Palpomyia subaspera (Coquillett)

Huerta, Herón & Spinelli, Gustavo R., 2021, New records of the predaceous midge genus Palpomyia from Mexico, with a new species in the Palpomyia distincta group (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 5020 (3), pp. 550-560 : 555-556

Palpomyia subaspera (Coquillett)

( Figs. 1B , 3 A−C, 4B, 6B, 7)

Ceratopogon subasper Coquillett, 1901: 606 (female; USA).

Palpomyia subasper: Malloch, 1914: 22 (combination); Johannsen 1943: 784 (in list of USA species); Johannsen 1952: 166 (in key); Snow et al. 1957: 34 (habitat notes); Wirth 1965: 140 (distribution).

Palpomyia subaspera: Grogan & Wirth 1975: 10 ( lectotype designation; redescription); Grogan & Wirth 1979: 23 (description, adult, pupa; distribution; P. essigi as synonym); Spinelli & Wirth 1993: 68 ( P. maculicrus as synonym); Borkent & Wirth 1997: 134 (in World catalog); Spinelli 1998: 326 (in list of Argentina species); Borkent & Spinelli 2000: 64 (in New World catalog south of USA); Borkent & Spinelli 2007: 96 (in Neotropical catalog); Spinelli et al. 2009: 46 (diagnosis, description, biology, distribution; Paraguay, Argentina, Chile); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 212 (in World catalog).

Palpomyia essigi Wirth, 1952: 225 (female, male; California); Wirth 1965: 140 (distribution).

Palpomyia maculicrus Ingram & Macfie, 1931: 230 (female; Argentina); Wirth 1974: 55 (in New World catalog south of USA).

Diagnosis. The only species of the tibialis group with the following combination of characters: Females with spinose femora, legs yellow with the distal 1/3 of hind femur and apex of hind tibia dark brown; wing with distal portion of costa and radius curved, elongate (costal ratio 0.89–0.91). Males with elongate genitalia that are tilted dorsally 45°, parameres divided with recurved tips bearing minute spicules ( Fig. 6B ).

Remarks. This species is widely distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions. According to Grogan & Wirth (1979) and Spinelli et al. (2009), males fore femur with 2-4 spines and the gonocoxite lacks a mesoventral lobe. However, in the specimens from Veracruz, we observed that the fore femur lacks ventral spines and the gonocoxite has a small distal mesoventral lobe ( Fig. 6B ).

Material examined. Mexico, Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas, Medellin , 7− apr− 2010, CDC trap, acahual, col. Hernán- dez, P., male, CAIM ; Tabasco, Villahermosa, Zoológico central, 23− dec −2008 to 8 − jan−2009, Malaise trap, col. Villanueva, A., female, CAIM. New records for Veracruz and Tabasco.

Distribution. North America (Alberta to Ontario, south to California, Florida), Mexico ( Chihuahua, Veracruz, Tabasco), Haiti, Cuba, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Heads, frontal view. A. Palpomyia aspina, female; B. P. subaspera, male; C. P. auakua sp. nov., female. Scale bars= 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Legs, lateral view.A−C. Palpomyia subaspera, male; D−F. P. auakua sp. nov., female. A, D= fore legs; B, E= mid legs; C, F= hind legs. Scale bars= 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 6. Female abdomens (A, C−D) and male genitalia (B). A. Palpomyia aspina, dorsal view; B. P. subaspera, male genitalia, ventral view; C−D. P. auakua sp. nov., ventral view. Scale bars: A, C= 0.5 mm; B, D= 0.1 mm.