Dexosarcophaga petra, Santos & Pape & Mello-Patiu, 2022

Santos, Josenilson Rodrigues dos, Pape, Thomas & Mello-Patiu, Cátia Antunes de, 2022, Eight new species of Dexosarcophaga Townsend, 1917 (Diptera, Sarcophagidae) from the Neotropical Region, European Journal of Taxonomy 828, pp. 109-137 : 123-125

Dexosarcophaga petra sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8111ED83-4557-480F-999C-B35B14922B24

Figs 7 , 8A

Diagnosis

Vein R 1 bare. Male: scutellum with a pair of reduced apical setae; vesica rounded with an apical projection in lateral view and rectangular with two projections in inferior part and two thorny projections in superior part in ventral view ( Fig. 7D–E ); juxta with spines at base ( Fig. 7D–E ). [Female unknown.]

Etymology

The species epithet ‘ petra ’ should be treated as a noun in apposition. The name is a Latin noun ‘ petra ’, meaning ‘stone’ (= ‘pedra’ in Portuguese) and refers to the type locality of the new species (Trilha Cidade de Pedra).

Material examined

Holotype BRAZIL • 1 ♂; Mato Grosso, Parque Nacional Chapada dos Guimarães , cerrado , Trilha Cidade de Pedra , mirante ; 15°24′21.8″ S, 055°50′07.5″ W; 9 Mar.–18 Apr. 2012; Lamas, Nihei and team leg.; Malaise trap; MNRJ [lost].

Paratypes BRAZIL • 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; 18 Apr.–2 Jul. 2012; MZUSP [lost] • 1 ♂; Rio de Janeiro, Angra dos Reis, Japuhyba [date not given]; J. Lane and H.S. Lopes leg.; MNRJ [lost] .

Description

Male (n=3)

Length: 7–11 mm. Differs from D. phoenix sp. nov. as follows:

Frons about 0.18 × head width at level of ocellar triangle; 9–12 well-developed frontal setae reaching level of apex of pedicel; gena and genal groove with slightly yellowish-silver pollinosity; intra-alars 2+ 2; meral setae 7–9; scutellum with pair of reduced apical setae; T4 with 1–2 pairs of lateral marginal setae; row of about 10 marginal setae on T5; arms of ST5 about half of basal length and inner margin with distinctly projected lobes ( Fig. 7A ); cercus with apical half curved anteriorly ( Fig. 7B ); cercal prong rounded ( Fig. 7B–C ); surstylus narrow, with long setae in apical half ( Fig. 7B ); vesica with membranous and sclerotized areas, rounded in lateral view with apical projection, rectangular in ventral view with two projections in proximal part and two thorny projections in distal part ( Fig. 7D–E ); juxta membranous and with spines proximally ( Fig. 7D–E ); median stylus narrow, with apical spines, shorter than lateral stylus and with base expanded towards ventral and dorsal margins of paraphallus ( Fig. 7D– E ); lateral stylus narrow, base twisted towards ventral margin of paraphallus and with apical spines ( Fig. 7D–E ).

Female

Unknown.

Distribution

Brazil (Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro).

Remarks

Dexosarcophaga petra sp. nov. is morphologically similar to D. limon sp. nov. (see remarks under that species). There are also similarities with D. malaisei Dodge, 1968 and D. salgada De-Souza, Souza, Soares & Carvalho-Filho, 2020 ( De-Souza et al. 2021). Males of these species have cercus curved and vesica mostly rounded. Lopes (1975c) reviewed the morphology of D. malaisei and commented that the terminalia of the holotype were lost apart from syntergosternite 7+8 (= “first genital segment”). However, since the species does not have paratypes and the illustrations of the phallus provided by Dodge (1968: figs 17–18) are sketchy and insufficient for recognizing D. malaisei , we cannot make a detailed morphological comparison between these three nominal species. Consequently, either D. petra or D. salgada could be a junior synonym of D. malaisei , but we will here rely particularly on the shape of the male pregonite and cercus as illustrated by Dodge (1968: fig. 17). The evenly curved or C-shaped pregonite and the cercus that is straight over most of its length and curved in the distal fourth appear sufficiently different from both D. petra (pregonite with middle part straight; cercus bent rather than curved) and from D. salgada (pregonite with only distal part curved; cercus evenly curved) to reject conspecificity. Therefore, we consider D. petra and D. salgada as valid nominal species until future studies produce material from the type locality of D. malaisei (i.e., Barro Colorado, Panama), allowing a better resolution of this question. Dexosarcophaga petra and D. salgada can be separated by the following differences in the shape of the vesica in particular: broadest proximally (lateral view), with broad median fissure, without median knob-like projections and with an apical projection in lateral view ( Fig. 7D ) in D. petra , versus broadest distally, with narrow median fissure, a pair of median knoblike projections and without an apical projection in lateral view in D. salgada ( De-Souza et al. 2021: fig. 3g –i).

Figures

Fig. 7. Dexosarcophaga petra sp. nov., ♂, paratype (MNRJ [lost]), Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Angra dos Reis. A. Sternite 5, ventral view. B. Syntergosternite 7+ 8, epandrium, cercus and surstylus, lateral view. C. Cerci, posterior view. D. Phallus and associated structures, lateral view. E. Distiphallus, ventral view. Abbreviations: see Material and methods. Scale bars =0.1 mm.

Fig. 8. Dexosarcophaga spp., ♂ and ♀, habitus and terminalia. A. Dexosarcophaga petra sp. nov., ♂, paratype (MNRJ [lost]), Brazil, Mato Grosso, Chapada dos Guimarães, terminalia, lateral view. B–D. Dexosarcophaga sphaera sp. nov., paratypes (MNRJ [lost]), Brazil, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Fazenda Vargem Bonita. B. ♂, habitus, lateral view. C. ♂, terminalia, lateral view. D. ♀, terminalia, ventral view. E–F. Dexosarcophaga napo sp. nov., ♂, paratype (NHRS [lost]), Ecuador, Napo Prov. E. Habitus, lateral view. F. Terminalia, lateral view. Scale bars =1.0 mm.