Antillocladius brazuca, Mendes & Andersen, 2008

Mendes, Humberto Fonseca & Andersen, Trond, 2008, A review of Antillocladius Saether and Litocladius Mendes, Andersen et Saether, with the description of two new Neotropical genera (Diptera, Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae), Zootaxa 1887 (1), pp. 1-75 : 26-28

Antillocladius brazuca sp. n.

( Figs 18–22 )

Type material: Holotype male, BRAZIL: Rio de Janeiro: Arraial do Cabo, Morro do Atalaia , 10.i.2006, sweep net (swarming), H.F. Mendes ( MZUSP) . Paratypes: 3 males, Santa Catarina: São Bento do Sul , 26º19'25.6"S, 48º18'26.5"W, 660 m a.s.l., (Trilha-1, Rugendas), 13–16.x.2001, Malaise trap, M.V. Yamada ; 1 male, Florianópolis , UCAD, 10–13.xii.2002, Malaise trap, L.C. Pinho . 1 male, São Paulo: Estação Biológica Boracéia, Rio Claro , 2nd bridge, 09.xii.2002, light trap, H.F. Mendes & C.G. Froehlich ( ZSM, ZMBN) .

Diagnostic characters: The species can be separated from all other members of the genus by the presence of setae on squama, simple pediform inferior volsella, short virga consisting of two small spines, and costa clearly extended.

Etymology: From colloquial Portuguese, brazuca , meaning a Brazilian; the name is to be regarded as a noun in apposition.

Male (n = 6, except when otherwise stated). Total length 1.67–1.85, 1.76 mm. Wing length 1.04–1.26, 1.12 mm. Total length / wing length 1.39–1.75, 1.58. Wing length / length of profemur 2.30–2.69, 2.55. Coloration brown, thorax dark brown without distinct marks.

Head. AR 1.02–1.16, 1.07. Ultimate flagellomere 324–385, 361 µm long. Temporal setae 7–11, 9; including 3–5, 4 inner verticals; 2–4, 3 outer verticals; and 2–3, 3 postorbitals. Clypeus with 4–9, 6 setae. Tentorium, stipes, and cibarial pump as in Figure 18 . Tentorium 98–111, 105 µm long; 16–23, 19 µm wide. Stipes 95– 104, 100 µm long; 36 (1) µm wide. Palp segment lengths (in µm): 19–23, 19; 32–41, 37; 75–88, 81; 73–82, 77 (6); 88–109, 99 (4). Third palpomere with 3–6, 5 sensilla clavata subapically; longest 9–14, 11 µm long.

Thorax ( Fig. 19 ). Antepronotum with 2–3, 3 setae. Dorsocentrals 7–9, 8; acrostichals composed of 0–4, 2 simple anterior and 8–11, 9 scalpellate posterior setae; prealars 3–4, 3; supraalar 1. Scutellum with 4–8, 6 setae.

Wing ( Fig. 20 ). VR 1.35–1.47, 1.41. C extension 41–73, 63 µm long. Brachiolum with 1 seta; all veins and cells bare. Squama with 1–7, 4 setae.

Legs. Spur of foretibia 34–43, 38 µm long; spurs of midtibia 20–25, 23 (5) µm and 16–23, 20 (5) µm long; spurs of hind tibia 32–41, 37 µm and 16–20, 18 µm long. Width at apex of foretibia 34–43, 38 µm; of midtibia 25–32, 28 µm; of hind tibia 34–39, 36 µm. Comb with 11–13, 12 setae; longest 27–34, 30 µm; shortest 14–20, 17 µm. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 3.

Hypopygium ( Figs 21–22 ). Tergite IX covered with microtrichia; laterosternite IX with 4–9, 6 setae. Anal point narrowly triangular; 45–57, 52 µm long; 20–32, 25 µm wide at base; 4–7, 5 µm wide at apex; with 10– 17, 14 setae. Phallapodeme 64–77, 68 µm long; transverse sternapodeme 48–57, 53 µm long. Virga 7–9, 8 µm long. Gonocoxite 127–138, 132 µm long. Gonostylus 66–73, 68 µm long; megaseta 7–10, 8 µm long. HR 1.87–2.03, 1.94; HV 2.41–2.77, 2.59.

Biology and distribution: The species has been collected in Malaise traps, light traps and with sweep nets. In the type locality it was taken together with four other Antillocladius species (see A. atalaia sp. n. for details). The species has also been taken together with A. antecalvus in São Bento do Sul and Florianópolis (see Pinho et al. 2005), with A. gephyrus sp. n. in Florianópolis, and with A. folius in São Bento do Sul and Boracéia. The species is distributed in Southern and Southeastern Brazil, occurring along the Mata Atlântica, at least from Santa Catarina north up to Rio de Janeiro.

Figures

FIGURES 18–22. Antillocladius brazuca sp. n., male. 18—tentorium, stipes, and cibarial pump; 19—thorax; 20—wing; 21—anal point and tergite IX and dorsal aspect of left gonocoxite and gonostylus; 22—hypopygium with anal point and tergite IX removed, dorsal aspect to the left and ventral aspect to the right.