Melanagromyza minima ( Malloch, 1913 )

Monteiro, Nilton Juvencio Santiago, Barbosa, Rodrigo Rendeiro & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2019, Agromyzidae (Diptera: Schizophora) in the state of Pará: new species and new records in Brazil, Zootaxa 4624 (2), pp. 151-182 : 157

Melanagromyza minima ( Malloch, 1913)

Agromyza minima Malloch, 1913: 328 .

Melanagromyza minima, Shewell, 1953 ; Frick, 1957: 200; 1959: 364; Spencer, 1963: 317; 1981: 50; Spencer & Stegmaier, 1973: 1973; Spencer et al., 1992: 258.

Melanagromyza longicaudalis, Spencer, 1963: 316 . Syn. Spencer, 1966: 12.

Diagnosis. Wing length 1.9–2 mm. Mesonotum black, faintly greenish or bluish; abdomen greenish; females with ovipositor distinctively elongated; calypter greyish, fringe black. Aedeagus (Fig. 84 in Spencer & Stegmaier 1973): basiphallus U-shaped, slightly sclerotized; distiphallus globose, with short process distally and with a long gap between basiphallus and distiphallus; hypandrium with apodeme.

Host-plants. Asteraceae— Wedelia fruticosa Jacq. , Wedelia trilobata (L.) Pruski, Wedelia paludosa DC., Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Bidens gardneri Baker , Viguiera arenaria Baker , Viguiera robusta Gardn.

Distribution. Antigua, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint-Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Venezuela.

Material examined. Brazil, Pará state, Paragominas: Hydro Paragominas—Mina de Bauxita , 3º14′58.4″S, 47º44′13.6″W, 29-XI-2017, N. Monteiro [collector] (2 ♂) .

Comments. Melanagromyza minima is related to Melanagromyza bidens Spencer and Melanagromyza minimoides Spencer , and it is differentiated especially by the elongated ovipositor in the female (Fig. 83 in Spencer & Stegmaier 1973), and by the shape of male genitalia. Larvae of this species are associated with Asteraceae species, mostly to plants of the genera Wedelia Jacq. and Eupatorium L.