007, Descriptions of a new subgenus and two new species of Atrichobrunettia Satchell (Diptera, Psychodidae) from the Neotropical region, Zootaxa 1590, pp. 61-68 : 62-63

Atrichobrunettia (Pachybrunettia) Bravo , new subgenus

Type species: Atrichobrunettia minuta Bravo, 2006 by present designation.

Etymology. Pachybrunettia is a combination of the Greek prefix pachy meaning thick and Brunettia , a genus of Psychodinae , Mormiini, Brunettiini, and refers to the thick eye bridge present in the species of this subgenus.

Diagnosis. Eye bridge contiguous with length of 4 facet row; eye bridge wide, 0.23–0.27x length of the vertex to the inferior margin of the clypeus; 13 flagellomeres; R5 terminating slightly behind the apex; posthypandrial plate extended posteriorly, plate-like with apical alveoli; aedeagal apodeme racket-shaped.

Description. Male. Head subcircular in frontal view ( Figs. 4 , 13 ). Eye bridge contiguous with length of 4 facet rows, characteristically wide, 0.27x the distance from the vertex to the inferior margin of the clypeus ( Figs. 4 , 13 ). Antenna: scape cylindrical ( Figs. 5 , 14 ); pedicel spherical ( Figs. 5 , 14 ); 13 flagellomeres, 1st–12th nodiform, eccentric ( Figs. 6 , 14 ), 13th with long apiculus ( Bravo 2006: figs. 36–37). Maxillary palp with 4 segments ( Fig. 15 ); first segment short, 0.25x – 0.40x the length of the second segment. Wing ( Figs. 1 , 9 , 16 ): wing membrane naked, with few bristles on its margin; wings with narrow costal and anal areas and acute apex; Rs pectinate; M1+2 fork basal or apical to R1+2 fork; R5 ending slightly behind apex. Naked epandrium with only one, oval foramen ( Figs. 3 , 11 , 20 ). Hypandrium narrow, U-shaped ( Figs. 2 , 12 , 17, 18 ). Post-hypandrial plate long, with sparse apical alveoli, terminating beside the apex of the aedeagus ( Figs. 2 , 12 , 17, 18 ). Naked gonocoxite cylindrical, the same length as the gonostyle. Gonocoxal apodeme slender and separate, not forming a bridge ( Figs. 2 , 12 , 17, 18 ). A pair of narrow, well sclerotized sclerites (ns, figs. 2, 12), probably an expansion of the gonocoxal apodeme, that ends near the base of aedeagus (ns, fig. 10); these sclerites are probably an expansion of the gonocoxal apodeme. Gonostylus with sparse alveoli, larger at the base than the apex, converging to the midline; a pair of large setae present at the apex of the gonostylus. Parameres platelike, nearly as wide or wider than the gonocoxite ( Figs. 2 , 12 , 17 ). Aedeagal apodeme racket-shaped, short, 0.75x the length of the paramere ( Figs. 2 , 12 , 17 ). Tergite 10 triangular ( Figs. 3 , 20 ), smaller and ending before than the apex of sternite 10.

Distribution: the new subgenus Pachybrunettia is currently known only from Brazil, but this subgenus probably has a wider distribution in the Neotropical region.

Comments. The new subgenus Pachybrunettia is included within Brunettiina because it presents all the synapomorphies proposed by Bravo (2006) for the subtribe. Pachybrunettia is proposed as a subgenus of the genus Atrichobrunettia . Bravo (2006) proposed two synapomorphies for the genus Atrichobrunettia : 1) wing membrane naked, with small patches of bristles on its margin and 2) M1+2 fork basal to R2+3 fork. Only the first synapomorphy of Atrichobrunettia , wing membrane naked, with small patches of bristles on its margin, is observed in all the species of the new subgenus Pachybrunettia.

The relative position of the R and M forks is polymorphic in the new subgenus Pachybrunettia. Two of the three new species of Pachybrunettia described below present the M1+2 fork basal to R2+3 fork as proposed to the genus Atrichobrunettia . The other species present M1+2 fork apical to R2+3 fork; this condition could be interpreted as an automorphy that can be corroborated with future cladistic study. In this paper, is proposed that the position of the M1+2 fork basal to R2+3 fork is the primitive condition in the new subgenus Pachybrunettia.

The species of the new subgenus Pachybrunettia are easily distinguished from the others species of the genus Atrichobrunettia by the presence of wide contiguous eye bridge, aedeagal apodeme short and racketshaped, plate-like parameres and the presence of a pair of well sclerotized, narrow sclerites, linking the base of the aedeagus to the apices of the gonocoxal apodeme. Of these characters, the wide eye bridge and the pair of narrow sclerites are exclusive to the species of the subgenus Pachybrunettia and are proposed as synapomorphies for this new subgenus.

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 12. Atrichobrunettia (Pachybrunettia) bilobata Bravo, sp. nov. Male, holotype (4, 8 – 12), paratype (5 – 7). 4. Head. 5. Antenna: scape and pedicel. 6. Antenna, flagelomere 1. 7. Antenna, flagelomeres 3 – 4. 8. Palpomeres 1 – 2. 9. Wing. 10. Male terminalia, lateral. 11. Male terminalia, ventral, epandrium and sternite 10. 12. Male terminalia, dorsal. ae = aedeagus; ae. ap. = aedeagal apodem; gx. ap. = gonocoxal apodeme; ns = narrow sclerites, well sclerotized, link the base of parameres to the apex of the gonocoxal apodeme; par = paramere; php = post-hypandrial plate; S 10 = sternite 10. Distance AB = distance between the hypandrium and the gonocoxal apodeme.

FIGURES 13 – 20. Atrichobrunettia (Pachybrunettia) triangularis Bravo, sp. nov.. Male, holotype (13, 16, 17, 20), paratype (14, 15, 18, 19). 13. Head. 14. Antenna: scape, pedicel and first flagellomeres. 15. Palpus. 16. Wing. 17. Male terminalia, dorsal, with narrow sclerite short. 18. Male terminalia, dorsal, with narrow sclerite long. 19. Cercus. 20. Male terminalia, ventral. php = post-hypandrial plate. Distance AB = distance between the hypandrium and the gonocoxal apodeme.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Atrichobrunettia (Pachybrunettia) minuta Bravo. Male, holotype. 1. Wing. 2. Male terminalia, dorsal. 3. Male terminalia, ventral. ae = aedeagus; ae. ap. = aedeagal apodem; ep = epandrium; fr = foramen; gx. ap. = gonocoxal apodeme; hyp = hypandrium; ns = narrow sclerites, well sclerotized, link the base of parameres to the apex of the gonocoxal apodeme; par = paramere; S 10 = sternite 10; php = post-hypandrial plate; T 10 = tergite 10. Distance AB = distance between the hypandrium and the gonocoxal apodeme.