Psychoda buxoides Quate

Cordeiro, Danilo, Bravo, Freddy & De, Claudio J. B., 2011, Taxonomy of Brazilian Psychoda Latreille, 1796 (Diptera, Psychodidae) with the description of thirteen new species, Zootaxa 3101, pp. 1-37 : 8

Psychoda buxoides Quate

( Figs. 1–8 )

Psychoda buxoides Quate, 1996: 71 . Type locality: Costa Rica (Guanacaste, La Pacifica).

Diagnosis. antenna with 14 flagellomeres, flagellomeres 12–14 subequal and separated; palpal formula 1.0:1.3:1.4:1.7; hair patch of frons not extending beyond median line of eye bridge; frontoclypeal suture present; female subgenital plate with subrectangular apical concavity, and internally with an apical circle of small setae and bilobed ornamentation.

Female. Head ( Fig. 1 ): vertex, frons and clypeus pilose; hair patch of frons extending to facet row 3; eye bridge with 4 facet rows, separated by 1.0–2.7 facet diameters; 4–5 supra-ocular setae; interocular suture absent; rounded areas less sclerotized up to the antennal fossets and between the eyes; clypeus with no conspicuous alveoli; frontoclypeal suture present; antenna with scape cylindrical, 1.5 the length of the subspherical pedicel, and with 14 flagellomeres, 12–14 reduced, subspherical and separated ( Fig. 2 ); ascoids in Y; palpal formula 1.0:1.3(1.24– 1.35):1.4(1.30–1.62):1.7(1.59–1.89) ( Fig. 3 ); labellum with 3–4 apical teeth and 2 lateral setae ( Fig. 4 ). Wing ( Fig. 5 ): Sc vein not extending beyond base of vein Rs; radial and medial forks complete; veins R5, CuA1, and CuA2 slightly darkened. Distitarsus without apical projection ( Fig. 6 ). Terminalia: subgenital plate wider than long, bilobed, with convex lateral margins, homogeneously pilose except for the naked latero-basal area delimited by a sclerotized band ( Fig. 7 ); apical concavity of subgenital plate subrectangular; genital digit absent; subgenital plate internally with an apical circle of small setae and a bilobed structure ( Fig. 8 ); genital chamber subrectangular, longer than wide ( Fig. 7 ).

Male. See description of P. buxoides in Quate (1996).

Material examined. type material: Holotype ( P. buxoides ) Ƥ COSTA RICA, Guanac., La Pacifica, 40km SE of Libéria, 100m, 17.vii.1993, light trap, col. L. W. Quate ( INBIO). Other specimens: 2 Ƥ BRAZIL, Amazonas, Pitinga, Lixeira, 08–12. xii.1998, 2 cdc/m, col. RF /FLS/RDN ( INPA); 1 Ƥ Amazonas, Silves, Saracá, área alterada, 29.v.1997, 7cdc/m, col. TVB/FLS ( INPA); 2 Ƥ Silves, Saracá, 30.vi.1997, 6cdc- 1m, no collector name ( INPA); 3 Ƥ Amazonas, Silves, Saracá, 11.xii.1997, 6cdc/m, col. RF /FLS/LMC (MZUEFS); 16 Ƥ Amazonas, Silves, Saracá, área alterada, 17.xii.1997, 6cdc/m, col. RF /FLS/LMC (8 INPA, 8 MZUEFS); 1 Ƥ Amazonas, Manacapuru, Cajatuba, km 69/3, 10.x.1998, 3cdc copa, no collector name (MZUEFS); 1 Ƥ Amazonas, Manacapuru, Cajatuba, km 69/3, 06.xi.1998, 8cdcd/m, no collector name ( INPA); 4 Ƥ BRAZIL, Pará, Chácara N. S. Nazaré, km 13, mata, 27.xi.1998, 8cdc, no collector name (2 INPA, 2 MZUEFS); 8 Ƥ BRAZIL, Mato Grosso, Barão de Melgaço, baia de Bracoruré, 07.iv.1998, 20cdc/m, col. RF /FLS/RDN (4 INPA, 4 MZUEFS).

Distribution. Costa Rica, Brazil (Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso).

Comments. when describing P. buxoides, Quate (1996) distinguished it from the other species of Psychoda by the concavity between the apical lobes of the subgenital plate. This feature is also found in P. aitkeni Quate. We suspect about the synonym of this two species, but as no type material of P. aitkeni was examined, we can not conclude this. Moreover, in the description of P. aitkeni, Quate (1959b) stated that the eyes of this species are separated by 1.0 facet diameters and also provided a figure of the subgenital plate, showing lateral lobuli in the base of the subgenital plate. In the examined material, the distance between eyes ranged between 1.3–2.7 facet diameters (1.5 in the original description of P. buxoides ), and no lobuli was seen in the base of subgenital plate. This two species must be closely related as evidenced by the morphological characters, including the particular internal ornamentation of subgenital plate.

In the description of P. buxoides, Quate (1996) did not present a good representation of the pilosity found in the Subgenital plate, but the pattern found in the holotype is exactly the same found in the Brazilian specimens. Quate (1996) also represented the second and third palpal segments as being of the same length. We have observed some variation in the relative lengths of these structures in specimens from Brazil, which have the 2nd palpal segment generally a little shorter than the third. Because all Brazilian specimens studied by us had a broken antenna, our description of the antenna apex is based on the original description and on the holotype of P. buxoides . No males were found in the available material from Brazil.

This species has the characteristics of the subgenus Psychodocha , except for the presence of spines on the 11th and 13th flagellomeres, as seen on the holotype. P. buxoides is similar to Psychoda matogrossensis sp. nov. in the presence of a frontoclypeal suture, but can be distinguished from it by the shape of the apical concavity of the subgenital plate, subrectangular in P. buxoides and concave in the other. This is the first record of P. buxoides in Brazil.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Psychoda buxoides: 1. Head. 2. Antenna: scape, pedicel and basal flagellomeres. 3. Palpus. 4. Labellum. 5. Wing. 6. Distitarsus. 7. Subgenital plate and genital chamber. 8. Subgenital plate, internal ornamentation. [Scale 0.5 mm (5), other pictures 0.06 mm].