Dixella aliciae (Johannsen)

Huerta, Herón & Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio, 2023, Description of a new species of Dixella from a cloud forest in Tlanchinol, Hidalgo and first record of Dixella aliciae (Johannsen) in Mexico (Diptera: Dixidae), Zootaxa 5353 (2), pp. 153-162 : 154-156

Dixella aliciae (Johannsen)

( Figs. 1–2 )

Dixa aliciae Johannsen, 1924: 45 (male, female; distribution). Smith, 1928: 277 (larval characters; key; figures); Edwards, 1932: 13 (check list; subgenus Paradixa ; distribution); Cooper & Rapp, 1944: 248 (check list; distribution); Usinger et al. 1948: 232 (check list); Nowell, 1951: 231 (subgenus Paradixa ; synoptic Dixidae catalogue).

Dixella aliciae: Hubert, 1965: 102 (catalog; distribution); Peters & Cook, 1966: 254 (diagnosis, male, female; key; figures; distribution); Greenwalt & Moulton, 2016: 26 (data matrix wing).

Diagnosis. Wing membrane clear; crossvein m–cu complete; scutum with brown to black medial and lateral vittae; claws with 3–5 moderately long ventral teeth; female with posterolateral lobes of sternum 9 long, nearly as long as cerci; male genitalia with apical lobe of gonocoxite slightly longer than gonostylus, and slightly curved and spatulate subapically.

Specimens examined. MEXICO, Morelos state, Huitzilac, Parque Nacional Lagunas de Zempoala , 1˗sept˗1991, cultivo, leg. Ibáñez ˗ Bernal, S. D 026-C, 2 males, 6 females (pinned) ( CAIM). New record from Mexico.

Distribution. USA (California, Colorado, Arizona), Mexico (Morelos) ( Fig. 1 , red circle).

Remarks. The first record of the larval habitat corresponds to the surface of a pool ( Johannsen 1924). The specimens studied herein, larvae and reared adults, originate from lagoons formed in the lower parts of valleys, at an altitude of about 3000 meters, within a mountainous area of Morelos state.

This species most resembles Dixella neoaliciae (Garrett, 1924) and Dixella aurora Peters, 1966 , principally by the similar shape of the apical lobe of gonocoxite and female with posterolateral lobes of sternum 9 ( Dixella neoaliciae only, as the female of D. aurora is unknown) ( Peters & Cook 1966). In spite of these similarities, D. neoaliciae and D. aurora are not closely related, as D. aliciae is more aligned with D. lirio and other Neotropical Dixella species (Moulton, pers. com).

Dixella aliciae can be distinguished principally by the male genitalia ( Fig. 2A, B ), with the apical lobe of gonocoxite slightly longer than the gonostylus (in lateral view), slightly curved and spatulate subapically, and the female by the long posterolateral lobes of sternum 9; in Dixella neoaliciae these lobes are very short.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution in Mexico of Dixella aliciae (red circle) and Dixella machiotla sp. nov. (black square).

FIGURE 2. Male genitalia of Dixella aliciae. A. Ventral view, B. Lateral view. Scale= 0.1 mm. Abbreviations. a lob= anterior lobe of gonocoxite; goncx= gonocoxite; gonst= gonostylus.