Genus Phytobia Lioy, 1864

Phytobia Lioy, 1864: 1313 .

TYPE SPECIES. — Agromyza errans Meigen, 1830 .

REMARKS

Phytobia species are generally dark coloured in the Nearctic and Palaearctic region, but many species have contrasting yellow coloration in the Neotropical region. Most Phytobia have 3 +1 well-developed dc, a wing with vein R 4+5 ending closer to the wing tip than M 1+2 or both veins equidistant from wing tip. The frons is usually dark, sometimes paler (reddish), and the lunule is often silvery. The male genitalia usually have a broadly rounded hypandrium, and the surstyli are usually broad, lobate. A few species do not share this combination of characters and were included in a separate group, the Phytobia unica group (Boucher 2010), discussed below. Five specimens of Phytobia were collected in Mitaraka, each representing a separate species. Among them, Phytobia Mit-2 and Phytobia Mit-3 are known from female specimens only (Boucher & Pollet 2021), and their identities could not be confirmed. The other species, Phytobia Mit-1, Phytobia Mit-4 and Phytobia Mit-5 (Boucher & Pollet 2021) represent new species and are described below. Two of these new species ( P. dalensi Boucher, n. sp. and P. corona Boucher, n. sp.) are part of the Phytobia unica group, along with four other previously known Neotropical species: P. unica Spencer, 1973, P. mentula Sasakawa, 1992, P. pipinna Sasakawa, 1992 and P. guatemalensis Sasakawa, 2005 . This species group is characterized by the presence of only two well-developed postsutural dc, in addition to a very small third one in some species, a phallus ending in paired tubules, a well-defined cylindrical mesophallus, a narrow and elongate hypandrium, a C-shaped surstylus covered with short spines, and narrowly connected to the posteroventral margin of the epandrium. Also, the wing venation of the P. unica group is very similar to that of the subfamily Agromyzinae Fallén, 1823, with the subcostal vein joining R 1 before reaching the costa (also occurs in other Phytobia) and the distal margin of R 1 that is expanded near the junction.