Altimyia, Couri, Márcia Souto, 2008

Couri, Márcia Souto, 2008, A new genus and species of Coenosiini from Bolivia (Diptera: Muscidae: Coenosiinae), Zootaxa 1879, pp. 57-60 : 57-58

Altimyia , gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Eye of male with short and scattered cilia; one pair of reclinate orbital setae; lunule projected ( Fig.1 ); frontal row with 7 pairs of long setae; dorsocentral pre-sutural setae 2, the first one a little shorter than the second; katepisternum with short and fine setae on disc, fore tibia with a median posterior seta; 1 sub-median and 1 preapical anterodorsal setae and 1 long preapical dorsal seta; hind tibia on anterodorsal and posterodorsal surfaces with 1 median longer seta, 1 supramedian and 1 preapical setae opposite one another; 1 median anteroventral seta ( Fig. 2 ); sternite 1 bare; hypandrium long, tube-like; ovipositor long and straight and with microtrichia.

Type species: Altimyia boliviana , sp. nov.

The name of the genus is derived from the Latin prefix “ alti”, meaning “high”, and refers to the high altitude in the Andes where specimens of this new genus were collected; “ myia ” is Greek for “fly”.

Discussion. Altimyia keys to couplet 35 in the key to the Coenosiini genera of the world given by Couri and Pont (1999), but differs from both options by the presence of an extra seta on katepisternal disc, long arista enlarged on its basal fourth, claws and pulvilli short, hypandrium tubular and ovipositor long with fine tergites.

The chaetotaxy of the hind tibia resembles that of Stomopogon , also a coenosiine with four species recorded from Bolivia, but in Stomopogon there are 2 anterodorsal supramedian setae, which is a synapomorphy of that genus ( Couri & Pont 2000). In addition, the two genera can be distinguished by the presence in Altimyia of 7 pairs of frontal setae, lower facial margin produced, disc of katepisternum with short and fine setae and by 2 pairs of dorsocentral presutural setae.

A reduction in the number of frontal setae is commonly found within the Coenosiini , as a higher number is the ground-plan condition of Muscidae . More than four pairs of frontal setae occur only in a few genera such as Spanochaeta Stein , Limnospila Schnabl , Pseudocoenosia Stein , Macrorchis Rondani , Apsil Malloch and Oxytonocera Stein ( Couri & Pont 2000) .

When Altimyia is added to the cladistic analysis of the world Coenosiini ( Couri & Pont 2000), it forms a clade with Notoschoenomyza and Spathipheromyia grouped by two homoplasies: presence of a median seta on fore tibia and presence of two setae on median third of posterior surface of hind tibia. This clade is closely related to Reynoldsia Malloch + Apsil Malloch forming with it a monophyletic group, based on the chaetotaxy of the hind tibia (presence of one supra median anterodorsal; one median, one supra median and one preapical posterodorsal setae).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Altimyia boliviana, gen. & sp. nov. 1. Head of male, lateral view. 2. Hind tibia, anterior view. 3. Sternite 5. 4. Cercal plate and surstyli, dorsal view. 5. Cercal plate and surstylus, lateral view. 6. Phallic complex, lateral view. 7. Ovipositor, dorsal view. 8. Ovipositor, ventral view and spermathecae.