Palpomyia auakua, Huerta & Spinelli, 2021

Huerta, Herón & Spinelli, Gustavo R., 2021, New records of the predaceous midge genus Palpomyia from Mexico, with a new species in the Palpomyia distincta group (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 5020 (3), pp. 550-560 : 556-559

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5020.3.6
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9F596198-94EE-44A4-B5B8-865478FC48E9
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/D0349651-F039-FFDE-FF3B-C69E664AFD94
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Palpomyia auakua
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Palpomyia auakua View in CoL sp. nov.

( Figs. 1C View FIGURE 1 , 2B View FIGURE 2 , 3 View FIGURE 3 D−F, 4C, 5A−D, 6C−D, 7)

Type material. HOLOTYPE. Female. Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlanchinol, 4 km carretera Tlanchinol-Apantlazol , bosque mesofilo de montaña, 8− apr −1997, Malaise trap, 1470 m, GPS [20° 59’ 16” N, 98° 39’ 36” W], cols. Salceda-Sán- chez, B., Blackaller, J. & Pérez– García, A., female, CAIM GoogleMaps . Paratype female: with same data as holotype.

Diagnosis. Female. The only Neotropical species of the distincta group with the following combination of characters: thorax dark brown, with a small paler humeral area near lateral margin; scutum with anterior tubercle; legs pale yellow; mid, hind coxae, femorotibial joints, and apex of hind femur dark brown; fore femur greatly swollen with 21–25 ventral spines, mid and hind femora without spines; tarsal claws small, subequal-size on all legs; abdomen paler; basal ½ of posterior portion of sternite 8 fused with distal section. Male unknown.

Female. Head ( Fig. 1C View FIGURE 1 ). Dark brown, clypeus yellowish. Eyes separated by diameter of two ommatidia.Antennal flagellum ( Fig. 5A View FIGURE 5 ) with flagellomeres 9−13 and distal 1/3 of 1−12 dark brown, basal 2/3 pale yellow; flagel- lomeres 2–8 vasiform, 9–13 approximately 3x longer than 8; 13 longer than 12 with narrow, conical tip; antennal ratio (AR) 2.04−2.12 (2.08, n=2). Palpus ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE 5 ) brown; segment 3 slender, elongate with 4–5 capitate sensillae; palpal ratio (PR) 4.0 (n=2). Mandible with 7 large teeth. Thorax ( Fig. 2B View FIGURE 2 ). Dark brown, except a small pale humeral area near lateral margin. Scutum with anterior tubercle; sparsely covered with short setae, 3 supra-alar setae, one posterior seta near scutellum; scutellum with 4 large setae. Legs ( Figs. 3 View FIGURE 3 D−F, 5C−D) pale yellow; mid, -hind coxae, femorotibial joints, apex of hind femur and tarsomeres 4–5 dark brown; fore femur greatly swollen with 21–25 ventral spines ( Fig. 5C View FIGURE 5 ), mid, -hind femora without spines; tarsomeres 1–2 of hind leg with 2 rows of ventral palisade setae; tarsomere 5 of hind leg ( Fig. 5D View FIGURE 5 ) with 2−3 slender, straight, ventrolateral setae with pointed tips; claws sub- equal-size ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 D−F), hind claws longest. Wing ( Fig. 4C View FIGURE 4 ) membrane pale; all veins pale brown; M broadly sessile, distance between r-m crossvein and base of M 2 slightly shorter than r-m; 2nd radial cell 2.7x longer than 1 st; wing length 2.50−2.60 mm (2.55 mm; n=2), width 0.74−0.82 (0.78 mm; n=2); costal ratio (CR) 0.79 (n=2). Halter white. Abdomen. ( Figs. 6 View FIGURE 6 C−D) pale yellow. Sternite 8 anterior portion lightly sclerotized, with 1−2 lateral setae and ca.14 large, mesal setae, its margin hyaline, posterior margin convex; posterior portion slightly sclerotized, fused on basal 1/2, distal ½ divided, each plate elongate, gradually tapering posteriorly with pointed sclerotized tips; and 2 lateral, setose lobes that extend ¾ of plates length. Sternite 9 lightly sclerotized with a pair of slender anteriorly directed arms. Sternite 10 V-shaped with 3–5 pairs of large setae. Two globular, subequal-size spermathecae ( Fig. 6D View FIGURE 6 ) with narrow, short necks, measuring 0.070 by 0.050 mm, and 0.065 by 0.04 mm; plus, a rudimentary 3rd spermatheca.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico, Hidalgo (Tlanchinol) ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ).

Etymology. The specific name is an abbreviation of the word “ auakuautlan ” = forest cloud, in Nahualt lan- guage.

Discussion. This new species is typical of other spp. in the distincta group by their pale yellowish legs and greatly swollen fore femur with 21–25 black, ventral spines. Palpomyia yamana Spinelli et al. 2009 from Tierra del Fuego, has similar legs but the abdomen has 4 pairs of gland rods, hind tarsomere 5 has 4-5 pairs of stouter ventral setae with recurved tips and the hind claws are distinctly longer than those of fore and -midlegs.

It is also similar to other two Neotropical species from Brazil, P. paulistensis Lane, 1947 and P. castanea Macfie, 1939 which have similar leg coloration. However, in both of these species the halter knob is dark brown. Also, in P. paulistensis the scutum, scutellum and postscutellum are shining black, the apex of the fore femur is dark brown and abdominal sternite 4 has a distinct dark spot. And in P. castanea the scutum is dark brown with extensive pale yellowish-brown areas, the scutellum is also yellowish-brown, the fore femur has only 8-9 stout black spines, and the abdomen is shining dark brown and has four pairs of gland rods.

In the key by Grogan & Wirth (1979) of Nearctic species of Palpomyia , P. auakua sp. nov. keys to couplet 19, P. jamnbacki Grogan & Wirth, 1979 . However, in the latter species the palpus, scutellum and abdomen are yellowish, the flagellomeres 9–13 are shorter (antennal ratio 1.57), the fore femur is moderately swollen with only 15-17 ventral spines, the hind femur has 3 ventral spines, the abdomen has one pair of gland rods and the posterior sections of sternite 8 are completely separated.