Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth, 1979

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 : 553

Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth

( Figs. 1A , 2A , 4A , 6A , 7 )

Palpomyia aspina Grogan & Wirth, 1979: 37 (female; USA, Texas; figs.). Borkent & Wirth 1997: 130 (in World catalog); Borkent & Grogan 2009: 28 (in Nearctic catalog north of Mexico; distribution); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 206 (in World catalog).

Diagnosis. The only species of the tibialis group with the following combination of characters: thorax, including legs dark brown, fore femur and distal ½ of fore tibia slightly paler, legs without femoral spines. Male unknown.

Remarks. This species was only known from the Nearctic region in USA ( Texas). We provide the first record for Mexico and Guatemala, and the Neotropical region. William L. Grogan (personal communication) recently informed us that he slides mounted 2 large (WL 2.84 mm) females from Guatemala collected during 2012 with CR 0.93−0.94, which is slightly smaller than the holotype (CR 0.96).

Material examined. Mexico, Oaxaca, San Juan Juichicovi, Locality El Zacatal, 460 m., potrero, 27− jul− 2009, CDC trap, cols. Salceda−Sánchez, B., Rodríguez, A. & Ordóñez-Álvarez, J., 2 females, CAIM. New Record for Mexico and Guatemala.

Distribution. USA ( Texas), Mexico ( Oaxaca), Guatemala.

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 2. Thorax, lateral view. Females. A. Palpomyia aspina; B. P. auakua sp. nov. Scale bars= 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Wings, frontal view. A. Palpomyia aspina, female; B. P. subaspera, male; C. P. auakua sp. nov., female. 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.

FIGURE 7. Distributions in Mexico. Palpomyia aspina, black rectangle; P. subaspera, black circle; P. auakua sp. nov., black triangle.