Melanagromyza compositoides Spencer, 1963

Monteiro, Nilton Juvencio Santiago, Barbosa, Rodrigo Rendeiro & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2019, Agromyzidae (Diptera: Schizophora) in the state of Pará: new species and new records in Brazil, Zootaxa 4624 (2), pp. 151-182 : 155

Melanagromyza compositoides Spencer, 1963

Figures 3–4

Melanagromyza compositoides Spencer, 1963: 310 ; Sasakawa, 1992d: 4; Etienne & Martinez, 2003: 10.

Melanagromyza querula, Spencer & Stegmaier, 1973: 163 . Syn. Spencer, 1973b: 14.

Diagnosis. Wing length 2 mm. Arista conspicuously pilose. Mesonotum greenish-black; calypter whitish, fringe white. Aedeagus (Fig. 3 and 4): basiphallus elliptic, slightly sclerotized; distiphallus enlarged until medial point, covered with many tubercles and forming a sclerotized process at apex; hypandrium with apodeme.

Host-plants. Asteraceae— Ageratum conyzoides L., Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk, Melanthera nivea (L.) Small., Rolandra fruticosa (L.) Kuntze.

Distribution. * Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

Material examined. Brazil, Pará state, Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará ( UFPA), 1º28′24.2″S, 48º27′30.5″W, 04-IX-2015, N. Monteiro [collector], ex stems of Eclipta alba (2 ♂); same location, 04-IX-2015, N. Monteiro [collector], ex stems of Eclipta alba (6 ♀) .

Comments. Despite the conspicuously pilose arista, M. compositoides can only be satisfactorily differentiated from the other species of this genus based on the analysis of male genitalia, which is characteristical of this species ( Spencer & Stegmaier 1973).