Parabezzia carlae Huerta, Spinelli and Grogan, 2021

Heron Huerta Gustavo R. Spinelli William L. Grogan, Jr., 2021, A new Neotropical predaceous midge in the genus Parabezzia Malloch from Guerrero, Mexico, and a second Mexican record of P. alexanderi Wirth (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae: Ceratopogoninae: Ceratopogonini), Insecta Mundi 2021 (895), pp. 1-9 : 3-5

Parabezzia carlae Huerta, Spinelli and Grogan , new species

Fig. 1–2

Diagnosis. Male with the following combination of characters: antenna with only 12 flagellomeres; palpal segments 1−3 pale, segment 4 (fused 4+5) brownish; scutellum yellowish; femora and tibiae mostly pale with femoral-tibial joints and narrow apices of tibiae dark brown; tarsomeres 1–4 pale, tarsomeres 5 dark brown; parameres with well-developed basal apodemes that are mesally fused, but the mesal process is absent; aedeagus triangular, basal and lateral arms heavily sclerotized, basal arch straight, low, distal portion slender, apical portion lightly sclerotized, tip rounded. Female unknown.

Description. Male holotype: Head: ( Fig. 1A ). Dark brown, slightly wider than long; maximum width 0.31 mm. Eyes separated by the diameter of 4.2 ommatidia. Antenna ( Fig. 1B–C ) with 12 flagellomeres, bases of flagellomeres 1−9 pale, distal portions brown; 10–12 entirely dark brown; flagellomeres 1−9 vasiform, 10−12 greatly elongate; plume moderately dense; antennal ratio 1.4. Palpal segments 1−3 pale, segment 4 (fused 4+5) brownish; segment 3 moderately long, cylindrical, with one capitate sensillum on apicomesal surface; segment 4 moderately elongate, nearly as long as segment 3; palpal ratio 4.5. Clypeus with 12 setae. Thorax: ( Fig. 1D ). Dark brown; scutellum pale, with 2 marginal, 2 mesal setae. Pleura dark brown; anepisternum well developed, not bilobed posteriorly. Legs: ( Fig. 1D–G ) Mostly pale; coxae, trochanters dark brown; fore femur ( Fig. 1E ) brownish, mid, hind femora ( Fig. 1F–G ) with subapical brownish band; femoral–tibial joints darkish brown; tibiae pale, narrow apices dark brown, fore tibia ( Fig. 1E ) with narrow mesal brownish band; tarsi pale except narrow base of tarsomere 1 of foreleg and tarsomeres 5 dark brown; fore, mid coxae with spine-like setae, absent on hind coxa; tarsomere 1 of hind leg with row of ventral palisade setae; hind tibial comb with 7 spines; hind tarsal ratio 2.0; claws short, stout, equal–sized, slightly curved with small basal setae, tips bifid. Wing: ( Fig. 2A–B ) Membrane hyaline, covered with fine microtrichia; anterior veins pale brown; one elongate radial cell; one large seta on costa proximal of basal arculus; costal fringe moderately long, setae arising from wing margin, uniformly distributed along costal section I, more widely spaced on costal section II; wing length 0.97 mm, breadth 0.30 mm; costal ratio 0.60. Halter pale. Abdomen: Dark brown, sternites 1–4 pale. Genitalia ( Fig. 2C–E ). Dark brown. Tergite 9 extending to apices of gonocoxites, posterior margin with deep U–shaped excavation. Sternite 9 2.2 times broader than long, lateral margins slightly pointed, with small tuft of short, fine setae; anterior margin nearly straight, posterior margin slightly concave; sternite 10 setose, produced slightly beyond posterior margin of tergite 9; cerci short. Gonocoxite stout, 1.2 times longer than broad, covered with fine setae and sparse scattered large setae on mesal surface. Gonostylus darker, slightly longer than gonocoxite, covered with fine setae; broadest basally, abruptly tapered, slightly curved mesally, apex slender with sharply pointed tip. Parameres ( Fig. 2D ) with fused, well developed heavily sclerotized basal apodemes that are mesally directed; mesal process absent. Aedeagus triangular, about twice as long as basal width, extending beyond level of apex of gonocoxites; basal, lateral arms heavily sclerotized; basal arch straight, very low, extending 0.10 of total aedeagus length; distal portion slender, tapering gradually distally to slender apex, surface smooth; apical section lightly sclerotized, with hyaline rounded tip.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Mexico, Guerrero ( Fig. 4 ).

Type material. HOLOTYPE male, PARATYPE male, MEXICO, GUERRERO, Ayutla de los Libres, Locality La Unión, Rancho Camalote, 7-Apr to 16-May-2009, Malaise trap, col. Bibiano-Marin W (deposited in CAIM).

Etymology. The specific name is named for our Argentine colleague, Carla G. Cazorla, in recognition of her important taxonomic contributions on Neotropical Ceratopogonidae .

Remarks. Because this new species is described from males, it is not assigned to any of the four recognized species groups of Parabezzia . Nevertheless, it is readily distinguished from all other New World species by its antenna that has only 12 flagellomeres, the very pale femora and tibiae with pale femoral-tibial joints and narrow apices of tibiae darkish brown, and, parameres with well-developed mesally oriented basal apodemes which lack a mesal process. We initially thought that elongate flagellomere 10 might possibly be fused flagellomeres 10−11, but it appears to be a normal flagellomere 10 in that it has sparse long setae that are distributed as in males of other species.

In the key to females and males of Nearctic Parabezzia by Grogan and Wirth (1977), P. carlae keys out to couplet 23, P. inermis (Coquillett) , from which it can be distinguished by its broader aedeagus, the distal portion of which lacks lateral expansions, in addition to the others characters included above. Of the Neotropical species reviewed by Spinelli and Grogan (1987), P. pallida Spinelli and Grogan from Oaxaca, Mexico, also has pale legs but they are entirely yellowish including their femoral–tibial joints, the apices of tibiae and some femora and tibiae, which lack brownish bands and the abdomen is also yellowish.

Figures

Figure 1. Parabezzia carlae, new species. Male. A) Head frontal view. B) Antenna lateral view. C) Distal flagellomeres lateral view. D) Thorax lateral view. E) Fore leg. F) Mid leg. G) Hind leg. Scales: A–C, E–G = 0.1 mm, D= 0.5 mm. Abbreviations: cx= coxa; fe= femur; ti= tibia, tr= trochanter, tv= fifth tarsomere; VI–XII= flagellomeres 6–12.

Figure 2. Parabezzia carlae, new species. Male. A) Wing. B) Anterior wing veins. C−D) male genitalia ventral view.E) Tergite 9 dorsal view. Scales: A–C, E = 0.1 mm, D= 0.04 mm. Abbreviations: Ae= aedeagus; ar ae= lateral arm of aedeagus; Gx= gonocoxite; Gs= gonostyle; pa= basal apodemes of parameres; st9= sternite 9; st10= sternite 10, T9= tergite 9.

Figure 4. Locality records of Parabezzia alexanderi Wirth (black circles) in state of Veracruz and P. carlae, new species, (red triangle) in state of Guerrero.