Cladochaeta atlantica Pirani & Amorim, 2016

Carvalho-Filho, Fernando Da Silva, Pirani, Gabriela & Kloss, Thiago Gechel, 2018, A new species and notes on unusual natural history of Cladochaeta Coquillett, 1900 (Diptera: Drosophilidae), Zootaxa 4410 (3), pp. 483-496 : 491

Cladochaeta atlantica Pirani & Amorim, 2016

( Figs. 27–28 )

Cladochaeta atlantica Pirani & Amorim, 2016: 327 –328, Figs. 24 A–F, 25 A–C , 34 A , 35 L

Material examined. BRAZIL: Espírito Santo: Estação Biológica de Santa Lúcia, Santa Teresa , Atlantic Forest , 550m, dense ombrophilous montane forest, T. G. Kloss [collector], reared from spider egg sacs of the spider Cryptachaea migrans , 23.X.2014 (1 ♂), 31.X.2014 (1 ♂), 04.XII.2014 (1 ♀) (all deposited in MPEG) .

Description of female. Differs from the description of the male showed by Pirani & Amorim (2016) as follow: Female terminalia ( Fig. 28 ): Hypoproct narrowed distally, with microtrichosity and setae concentrated on posterior margin. Apical sternite wider than high, entire, with posterior margin bilobed, with three setae and microtrichosity restricted to the lobes. Penultimate sternite broad, shield-like, with a deep median cleft with almost parallel inner edges in posterior margin, without setae.

Distribution. NEOTROPICAL—Brazil (Espírito Santo, São Paulo).

Remarks. The female terminalia of C. atlantica is similar to that of C. labidia Grimaldi & Nguyen in having apical sternite with posterior margin entire and bilobed, but the number of setae in the lobes are different between these species (three in C. atalntica and about eight in C. labidia ).

Biology. The specimens of C. atlantica were obtained from the spider egg sacs of Cryptachaea migrans (Keyserling, 1884) ( Araneae : Theridiidae ) ( Fig. 29 ) collected in a montane ombrophilous Atlantic Forest at an altitude of 550 m. This spider utilizes dry leaf as retreat ( Figs. 29–30 ). Of 124 collected egg sacs, only three were attacked by this fly. One egg mass was completely consumed by the fly larva, while the other two were partially consumed and from these emerged spiderlings.

This is the first record of a species of Cladochaeta attacking a spider egg sac. The breeding habits of drosphilids are diversified, but there are few records of these flies parasitizing the egg sacs of spiders, which are restricted to some species of Scaptomyza Hardy (subgenus Titanochaeta Knab ) in the Hawaiian Islands and Australia, that attack Thomisidae eggs (Wirth 1952, Hardy 1965, Austin 1985).

Figures

FIGURES 27–30. 27–28. Cladochaeta atlantica Pirani & Amorim. 27. Male terminalia, posterolateral view. The right surstylus was omitted.28. Female terminalia, ventral view. 29–30.Spider Cryptachaeamigrans (Keyserling). 29.Adult female with egg sac. 30. Web and retreat in a bamboo leaf. (Abbreviations: as = apical sternite; hy = hypoproct; ps = penultimate sternite).Scale bars = 100 µm.

FIGURES 23–26. 23. Foam produced by nymph of Sphodroscarta trivirgata (Amyot & Serville) with arrow pointing to the pupae of Cladochaeta caxiuana sp. nov. 24. Nymph of Sphodroscarta trivirgata (Amyot & Serville) with arrow pointingto the larva of Cladochaeta caxiuana sp. nov. 25. Pupae of Cladochaeta caxiuana sp. nov. in a twig of the host plant of Sphodroscarta trivirgata (Amyot & Serville). 26. Adult of Sphodroscarta trivirgata (Amyot & Serville) inside the foam.

FIGURES 31–34. Cladochaeta sororia (Williston, 1896). 31. Habitus, lateral view. 32. Habitus, dorsal view. 33. Head, lateral view. 34. Head, anterior view.Scale bars = 0.5 mm

FIGURES 35–37. 35. Cladochaeta sp., female terminalia, ventral view. 36–37. Notocyphus, female. 36. Cocoon on a dead leaf. 37. Habitus, lateral view. (Abbreviations: as = apical sternite; at = apical tergite; ce = cercus; ep = epiproct; hy = hypoproct;ps = penultimatesternite;pt = penultimate tergite).Scalebars = 2 mm,except in Fig.33 where it represents 100 µm.