Melanagromyza caerulea ( 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 : 153-155

Melanagromyza caerulea ( Malloch, 1913)

Agromyza caerulea Malloch, 1913: 322 .

Melanagromyza caerulea, Frick, 1952: 378 ; 1959: 363; Spencer, 1963: 307; Spencer, 1973b: 14; Spencer & Stegmaier, 1973: 33; Sasakawa, 1992d: 4.

Diagnosis. Wing length 2.6–3.4 mm. Mesonotum greenish-blue; fore tibia with one lateral seta; abdomen greenish; calypter whitish, fringe white. Aedeagus (Fig. 17a and 17b in Spencer 1963): basiphallus U-shaped, slightly sclerotized; distiphallus sclerotized, formed by a dorsal plate-like portion and an elliptical ventral portion with a conspicuous sclerotized process at apex; hypandrium with apodeme; epandrium with 12 spines in the inner margin; surstylus with about ten spines.

Host-plants. Convolvulaceae— Ipomoea spp.

Distribution. Barbados, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, USA, Venezuela.

Material examined. Brazil, Pará state, Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará ( UFPA), 1º28′17.2″S, 48º26′44.7″W, 17-VIII-2016, N. Monteiro [collector], ex head flowers of Ipomoea batatas (2 ♀) ; same location, 01- II-2016, N. Monteiro [collector], ex head flowers of Ipomoea batatas (2 ♂) ; same location, 01-II-2016, N. Monteiro [collector], ex head flowers of Ipomoea batatas (8 ♀) ; same location, 08-VIII-2016, N. Monteiro [collector], ex head flowers of Ipomoea batatas (4 ♀) ; same location, 12-VIII-2016, N. Monteiro [collector], ex head flowers of Ipomoea batatas (13 ♀) .

Comments. This species is associated with several plant species of the genus Ipomoea , and its larvae feed in seeds of the host-plant. Pupation takes place in flower heads, forming adults after 10 to 15 days.