Palpomyia subaspera (Coquillett)

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 : 555-556

Palpomyia subaspera (Coquillett)

( Figs. 1B , 3 A−C, 4B, 6B, 7)

Ceratopogon subasper Coquillett, 1901: 606 (female; USA).

Palpomyia subasper: Malloch, 1914: 22 (combination); Johannsen 1943: 784 (in list of USA species); Johannsen 1952: 166 (in key); Snow et al. 1957: 34 (habitat notes); Wirth 1965: 140 (distribution).

Palpomyia subaspera: Grogan & Wirth 1975: 10 (lectotype designation; redescription); Grogan & Wirth 1979: 23 (description, adult, pupa; distribution; P. essigi as synonym); Spinelli & Wirth 1993: 68 ( P. maculicrus as synonym); Borkent & Wirth 1997: 134 (in World catalog); Spinelli 1998: 326 (in list of Argentina species); Borkent & Spinelli 2000: 64 (in New World catalog south of USA); Borkent & Spinelli 2007: 96 (in Neotropical catalog); Spinelli et al. 2009: 46 (diagnosis, description, biology, distribution; Paraguay, Argentina, Chile); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 212 (in World catalog).

Palpomyia essigi Wirth, 1952: 225 (female, male; California); Wirth 1965: 140 (distribution).

Palpomyia maculicrus Ingram & Macfie, 1931: 230 (female; Argentina); Wirth 1974: 55 (in New World catalog south of USA).

Diagnosis. The only species of the tibialis group with the following combination of characters: Females with spinose femora, legs yellow with the distal 1/3 of hind femur and apex of hind tibia dark brown; wing with distal portion of costa and radius curved, elongate (costal ratio 0.89–0.91). Males with elongate genitalia that are tilted dorsally 45°, parameres divided with recurved tips bearing minute spicules ( Fig. 6B ).

Remarks. This species is widely distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions. According to Grogan & Wirth (1979) and Spinelli et al. (2009), males fore femur with 2-4 spines and the gonocoxite lacks a mesoventral lobe. However, in the specimens from Veracruz, we observed that the fore femur lacks ventral spines and the gonocoxite has a small distal mesoventral lobe ( Fig. 6B ).

Material examined. Mexico, Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas, Medellin , 7− apr− 2010, CDC trap, acahual, col. Hernán- dez, P., male, CAIM ; Tabasco, Villahermosa, Zoológico central, 23− dec −2008 to 8 − jan−2009, Malaise trap, col. Villanueva, A., female, CAIM. New records for Veracruz and Tabasco.

Distribution. North America (Alberta to Ontario, south to California, Florida), Mexico (Chihuahua, Veracruz, Tabasco), Haiti, Cuba, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Heads, frontal view. A. Palpomyia aspina, female; B. P. subaspera, male; C. P. auakua sp. nov., female. Scale bars= 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Legs, lateral view.A−C. Palpomyia subaspera, male; D−F. P. auakua sp. nov., female. A, D= fore legs; B, E= mid legs; C, F= hind legs. Scale bars= 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Female abdomens (A, C−D) and male genitalia (B). A. Palpomyia aspina, dorsal view; B. P. subaspera, male genitalia, ventral view; C−D. P. auakua sp. nov., ventral view. Scale bars: A, C= 0.5 mm; B, D= 0.1 mm.