Leptopezella masneri Sinclair & Cumming, 2007

Barros, Luana Machado, Freitas-Silva, Rafael A. P. & Ale-Rocha, Rosaly, 2019, First records of Leptopezella Sinclair & Cumming (Diptera: Hybotidae: Ocydromiinae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 4615 (2), pp. 397-400 : 397-400

Leptopezella masneri Sinclair & Cumming, 2007 ( Figs 1–4 )

Diagnosis. Head, thorax and abdomen shiny; occiput mostly shiny, with grey tomentum near middle; hypandrium small with truncate apex; left surstylus long and strongly arched; hypoproct with hook-like projection from right side; phallus lacking spines.

Type material examined. PARATYPE. BOLIVIA. La Paz: Chulumani, Apa-Apa , 1800m, 16°22′S. 67°30′W, 1– 4.v.1997, L. Masner s.s. B-09 [1♂, 1♀, CNC] .

Additional material examined. BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Divino de S[ão] Lourenço, P [arque] N[acional] Ca- paraó 1500 m, 20°24′30″S 41°47′06″W, 15–23.iii.2013, C.O. Azevedo & F.G. Braga, Malaise [1♀, MZUSP] ; Castelo, P [ar]q[ue] Est[adual] Pomo [sic. Forno] Grande 20°31′9″S 41°5′12″W, 1200 m, 25.ix.–2.x.2013, Malaise, D.N. Bar- bosa [1♀, MZUSP] . Minas Gerais: Cabo Verde, Fazenda da Cata – 598 m, 21°27′11.04″S 46°20′52.8″W, Luz – mata, 07.ix.2006, Amorim, Ribeiro, Falaschi & Oliveira col., BIOTA-FAPESP [1♀, MZSP] ; Borda da Mata , Sítio do Sr. Nor- berto, 10.vi.2010, Malaise iv, Airton & Cassia [1♀, 1♂, MZUSP]. Rio de Janeiro: Itatiaia, Maromba , ix.[1]946, Barreto col. [1♀, MZRJ] . São Paulo: Salesópolis, Boracéia, 13.ix. [1]947, Travassos, Ventel, J. Lane & Rabello col. [1♂, MZSP]; São Paulo, Jaraguá , viii.[19]85, J. Lane coll. [4♀, MZSP] ; [Barra do] Turvo , viii.[19]53, J. Lane col. [1♀, MZSP]; Campos do Jordão , P [arque] E[stadual] C[ampos] do Jordão, 7.x.2010, Malaise iv, Airton & Cássia cols. [1♀, MZUSP] ; idem, 17.v.2010, Malaise, N.M. Perioto [2♀, MZUSP] ; S[ão] Luis [sic. Luiz] do Paraitinga, P [arque] E[stadual] S[erra do] M[ar], Núcleo Sta. Virgínia, 23°19′27″S 45°05′38″W, 20.xii.2011, Malaise, NW Perioto [2♀, MZUSP] . Paraná: Ponta Grossa, Vila Velha , Reserva IAPAR BR 376 [km 83, 25°14′S 50°03′W, ref. Marinoni & Dutra (1993)], 01.xii.1986, Lev [antamento] Ent [omológico] PROFAUPAR, Lâmpada [3♂, 5♀, DZUP] ; São José dos Pinhais, Serra do Mar , i.1985, Malaise, J.A. Rafael [1♀, INPA]; idem, iv.1995 [3♀, INPA]; Piraquara , Mananciais da Serra do Mar , 25°29′46″S 48°58′54″W, 01.xi.2007, Varredura, J.A. Rafael col. [1♀, INPA] . Santa Catarina: [Seara,] Nova Teutônia, 300–500 m, 27°11′S 52°23′W, xi.1977, F. Plaumann [1♀, MZSP] . Geographical distribution (Fig. 4). Bolivia (Sinclair & Cumming 2007) and Brazil* (Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo). Remarks. Females have the frons wider (wider than anterior ocellus at mid-height) than males (as wide as anterior ocellus at mid-height). Some Brazilian specimens have the antennae entirely pale or brown, probably due to previous alcohol storage. Leptopezella is known to occur in the Neotropical Region from Bolivia and Southeast and South Brazilian records of L. masneri . Also, we are aware of one female of Leptopezella from Salta, Argentina ( Sinclair & Cumming 2000), housed in the University of Guelph, Canada (B. Sinclair, pers. comm., Feb. 2019) and one female collected about 40 km north of Manaus, North Brazil, both lacking specific identification, but indicating the occurrence of the genus in those localities ( Fig. 4 ).

The genus apparently prefers moist or damp forest undergrowth and it has been collected with sweep nets ( Sinclair & Cumming 2007), but also with flight interception and light traps. When considering the updated records from North, South and Southeast Brazil, the genus has been collected at a broad altitude range, from almost 1,800 m in Bolivia to about 60 m in Manaus ( Brazil), and several landscapes, such as savanna-like vegetation (Vila Velha, Brazil), closed canopy forests like the Amazon rainforest, and in the wet temperate rainforests of Australia ( Sinclair & Cumming 2007).

Most of the genera of Ocydromiinae are well characterized, but the generic relationships remain poorly understood, and brief discussions can be found in Sinclair & Cumming (2000) and Ale-Rocha & Freitas-Silva (2014). However, some questions remain, such as the validity of Hoplopeza Bezzi and Scelolabes Philippi ( Sinclair & Cumming 2000) , and the possible paraphyly of Oropezella Collin with respect to Chvalaea Papp & Földvári ( Ale-Rocha & Freitas-Silva 2014) .

Leptopezella seems to belong to a hypothetical group within Ocydromiinae that includes Chvalaea, Oropezella and Stylocydromia Saigusa , sharing the slender cuneiform wings ( Sinclair & Cumming 2007) with the anal lobe very reduced and vein R 4+5 curved posteriorly. The wing of Abocciputa Plant has also a poorly developed anal lobe, but the wing widens near the apex. Except for the absence of crossvein dm-m, Leptopezella is similar to Chvalaea by the presence of a weak pterostigma and shape of the veins R 1 and M 4. Leptopezella exhibits an intermediate length of cell cua, between the very short condition observed in Chvalaea and the long condition present in Oropezella and Stylocydromia.

In contrast to all these genera, crossveins r-m and bm-m in Leptopezella are positioned very closely, similar to what is found in some Tachydromiinae , while in Abocciputa, Chvalaea and Oropezella bm-m is basal to r-m, both separated by a short segment of M 1+2. However, Leptopezella is not related to Tachydromiinae since the phallus is biarticulated and the ejaculatory and ventral apodemes are absent ( Sinclair & Cumming 2006). All the other genera included in this hypo- thetical Ocydromiinae group also have a long vein Rs, contrary to what is observed in Leptopezella , with a single known exception in Oropezella (i.e., O. bicolor Ale-Rocha & Freitas-Silva, 2014).

Male terminalia of Leptopezella are similar to Chvalaea with a narrow dorsal connection of the epandrial lamellae, lamellae lacking projections, narrow unbranched surstyli, hypandrium with apical margin convex, and phallus with the apical segment very long. Presently no Chvalaea species are known that bear a spine on the hypoproct and the shape of the phallus among the Australian species of Leptopezella is also unique in Ocydromiinae . Given the possible close relationship of Leptopezella with Oropezella and Chvalaea, improved knowledge about diversity and morphology of Leptopezella will help elucidate the validity and relationship of Chvalaea and Oropezella.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Leptopezella masneri Sinclair & Cumming, 2007. Geographic distribution.

FIGURES 1–3. Leptopezella masneri Sinclair & Cumming, 2007. 1. Habitus male (BRAZIL. Paraná, Ponta Grossa); 2. Hind first tarsomere in lateral view, spine-like setae highlighted; 3. Wing.Abbreviations: bm= basal medial cell; br= basal radial cell; r–m= radial medial crossvein; bm–m = basal medial crossvein; cua = anterior cubital cell; CuA+CuP = anterior branch of cubital vein + posterior branch of cubital vein; M1+2 = first branch of media; M4 = fourth branch of media; R1 = anterior branch of radius; R2+3 = second branch of radius; R4+5 = third branch of radius. Scale bars: Figs 1, 3 = 1 mm; Fig 2 = 0.1 mm.