Phlebotomus creticus Antoniou, Depaquit & Dvorak, 2020

Dvořák, Vít, Tsirigotakis, Nikolaos, Pavlou, Christoforos, Dokianakis, Emmanouil, Akhoundi, Mohammad, Halada, Petr, Volf, Petr, Depaquit, Jérôme & Antoniou, Maria, 2020, Sand fly fauna of Crete and the description of PhleboToMUS (AdleRIUS) CReTICUS n. sp. (Diptera: Psychodidae), Parasites & Vectors (547) 13 (1), pp. 1-17 : 6-13

Phlebotomus creticus Antoniou, Depaquit & Dvorak n. sp.

Type-locality: Xerokampos (35° 3 ′ 29.37 ′′ N, 26° 14 ′ 27.14 ′′ E; altitude: 19 m above sea level), Greece

Other localities: Fodele (35° 22 ′ 53.93 ′′ N, 24° 57 ′ 28.27 ′′ E; altitude: 48 m above sea level); Agia Roumeli (35° 13 ′ 24.77 ′′ N, 23° 56 ′ 7.53 ′′ E; altitude: 14 m above sea level) ; Toplou Monastery (35° 13 ′ 16.69 ′′ N, 26° 12 ′ 51.99 ′′ E; altitude: 159 m above sea level), Greece .

Type-material: The holotype male (accession no. ED10723 ) and five paratypes (3 males and 2 females, accession nos. ED10724 , ED10725 , ED10726 for male paratypes, accession nos. ED10727 , ED10728 for female paratypes) have been deposited at the Laboratory of Entomology of the Muséum National d ʼ Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. Two paratypes (1 male and 1 female) have been deposited at the Museum of Natural History of London , UK, under the accession numbers NHMUK-ENT-2020-42. Two paratypes (1 male and 1 female) have been deposited at the Museum of Natural History of Heraklion , Crete, Greece, under the accession numbers NHMC.85.4.17830.1 (male paratype) and NHMC.85.4.17830.2 (females paratype) .

Representative DNA sequences: GenBank accession numbers MT 501628- MT 501638.

ZooBank registration: To comply with the regulations set out in Article 8.5 of the amended 2012 version of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( ICZN) [ 33], details of the new species have been submitted to ZooBank. The Life Science Identifier ( LSID) of the article is urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D2A4798C-A59B-4851-819F-DA238621A474 . The LSID for the new name Phlebotomus creticus is urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:218CBCD4-875D-48E1-B2B8-749D53E817DA .

Etymology: The new species is named after the island where it has been discovered.

Description

Male [Based on 54 specimens. Counts and measurements indicated in the description are those of the holotype. More measurements for males are available in Table 6 ; Figs. 5 , 6 ]. Total length 3.9 mm. Head. Occiput with 2 lines of well individualized setae. Clypeus 171 µm long, 92 µm wide, with c. 19 setae randomly distributed, targeting center of clypeus. Eyes 242 µm high with c. 120 facets. Interantennal suture incomplete. Interocular suture not reaching the interantennal suture. Flagellomeres: f1 (349 µm) longer than f2 (148 µm) + f3 (149 µm). Internal and external ascoids implanted more or less at the same level on f1 to f3. Ascoids not reaching the next articulation. Ascoidal formula: 2/f1-f3 1/f4-f13 (= 2/ III-V 1/ VI-XV). One distal papilla on flagellomeres f1, f2, f3, three sensillae on f12 and f13, five on f14. Palpi p1: 49 µm long, p2: 173 µm, p3: 192 µm, p4: 160 µm, p5: 400 µm. Palpal formula: 1, 4, 2, 3, 5. About 15 Newstead’s sensilla present on p3 only; no sensilla on other palpal articles. One distal spiniform seta on p3, 12 setae on p4 and 26 setae on p5. Labrum-epipharynx 288 µm long carrying long teeth at its top. Hypopharynx with 20 long apical teeth. Labial suture closed, narrow, in furca. Cibarium without teeth nor sclerotized area (= pigment patch) or sclerotized arch. Pharynx with an armature consisting of long teeth directed laterally or towards center. Cervix with 3 lateral cervical sensillae and 2 median sensillae on each side. Thorax. Sclerites pale coloured. One post-alar seta present on the mesonotum. Paratergital seta absent. A group of four proepimeral setae. Upper anepisiternal seta, lower anapisternal seta, anepimeral seta, metaepisternal seta and metaepimeral seta absent. Setae present on the anterior region of the katepisternum. Metafurca mounted in lateral view on all specimens. Vertical arms long, probably separate; horizontal arms long. Wings. Length: 2370 μm; width: 715 μm; r5: 1537 µm; α (r2): 475 μm; β (r2+3): 309 μm; γ (r2+3+4): 373 μm; δ: 120 μm; π: 90 μm; ε (r3): 692 μm; θ (r4): 1091 μm; width/γ: 1.92. Legs. Anterior leg: coxa: 337 µm; femur: 855 µm; tibia: 1021 µm; tarsomere i: 620 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv: 770 µm. Median leg: coxa: 353 µm; femur: 870 µm; tibia: 1218 µm; tarsomere i: 704 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv: 810 µm. Posterior leg: coxa: 394 µm; femur: 1005 µm; tibia: 1558 µm; tarsomere i: 887 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv: 944 µm. Spines on the metafemur absent. Metatarsomere iii with 4 verticils including broad and thin spines. Abdomen. Setae randomly implantated on tergites II to V. Two papillae with hair present on tergites III to VI. Gonocoxite 441 μm long. Sclerotized band in the ventral margin abent; process absent; a median cluster of 71 setae on the internal side present. Gonostyle 204 µm long, with 5 spines: 2 distal spines implanted at the same level; 3 median spines: 1 ventral implanted on narrow tubercle and 2 dorsal implanted on wide tubercle. Parameres 462 µm long, simple, rounded at apex, with setae occupying inner face of distal half. Parameral sheath straight, 203 µm long, with very shallow subterminal tubercle 20 µm to the top. Aedeagal ducts 927 μm long, isodiametric and pointed at their tops. Sperm pump 145 μm long. Ejaculatory apodeme 119 µm long. Aedeagal ducts/sperm pump ratio: 6.39. Epandrial lobes slightly longer than gonocoxites, length 468 μm.

Female [Based on 11 specimens. Counts and measurements indicated in the following description are those of the paratype labelled Crete IT8 with some exceptions which are indicated. More measurements for females available in Table 7 ; Fig. 7 ]. Total length of the paratype Crete IT14: 3.6 mm long. Head. Occiput with two narrow lines of well individualized setae. Clypeus 135 µm long, 103 µm wide, with 20 setae randomly distributed, targeting the center of the anterior part of the clypeus. Eyes 193 µm high with about 90 facets. Interantennal suture incomplete. Interocular suture not reaching the interantennal one. Flagellomeres: f1 (208 µm) longer than f2 (98 µm) +f3 (100 µm). Internal and external ascoids implanted more or less at the same level on f1 to f3. Ascoids not reaching the next articulation. Ascoidal formula: 2/f1-f13 (= 2/ III-XV). One papilla on flagellomeres f1, f2, f3, three sensillae on f12 and f13, five on f14. Palpi p1: 40 µm long, p2: 153 µm, p3: 160 µm, p4: 130 µm, p5: 315 µm. Palpal formula: 1, 4, 2, 3, 5. Presence of about 15 Newstead’s sensilla on p3. Absence of Newstead’s sensilla on the other palpal articles. One distal spiniform setae on p3,7 on p4 and 31 on p5. Labrum-Epipharynx 268 μm long. f1/E = 0.78. Hypopharynx with about 15 distal long teeth on each side. Maxillary lacinia exhibiting 4 external and 20 internal teeth. Labial suture closed, narrow, in furca. Cibarium without teeth nor sclerotized area (= pigment patch) or sclerotised arch. Pharynx with a triangular armature consisting of elongated teeth directed towards the center. Cervix with two lateral cervical sensillae and two median ones on each side. Thorax. Pale coloured sclerites. Presence of one post-alar seta on the mesonotum. Absence of paratergital seta. A group of six proepimeral setae. Absence of upper anepisiternal seta. Absence of lower anapisternal seta. Absence of anepimeral seta. Absence of metaepisternal seta. Absence of metaepimeral seta. Presence of setae in the anterior region of the katepisternum. Metafurca mounted in lateral view on all specimens. Long vertical arms probably separate. Long horizontal arms.738. Wings. Length = 2173 μm, width = 578 μm, r5= 1424 µm, α (r2) = 431 μm, β (r2+3)= 225 μm, γ (r2+3+4) = 398 μm, δ = 101 μm, π = 61 μm. ε (r3) = 612 μm, θ (r4) = 944 μm. Width / γ = 1.70. Anterior leg: coxa = 273 µm; femur = 811 µm; tibia = 971 µm; tarsomere i = 595 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv = 728 µm. Median leg: coxa = 328 µm; femur = 817 µm; tibia = 1150 µm; tarsomere i= 686 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv = 775 µm. Posterior leg: coxa = 383 µm; femur = 890 µm; tibia = 1522 µm; tarsomere i = 848 µm; sum of tii, tiii, tiv, tv = 876 µm. Absence of spines on the metafemur. Metatarsomere iii with a distal verticil and a median one, including broad and thin spines. Abdomen. Setae randomly implantated on tergites II to V. Presence of papillae on tergites III to VII. Genitalia. Presence of about 8 + 1 setae on tergite VIII. Lack of protuberance on tergite IX. Spermathecae incompletely segmented. Basal part of the ducts wide with thick walls. Those of the paratype Crete IT8 have been collapsed during the mounting. The measurements indicated are those of the paratype crete7 mounted in Marc-André to be observed, measured and drawn before final process and mounting. Length of the ducts: 600 µm (including 100 µm of the wide basal part and 500 µm of the narrow ducts); length of the body: 100 µm. Genital fork 192 µm long. Cerci rounded at their top, 178 µm long. No seta observed on the sternite X.

Differential diagnosis

In males, number of ascoids usually 2/f1-f3, 1/f4-f13, a range of 54–85 setae on the gonocoxal internal tuft equally distributed between the proximal and distal halves of the gonocoxite.

Microhabitat preferences of Ph. creticus n. sp.

At Fodele, Ph. creticus n. sp. was captured in four CDC light traps placed near or in cave entrances, facing southeast and south. The vegetation around was rich. Mainly chicken, rats and lizards dwell around the traps. No specimens of Ph. creticus n. sp. were collected by sticky traps. At Xerokampos, the species was captured in two traps placed at the entrance of two shallow caves facing southeast, at 200 m distance from the shore. The vegetation around the caves was composed of phrygana, biotope typical for island of Crete. At Agia Roumeli the species was captured in two traps placed at the entrance of two limestone rock caves, one facing east and the other facing south, in a separate beach located west of Agia Roumeli, just a few meters from the sea. The vegetation above the caves was composed from sparse phrygana. In Toplou Monastery, it was trapped in caves along the wall just before the Monastery.

Figures

Fig. 5 Phlebotomus creticus n. sp. male. a Head. b Pharynx. c Cibarium. d Flagellomeres 1, 2 and 3. e Flagellomeres 12, 13 and 14. f Palp. g Third palpal article. h Labial furca. i Labrum. j Wing

Fig. 6 Phlebotomus creticus n. sp. male. a Genitalia. b Sperm pump and aedeagal ducts.c Top of the aedeagal ducts. d Parameral sheath. e Sperm pump

Fig. 7 Phlebotomus creticus n. sp. female. a Head. b Mouth parts (mandible, maxilla,hypopharynx and labrum, respectively). c labial furca. d Palp. e Third palpal article.f Flagellomeres 1, 2, 3, 12, 13 and 14; G pharynx.h Cibarium.i Spermathecae.j Genital fork. k Body of the spermathecae. l Wing