Catocha brachycornis, Jaschhof, Mathias, 2017

Jaschhof, Mathias, 2017, Catochini, Strobliellini and Acoenoniini revisited: a taxonomic review of the small tribes of the Micromyinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), Zootaxa 4250 (3), pp. 275-295 : 284

Genus Catocha Haliday

In recent revisions of the Catochini ( Jaschhof 1998, Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2009), species previously classified in Anocha , Catocha and Eucatocha were subsumed under a single generic name, Catocha . While Anocha is revived here as a distinct genus, Eucatocha continues to be regarded as a synonym of Catocha , although mainly for convenience. The two species classified in the past with Eucatocha , barberi and betsyae , have little in common except a similar vein pattern, a fact rendering Eucatocha a vaguely defined genus. Catocha barberi , the typespecies of Eucatocha , is certainly not a Catocha in the strict sense (see Edwards 1938; Jaschhof 1998), so its generic individuality might be reconsidered in the future. Some characters of C. barberi , such as the possession of only two tiny ocelli and 10 female flagellomeres, are without parallel in Catochini . Catocha betsyae , a species of which only the female is known, shares with Catocha sensu stricto the possession of branched antennal sensilla, a character not found in any other Catochini . Characters of both C. barberi and C. betsyae were not taken into account in the diagnosis of Catocha sensu stricto presented below. The core of Catocha , the latipes group, previously contained the generic type, Catocha latipes Haliday , and three species generally similar to it, C. angulata Jaschhof , C. incisa Jaschhof , and C. subalpina Jaschhof. Catocha brachycornis comb. nov. is shown here to be another member of this group.

Diagnosis. Catocha sensu stricto are characterized by the presence of 3 ocelli, a complete eye-bridge, 14 male and 8 female flagellomeres, branched antennal sensilla in both sexes, crescent-shaped, toothed claws, and clawlong empodia. Both scape and pedicel are usually setose; the pedicel of C. brachycornis is asetose. Male flagellomeres are provided with 1–3, often irregular whorls of short setae and no translucent sensilla basally. Female flagellomeres have short necks. The palpus is shorter than the head height; translucent sensilla are scattered ventrally and medially on the first and second palpal segments. Wing venation is as follows (see Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2009: fig. 15C): the almost straight apicR1 joins the costa clearly distal to the apex of CuA, the slightly curved R4+5 extends to the apex of the wing, M2 tends to vanish apically, up to a point where only M1 remains ( Fig. 6C–D ), and CuA is evenly bent, not markedly sinuous. The wing membrane is mostly setose, only in C. brachycornis largely asetose. The female foretarsus is provided with a sole of dense, short, erect bristles arranged in two parallel multiple rows, either running the length of tarsomeres 2–4 ( Edwards 1938: fig. 5i –j) or all tarsomeres. Male genitalic structures typical of Catocha sensu stricto are the large, conspicuous teeth on the aedeagal head, the stout gonostyli with a large, adpressed tooth, and the subtriangular tegmen with well-sclerotized edges (see Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2009: figs 22–23; this paper, Fig. 6A ).

Figures

FIGURE 6 A – D. Catocha brachycornis, males (from Estonia). A: Genitalia, ventral. B: Fourth flagellomere, lateral. C: Wing. D: Apex of wing. Scales for A – B, 0.05 mm, for C – D, 1.0 mm.