Ameromyia explicata Tavares, 2023

Tavares, Leon Gustavo de Miranda, Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Calor, Adolfo Ricardo, 2023, The Neotropical antlion genus Ameromyia Banks, 1913 (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), systematics and redefinition under a phylogenetic approach, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 81, pp. 499-553 : 499

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/asp.81.e89641
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E628C8DC-C920-4941-9CDE-818F4B61AF03
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7DEB8E0F-4F83-542D-9861-DA89677BF90D
treatment provided by	Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny by Pensoft
scientific name	Ameromyia explicata Tavares
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

4.6. Ameromyia explicata Tavares sp. nov.

Figs 1E View Figure 1 , 3C View Figure 3 , 5B View Figure 5 , 7B View Figure 7 , 10 View Figure 10 , 22 View Figure 22 , 23 View Figure 23

Diagnosis.

Thorax lateral black, without a lateral pale band; forewing CuP alternating black and white, with nine or more crossveins between CuA posterior fork branch; female terminalia with pregenital plate slightly gibbous.

Description.

Adult. Head: Antennae with 32-34 flagellomeres. Flagellomeres black, dorsal face sometimes yellow, light brown between flagellomeres. Vertex yellowish brown, vertex rows with large dark spots and/or patches. Vertex decumbent setae black. Interantennal area mostly dark, sometimes marginally yellowish brown. Frons setae black, or white. Frons dark near antennae, and yellowish brown near clypeus. Frons setae black. Interocular distance less than eye width. Clypeus yellowish brown, sometimes with dark brown patches on lateral margins. Labrum yellowish brown. Mandibles dark brown. Palpi light brown, much darker on external face of palpomeres. - Thorax: Thorax dark with yellowish brown markings. Thorax dark on lateral view, with no evident longitudinal band. Pronotum as broad as long, dark, with yellowish brown on markings and lateral margins. Pronotum marginal setae white. Mesonotum dark, with a medial longitudinal yellowish-brown stripe on each side of mesoscutum and medially on mesoscutellum. Metanotum dark, with yellowish-brown patches on metascutum. - Wings: Wing tip acute. Veins with dashed black and white pattern, except for hind wing CuA, which is dark. Wing membrane mostly hyaline, with many markings. Forewing presectorial area and on RP first branch area with dark infuscation alternating on vertical crossveins. Forewing mediocubital area with dark infuscations around vertical crossveins which become sparser along MA vein, culminating on rhegmal area. Brown faint infuscations around forewing general crossveins and gradates, and on hind wing poststigmal area. Forewing CuP and hind wing CuA veins extending before forewing CuA and hind wing MP fork respectively, with nine or more crossveins connecting them and posterior branch of fork. Pterostigma opaque, dark brown on basal half and white on distal half, encompassing six to seven crossveins. Cells delimited by transversal crossveins in hind wing posterior area higher than long. - Legs: Coxae dark. Legs internal face yellowish brown and external face dark, with many dark brown spots on setal insertion. Femur and tibia with black bristles. Femur decumbent setae white and black. Tibiae with three evident or subtle basal, medial and distal dark brown rings around tibiae circumference. Tibial spurs slightly shorter than pretarsal claws. Tarsomeres light brown, with distal fourth dark brown. Pretarsal claws at least 1.5 times longer than basitarsus. - Abdomen: Abdomen sclerites dark, with yellowish or light brown in posterior margin near terminalia, with brown setae. Male paramere plates subtriangular on lateral view. Gonarcus arch positioned not above paramere plates on lateral view. Male genitalia clavate setae with globose club. - Larva. Larvae unknown.

Examined material.

Holotype: BRAZIL • ♂; MARANHÃO, Caxias , Res. Ecol. Inhamum; 31.x-02.xi.2005; Lençol luz mista; F. Limeira-de-Oliveira; CZMA . Paratypes: BRAZIL - BAHIA • ♂; Miguel Calmon, Mulungu do Chiola ; 02.i.2021; 11°24′15.9″S 40°38′58.9″W; Luz; Vieira-Silva, V.; DZUP GoogleMaps • ♀; Santa Rita de Cassia , A.P.A. Rio Preto; 06.vi.2019; Calor, A.R.; Tavares, L; UFBA . - RIO GRANDE DO NORTE • 2♂; Serra Negra do Norte, ESEc Seridó, casa da entrada; 08 - 09.v.2003; API (noite); Varela-Freire, A.A.; DZUP • 2♂; same collection data as for preceding; 22-23.v.2000; Coleta manual, sob luz fluorescente; UFBA .

Distribution.

Brazil (Fig. 12 View Figure 12 ).

Other material.

(17♀ 7♂) BRAZIL - AMAZONAS • 3♂ 2♀; Barcelos, Em Campina; 0°28′38″N 63°28′18″W; vii-viii.2007; Malaise ; A.S.Filho and T.Krolow; INPA GoogleMaps . - MARANHÃO • 2♀; Mirador, Parque Est. Mirador, Base dos Cágados; 06°48′29″S 45°06′34″W; 27.ix-02.x.2011; Armadilha luminosa; F. Limeira de Oliveira , A.A. Santos and T.M.A. Lima; CZMA GoogleMaps • 1♀; Caxias, Res. Ecol. Inhamum ; 31.x-02.xi.2005; Lençol luz mista; F.Limeira-de-Oliveira; CZMA • 1♀; Caxias, Reserva Ecol. Inhamum, Povoado Coites ; 04°54′43″S 43°25′30″W; 6.x.2011; armadilha luminosa; J.T. Câmara, M.K.A. Santos and C.M.S. Sumber; CZMA GoogleMaps . - RIO GRANDE DO NORTE • 1♀; Mossoró, Canto do Amaro ; 23.viii.1996; BL (noite); Varela-Freire, A.A.; UFBA • 1♂; Mossoró, Central de Residuos ; 27-28.xi.1995; BL (noite) vegetação; Varela-Freire, A.A.; UFBA • 1♀; Natal, Tirol ; 15.v.2014; Coleta manual, sob luz fluorescente; Oliveria, J.R.; UFBA • 1♀; Senador Eloi de Souza, Sitio lagoa do bola; 11.iv.2015; Manual, Morais F.C.; UFBA • 1♀; Serra Negra do Norte, Acude Campos 1, margem ocidental; 05-06.vi.1997; BL (noite); Varela-Freire, A.A.; UFBA • 1♀; Serra Negra do Norte, ESEc Seridó, casa da entrada; 30-31.viii.2002; API (noite); Varela-Freire, A.A.; UFBA • 1♀; same collection data as for preceding; 08-09.v.2003 • 3♀; same collection data as for preceding; 22-23.v.2000; Coleta manual, sob luz fluorescente .

Etymology.

The name “explicata”, which means “unfolded”. This refers to the fact that, during this work, the only males whose genitalia were in an “unfolded” state (Fig. 10B, D View Figure 10 ) were of this species.

Biology.

A live female specimen was observed in the wild at Santa Rita de Cássia, BA, Brazil (Fig. 1F View Figure 1 ), and posteriorly reared in captivity. The location where the specimen was collected is located at the Cerrado biome, with dry vegetation and hard, compacted soil. The specimen observed was a high flyer, flying almost two meters above ground. It came towards the light trap, but apparently it wasn’t strongly attracted to light. When reared in-lab, this adult specimen accepted as food a mixture of honey and water and also live maggots when handfed. It fed and hunted by itself when offered D. melanogaster as prey.

Remarks.

This species is very similar to A. nigriventris . The most evident distinction is the completely dark coloration of the thorax lateral sides (Fig. 3C View Figure 3 ). Even so, it can be hard to differentiate poorly conserved specimens, as specimens become paler over time. Male genitalia of both species are also similar, but A. explicata sp. nov. has shorter gonarcus membranous arms, and the shape of the paramere teeth is broader than in A. nigriventris (Fig. 10 View Figure 10 ). Females can be promptly distinguished without need of genitalia dissection by its slightly convex pregenital plate margin (Fig. 23D View Figure 23 ), while males need to be dissected for a proper identification when devoid of coloration. This species is the only species whose males were found with “unfolded” parameres (Fig. 10B, D View Figure 10 ).

This species has a northern distribution in Brazil, from the Amazon Forest to the Northeastern region. Specimens collected in Miguel Calmon, Bahia, Brazil, cohabit this locality with A. nigriventris . However, all A. explicata sp. nov. specimens were collected at January, and during a field trip to Miguel Calmon in June, only A. nigriventris specimens were able to be found in the wild, which might suggest these species are separated by seasons. The specimens collected in the Amazon were found in “campinas”, which are open areas with sandy soil distributed within the Amazon rainforest. Those specimens have a few differences from the northeastern brazilian specimens, but those are mostly slight variations in thorax and leg coloration and are hereby considered to be the same species despite the biome and geographical disparity. A few female specimens from Maranhão state bear a noticeable posterior projection on the pregenital plate, slender and longer digging setae on ectoproct and lateral gonapophysis, and a different pattern on wing coloration. It is possible those females are in fact a different species. However, until a male specimen is analyzed, we chose to identify these specimens as A. explicata sp. nov., and opted to not include them among the paratypes.