Acuera menaca DeLong & Freytag, 1974
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https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/asp.81.e81961 |
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lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5C1FDC82-8F9F-4869-ADDD-83FA96E507ED |
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https://treatment.plazi.org/id/06BE93E1-1614-57A2-82AD-805ABFFC353C |
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Acuera menaca DeLong & Freytag |
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Acuera menaca DeLong & Freytag View in CoL
Figs 13 View Figure 13 , 15C, D, M View Figure 15 , 16C, D View Figure 16
Acuera (Acuera) prodiga DeLong & Freytag, 1974: 189.
Acuera (Acuera) culmena DeLong & Freytag, 1974: 188. New synonymy.
Acuera (Acuera) prodiga DeLong & Freytag, 1974: 188. New synonymy.
Comments.
DeLong and Freytag (1974) described A. culmena based on a single male specimen from Yarinacocha, Peru (Figs 13A-C View Figure 13 , 15C, D View Figure 15 ), A. menaca based on five specimens from Peru (Figs 13D-F View Figure 13 , 15M View Figure 15 ), being the holotype from Tingo Maria and A. prodiga based on a single male specimen from Iquitos, Peru (Figs 13G-I View Figure 13 , 16C, D View Figure 16 ). These species are very similar in the external morphology and coloration and, according to the DeLong and Freytag, can be differentiated by the shape and number of the apical processes of aedeagus. Acuera culmena (Fig. 13A, B View Figure 13 ) have three pairs of processes, being the apical more robust and branched on apical third, forming two rami equal in length. The two subapical pairs are very slender, being the more basal very short. Acuera menaca (Fig. 13D, E View Figure 13 ) also have three pairs of processes but is distinct from A. culmena in having the apical pair longer with a short spine-like process on mid-length, and the two subapical pairs longer than in A. culmena . The third species, A. prodiga (Fig. 13G, H View Figure 13 ), have two pairs of processes, being the apical more robust than the subapical pair. The apical pair is branched on basal third, forming two rami, the ventral approximately two times longer than the dorsal and bearing a minute spur on the apical third and the subapical pair longer than in A. culmena .
We studied eight male specimens from Brazil, states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso, and one male from Cusco, Peru, and we found four similar features variations of the genitalia. The apical processes of aedeagus can be branched (Fig. 13K View Figure 13 ) or not (Fig. 13N, Q, T View Figure 13 ) and with variable lengths and curvatures. The aedeagal shaft, in lateral view, can be approximately straight (Fig. 13A, J, M, S View Figure 13 ), slightly curved (Fig. 13D, G, P View Figure 13 ), strongly expanded apically (Fig. 13M, S View Figure 13 ), moderately expanded (Fig. 13A, D, J, P View Figure 13 ) or not expanded (Fig. 13G View Figure 13 ). The more basal subapical pair of processes (second subapical pair) can be very long (Fig. 13 N, Q View Figure 13 ) with approximately half length of shaft, moderately long (Fig. 13E, K View Figure 13 ), short (Fig. 13B View Figure 13 ), vestigial (Fig. 13S View Figure 13 ) or absent (Fig. 13G View Figure 13 ). The apodemal process of aedeagus vary in length, being short (Fig. 13G, M, S View Figure 13 ) or long (Fig. 13A, J View Figure 13 ). The apex of the style also is variable between the specimens and can be abruptly truncated (Fig. 13C, R View Figure 13 ), obliquely truncated (Fig. 13F, I View Figure 13 ) or intermediate between abruptly and obliquely truncated (Fig. 13L, O, U View Figure 13 ). As all studied specimens are similar to A. culmena , A. menaca and A. prodiga in the external morphology, size, coloration, shape of pygofer, subgenital plates and connective, we consider these differences as intraspecific variations, and we propose that A. culmena and A. prodiga are synonyms of A. menaca . Intraspecific variations in the shape of style and processes of aedeagus are not common in Gyponini but were previously reported in the genus Gyponana Ball, 1920 ( Hamilton 1982).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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Acuera menaca DeLong & Freytag
| Domahovski, Alexandre Cruz & Cavichioli, Rodney Ramiro 2023 |
Acuera (Acuera) prodiga
| DeLong & Freytag 1974 |
Acuera (Acuera) culmena
| DeLong & Freytag 1974 |
Acuera (Acuera) prodiga
| DeLong & Freytag 1974 |