Acuera menaca DeLong & Freytag

Figs 13, 15C, D, M, 16C, D

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, 15C, D), A. menaca based on five specimens from Peru (Figs 13D-F, 15M), being the holotype from Tingo Maria and A. prodiga based on a single male specimen from Iquitos, Peru (Figs 13G-I, 16C, D). 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) 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) 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), 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) or not (Fig. 13N, Q, T) and with variable lengths and curvatures. The aedeagal shaft, in lateral view, can be approximately straight (Fig. 13A, J, M, S), slightly curved (Fig. 13D, G, P), strongly expanded apically (Fig. 13M, S), moderately expanded (Fig. 13A, D, J, P) or not expanded (Fig. 13G). The more basal subapical pair of processes (second subapical pair) can be very long (Fig. 13 N, Q) with approximately half length of shaft, moderately long (Fig. 13E, K), short (Fig. 13B), vestigial (Fig. 13S) or absent (Fig. 13G). The apodemal process of aedeagus vary in length, being short (Fig. 13G, M, S) or long (Fig. 13A, J). The apex of the style also is variable between the specimens and can be abruptly truncated (Fig. 13C, R), obliquely truncated (Fig. 13F, I) or intermediate between abruptly and obliquely truncated (Fig. 13L, O, U). 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).