Bittacus diversinervis Souza Lopes & Mangabeira, 1942

Machado, Renato Jose Pires, Mendes, Diego Matheus De Mello & Rafael, José Albertino, 2018, The genus Bittacus Latreille (Insecta: Mecoptera) in Brazil: key to species, distribution maps, new synonym, and three new species, Zootaxa 4526 (3), pp. 303-330 : 308

Bittacus diversinervis Souza Lopes & Mangabeira, 1942

( Figs. 3a , 6a , 8g , 12b )

Bittacus diversinervis: Souza Lopes & Mangabeira, 1942:340 ; Penny & Byers, 1979b:367; Penny & Arias, 1982:269; Machado et al., 2009:36, 2010:605; Machado, 2018.

Thyridates diversinervis: Willmann, 1983:51 ; Collucci & Amorim, 2000:7.

Thyridates willmanni: Collucci & Amorim, 2001:2 . New synonym.

Bittacus willmanni: Machado et al., 2009:37 .

Holotype male of B. diversinervis : MNRJ (examined). Probably destroyed in the fire of 2.ix.2018. Holotype male of B. willmanni : LMED (high resolution images examined).

Species also known from: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia (new record), Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso (new record), Mato Grosso do Sul (new record), Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Rondônia, Roraima, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Tocantins (new record) ( Fig. 12b ).

Bittacus diversinervis is the most common and widespread hanging fly in Brazil, with records for all regions of the country, except the southern states. The species has been collected in different habitats, including the Amazon and Atlantic rain forest, some dry areas in the Cerrado, and open grassy areas in Roraima state.

Thyridates willmanni was described based on a male specimen, which until today remains as the only known specimen ( Colluci & Amorim, 2001). On its original description the authors mentioned that T. willmanni was very similar to B. diversinervis , but justified the description of a new species based on the different number of costal crossveins (three for T. willmanni and two for B. diversinervis ), a character known to be very plastic for a long time as discussed by different authors (e.g. Esben-Petersen 1921; Navás 1929; Machado et al. 2009). Another diagnostic trait suggested by the authors is that the internal margins of the male epandrium are almost straight in T. willmanni ( Collucci & Amorim 2001) ; however, the study of the holotype herein clearly indicates that this character was misinterpreted by the authors. The internal margins of the epandirum are divergent, as in all other specimens of B. diversinervis . The image of the epandrium presented in the original description is inaccurate and suggests that the internal margins are almost straight, but it does not correspond with the actual shape in the specimen. Additionally, the holotype of T. willmanni presents the vein Rs 1 forked in the forewing, one of the major characteristics of B. diversinervis .

For the reasons mentioned above, we are here synonymizing T. willmanni under B. diversinervis . The two main characters used to distinguish T. willmanni are not robust; the first is based on a historically known plastic character and the second is the result of a misinterpretation.

Examined specimens. Brazil: Acre: Rio Branco , 24.ii.1979 , Maurício Mendonça (1♀ INPA) ; Amazonas: Humaitá , 22.ii.1980, Penny & Brasil (3♂, 5♀, 2? INPA) ; Bahia: Aracatu, Fazenda Lagoa do Tamburi, Rodovia BA 262, km 400 sentido Vit. da Conquita / Brumado , coletado na lâmpada da residência, 16.xii.2010, Ferreira, A.S. col.; (4 MZUEFS) ; Vitória da Conquista , UFBA/IMS/CAT, LABZOO, 14.i.2012, Ferreira, A.S. col (1 MZUEFS) ; Espírito Santo: Anchieta, Praia de Ubu , i.2006, luz, SA Vanim (1♀ MZSP) ; Colatina , 20.i.1960, JH Guimarães (1♀ MZSP) ; Guarapari , 9.i.1981, Eloy Castellón (1♀ INPA) ; Minas Gerais: Governador Valadares , 28.xii.1990, Marcio M (1? MZSP) ; Lagoa Santa , 12.i.1965, J.S. Morgante (1♀ MZSP) ; Muriaé , 31.xii.1977, Mirian A.S. Serrano (1♂ INPA) ; Mato Grosso: Nova Mutum, Fazenda Buriti , 15.xii.1996, HF Mendes (1♂, 2♀ MZSP) ; idem— 14.i.1998 (1♂ MZSP) ; Mato Grosso do Sul: Porto Murtinho , 21–30.i.2008, S. Sigeo et al (1♂ MZSP) ; Pernambuco: Arco Verde , vii.1974, N. Papavero (2♂ MZSP) ; Rio de Janeiro: Guaratiba , iv.1960, JH Guimaraes (1♂ MZSP) ; Rondônia: Vilhena , 7.xi.1979, Norman D. Penny (1♀ INPA) ; Roraima: Boa Vista , 10.viii.1977, ND Penny (8♂, 7♀ INPA) ; Boa Vista, Passarão , 031202 N—603508W, 8.vii.1996, F.F. Xavier, varredura (2♂, 1♀ INPA) ; São Paulo: Barra Bonita , iii.1957, A. Correia (1♂ MZSP) ; Barueri , 26.ii.1959, K. Lenko (1♂ MZSP) ; Campinas , 2.iii.1974, Buhrnheim col. (2♂ 1♀ INPA) ; Campos do Jordão, Parque Estadual , 2.xi.1985, CG Froehlich (1♀ MZSP) ; Salesópolis, Boracéia , 5–9.vi.1948, (1♀ MZSP) ; Santo Amaro , ii.1950, D. Lane (1♀ MZSP) ; São Paulo, Sumaré. ii.1948, M. Carrera (1♀ MZSP) idem—ii.1947 (1? MZSP); Tocantins: Barrolândia , 24–25.xii.2013, TK Krolow (2♀ CEUFT) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Bittacus adult habitus images. a) B. diversinervis; b) B. femoralis; c) B. latreillei. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 6. Bittacus wings. a) B. diversinervis; b) B. boraceiensis, holotype forewing; c) B. femoralis, forewing; d) B. latreillei, forewing. A = anal; cc = costal crossvein; Cu = cubital; M = medial; pt = pterostigma; pt c = pterostigmal crossvein; R = radial; Rs = radial sector; Sc = Subcosta. Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 8. Brazilian Bittacus male epandria, dorsal view. a) B. angrensis; b) B. aripuanensis; c) B. blancheti; d) B. boraceiensis; e) B. brasiliensis; f) B. cruzi sp. n.; g) B. diversinervis; h) B. femoralis; i) B. ferreirai sp. n.; j) B. flavescens; k) B. froehlichi; l) B. genicutalus; m) B. latreillei; n) B. maculosus; o) B. omega; p) B. pintoi; q) B. varzeanus sp. n.

FIGURE 12. Distribution records of Bittacus species in Brazil. a) B. angrensis, B. aripuanensis, B. blancheti, B. brasiliensis, B. brunipennis; b) B. boraceiensis, B. cruzi sp. n., B. diversinervis, B. femoralis; c) B. ferreirai sp. n., B. flavescens, B. froehlichi, B. latreillei; d) B. maculosus, B. omega, B. pintoi, B. varzeanus sp. n. Bittacus geniculatus is not represented because of its imprecise location.