Nephochaetopteryx sofiae, Carvalho-Filho & Esposito & Mello-Patiu, 2021

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 : 65-66

Nephochaetopteryx sofiae sp. nov.

( Fig. 30 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♁ ( MPEG): Brasil-PA / Vitória do Xingu / Margem dir-R. Xingu [= right bank of Xingu River] / 12–14.XII.2000 [printed on rectangular white label] // Ilha [= Island] Taboca / mata de Várzea [= seasonal floodplain forest] / Arm. [= trap] Malaise / C. Maciel & J. Dias [printed on rectangular white label]. [Holotype in good condition, covered with dead fungal hyphae, with right antenna lacking, abdomen and terminalia cleared and preserved in glycerin in a microvial pinned beneath the specimen.]

PARATYPES (7). ♁ ( MPEG) : Brasil Amazonas / Alvarães / 6 a [= to] 10. VI .1994 [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] // I.S. Gorayeb / O. T . Silveira / Armadilha [= trap] Malaise [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition]. ♁ ( MPEG): BRASIL-PARÁ-Viseu / Fazenda [= Farm] Ema; Malaise / 52°21’26.6”S; 01°25’13.5”W / Mata [= forest]; 13 a 24– VI .2000 [printed on rectangular white label] // Viseu-Fazenda Ema [= Ema Farm] / I.S. Gorayeb; T . Pimentel / J.O. Dias; R . N. Bittencourt [printed on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition, covered with dead fungal hyphae, with abdomen and terminalia cleared and preserved in glycerin in a microvial pinned beneath the specimen]. ♁ ( MPEG): São Geraldo do Araguaia / Serra das Andorinhas-Sta. Cruz / S6°12’58.8” W 48°26’1.6” / 1–10.XII.2001 [printed on rectangular white label] // Serra das Andorinhas-Sta. Cruz- 1–10/XII/2001 / Mata de Encosta [= hillside forest], Arm. Suspensa 20m [= suspended trap at a height of 20 meters] / Cols: I.S. Gorayeb, A. Tavares / J.M.F. Ribeiro, L.A.S. Sousa [printed on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition, glued to a card triangle, with terminalia glued to another card triangle pinned beneath the specimen]. ♁ ( MPEG) : Brasil Pará / Paragominas / Faz. [= farm] Cachoeira / do Rio Vermelho / 18 a [= to] 21–I–1991 [printed on rectangular white label] // Brasil Pará / P. Tadeu / Armadilha Malaise [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition, with left fore leg missing]. ♁ ( MPEG) : Brasil Pará / Serra Norte / N1- Mata [= N1-Forest] / 28 a 21–XI–1985 [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] // Armadilha / 1,6m / Suspensa [= suspended trap at a height of 1.6 meters] [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] // Brasil Pará / F.F. Ramos [printed on rectangular white label] // MPEG DIP / 12181656 [printed on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition, lacking abdomen]. ♁ ( MPEG): Brasil AC-Rio Branco / 25–X a [= to] 8–XI-91 / F. Ramos / A. Henriques / I. Gorayeb / N. Bittencourt [printed on rectangular white label] // Armadilha / 1,6m / Suspensa [= suspended trap at a height of 1.6 meters] / Mata Várzea [= seasonal floodplain forest] [printed and handwritten on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition]. ♁ ( MPEG): Bragança-PA , Brasil / Mata do Lob „o / 14–15.VII.2008 / R .C.O. Santos [printed on rectangular white label] // Bragança-PA, Brasil / Armadilha de borboleta / com banana [= butterfly trap baited with banana] [printed on rectangular white label] [paratype in good condition.]

Description. Male. Length = 5.1–5.3 mm (n = 8).

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

Thorax. Chaetotaxy: dorsocentrals 2+4 (first two weak); intra-alars 3+2; supra-alars 1+3, notopleurals 1 subprimary; anepisternals 5; merals 5. Ctenidium consisting of three spines. Mid femur with three median setae and with a differentiated posteroventral seta. Wing hyaline; with dark 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 grayish microtomentum on anterior 4/5 of dorsal and lateral surfaces. Sternites 2 and 3 yellow with a median brown strip on posterior margin and sternite 4 brown, with yellowish setulae and with marginal setae.

Terminalia. Sternite 5 brown; cleft deep, nearly reaching middle of sternite; lobe rounded, with a tuft of short setulae and with two prominent thick setae basally; arm very narrow and small, with rounded apex ( Fig. 30E ). Cercus shorter than epandrium, almost straight, with a small apical protuberance on dorsal margin in lateral view ( Fig. 30A ). Cercal prongs parallel with a preapical tuft of long setulae on inner lateral margins in dorsal view ( Fig. 30B ). Surstylus almost triangular, covered with setulae, except on anterior margin and with long and fine setae apically ( Fig. 30A ). Pregonite wide and short (shorter than postgonite), with rounded apex and distal half perpendicular to base; posterior margin with short and pointed setae ( Fig. 30C ). Postgonite almost straight, with narrow and pointed apex curved anteriorly; posterior margin with a long seta (longer than postgonite) and small pointed setae ( Fig. 30D ). Basiphallus short, about half as long as distiphallus, with proximal region narrowed and curved dorsally. Distiphallus elongate, with dorsal margin sinuous and apical margin rounded with a small concavity close to ventral margin ( Fig. 30F ). Ventral margin of distiphallus with region just above basal portion of vesica twisted, bearing a pointed projection with serrated apex ( Fig. 30F ). Vesica dome-shaped ( Fig. 30F ). Lateral and median styli small, about one-third width of the widest portion of lateral wall of distiphallus, and both inserted close to apical surface of distiphallus ( Fig. 30F ).

Etymology. This species is named in honor of our friend and young dipterist Sofia Lins Leal Xavier de Camargo.

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL—Brasil (Acre, Amazonas, Pará).

Remarks. This species is similar to N. travassosi and N. distincta in having vein R 2+3 with setulae ventrally and a dome-shaped vesica. The lack of a small apical point on the surstylus and the presence a small concavity near the ventral margin of the distiphallus differentiate this species from N. travassosi and N. distincta , in which the apical surface of the distiphallus is entirely convex. In addition, the shapes of the ventral margin of the distiphallus of these three species are remarkably distinct. In N. distincta the ventral margin shows a glossiform plate-like projection strongly curved towards basal portion of the distiphallus, whereas in N. travassosi the glossiform plate-like projection is directed anteriorly. In N. sofiae sp. nov. the projection is twisted and not glossiform.

Figures

FIGURE 30. Nephochaetopteryx sofiae sp. nov., male terminalia. Paratype from Viseu, Pará, Brazil (MPEG). A. Epandrium, surstylus and cercus, left lateral view. B. Cerci, dorsal view (setation omitted on the left side). C. Pregonite, left lateral view. D. Postgonite, left lateral view. E. Sternite 5, ventral view (setation omitted on the right side). F. Distiphallus, left lateral view; black arrow showing preapical concavity close to ventral margin and red arrow showing twisted projection. Abbreviations: 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.