Nephochaetopteryx paraensis Dodge

Carvalho-Filho, Fernando Da Silva, Esposito, Maria Cristina & Mello-Patiu, Cátia Antunes De, 2021, Revision of Nephochaetopteryx Townsend, 1934 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), Zootaxa 4928 (1), pp. 1-83 : 57-59

Nephochaetopteryx paraensis Dodge

( Fig. 26 )

Nephochaetopteryx paraensis Dodge, 1968a: 279 (key), 285 (description of male). Type locality: Brazil, Pará, Rio Alcobaca [= Alcobaça] (= Tucuruí). Other references: Pape (1996: 261; catalog).

Material examined. Brazil. Acre: Cruzeiro do Sul, Rio Moa [=Moa River], 07°37’02”S 72°46’15”W, 19–28.XI.1996, suspended trap above water surface, leg. J.A. Rafael, J. Vidal & R . L. Menezes (1 ♁, INPA) . Mato Grosso: Cáceres, Polonoroeste , 21.XI.1984, leg. C. Elias (1 ♁, DZUP) . Pará: Bragança, Mata do Lob „o, 14–15.VIII.2008, butterfly trap baited with banana, leg. R .C.O. Santos (7 ♁♁, MPEG). Roraima: Ilha de Maracá [= Maracá Island], Rio Uraricoera [= Uraricoera River] (1 ♁, DZUP) .

Redescripton. Male. Length = 4.0– 4.3 mm (n = 10).

Head. Fronto-orbital and parafacial plates with golden microtomentum, postocular strip with silvery microtomentum. Frontal vitta black. Six frontal setae. Gena and postgena with silvery microtomentum. Palpus brown.

Thorax. Chaetotaxy: dorsocentrals 2+4 (first two weak); intra-alars 2+3; supra-alars 2+3; anepisternals 5; merals 5. Mid femur with three median setae and without a differentiated posteroventral seta. Ctenidium consisting of four spines. Wing hyaline, with dark brown spot beginning in the terminal portion of vein R 1, filling the distal third of cell r 1 and the upper half of the distal half of cell r 2+3; vein R 4+5 setulose dorsally to crossvein r-m.

Abdomen. Tergites brown with a band of golden microtomentum on anterior 4/5 of dorsal and lateral surfaces. Sternites 1 to 3 orange and 4 and 5 brown, covered with yellowish setulae and with marginal setae.

Terminalia. Sternite 5 brown, with a shallow cleft, not passing the base of lobe; lobe pointed, without setulae; posterior arm clubbed, projected posteriorly ( Fig. 26E ). Cercus elongate, sinuous and tapering distally in lateral view ( Fig. 26A ). Cercal prongs parallel, with divergent tips ( Fig. 26B ). Cercus with apical margin and inner lateral margin without setulae, with thick and long setae on cercal base ( Figs 26 A–B). Surstylus conical, with pointed apex strongly curved posteriorly, without setulae and with some small setae sparsely distributed ( Fig. 26A ). Pregonite conical, curved anteriorly, with a conspicuous elongate clubbed projection basally ( Fig. 26C ). Postgonite conical, about the same length of pregonite, with a long seta and with some small pointed setae on anterior margin ( Fig. 26D ). Basiphallus longer than wide, with narrowed basal half strongly curved dorsally ( Fig. 26F ). Distiphallus club-shaped, ventral margin sinuous with a small finger-like projection ( Fig. 26F ). Vesica strongly angled, with a triangular projection in proximal half ( Fig. 26F ). Inner process of vesica longer than wide in lateral view ( Fig. 26F ). Lateral and median styli short, of about one-fourth of width of widest portion of lateral wall of distiphallus, and both inserted medially in distiphallus ( Fig. 26F ). Median stylus with a projection basally ( Fig. 26F ).

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL—Brazil (Acre, Mato Grosso, Pará, Roraima).

Remarks. This species is similar to N. lopesi , N. tinguensis and N. similis sp. nov. in having ventral margin of distiphallus with a small finger-like projection and vesica strongly angled. However, N. paraensis differs from other Nephochaetopteryx species in having postgonite with a conspicuous clubbed projection and lobe of sternite 5 pointed.

The holotype of N. paraensis , deposited in USNM, was not examined. However, the highly characteristic shape of the male sternite 5 and postgonite allowed us to reliably identify additional specimens from the type locality and from other localities in the Brazilian Amazon.

This species is widely distributed in the Brazilian Amazon, and it is here newly recorded from the states of Acre, Mato Grosso and Roraima.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Nephochaetopteryx paraensis Dodge, 1968, male terminalia. Specimen from Bragança, Pará, Brazil (MPEG). A. Epandrium, surstylus and cercus, left lateral view. B. Cerci, dorsal view (setation omitted on the right side). C. Pregonite, left lateral view. D. Postgonite, left lateral view. E. Sternite 5, ventral view (setation omitted on the left side). F. Phallus, left lateral view; arrow showing finger-like projection of ventral margin of distiphallus.Abbreviations: bp = basiphallus; dp = distiphallus; ip = inner process of vesica; ls = lateral stylus; ms = median stylus; ve = vesica. Scale bars: A, B, E = 0.1 mm; C, D, F = 0.05 mm.