Phaenobezzia maya Spinelli & Wirth, 1986

Huerta, Herón, Spinelli, Gustavo R. & Grogan Jr, William L., 2023, New records of predaceous midges in Bezzia Kieffer and Phaenobezzia Haeselbarth from Mexico with description of two new species of Bezzia (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), Zootaxa 5323 (4), pp. 535-552 : 549

Phaenobezzia maya Spinelli & Wirth

Phaenobezzia maya Spinelli & Wirth, 1986: 234 (male, female; Belize; figures; distribution). Dippolito & Spinelli 1995: 56 (record Rondonia, Brazil); Borkent & Wirth 1997: 135 (world catalog); Borkent & Spinelli 2000: 65 (new world catalog south of USA); Borkent & Spinelli 2007: 97 (Neotropical catalog; distribution); Borkent & Dominiak 2020: 213 (world catalog).

Diagnosis. The only species of Phaenobezzia with the following combination of characters: eyes separated by the diameter of 2–3 ommatidial facets; antenna with narrow bases of flagellar segments pale; legs yellowish brown; ventral palisade setae sparse on tarsomeres 1–3 of mid leg, dense on tarsomeres 1–3 of hind leg; tarsomeres on all legs with 4–5 pairs of stout, sharp-pointed ventral spines. Male genitalia with short gonostylus.

Material examined. MEXICO, Veracruz, Juchique de Ferrer, Dos Arroyos , LC15, cafetal, 7-sep-2008, CDC trap, 1 female CAIM . Yucatan, Reserva Ría Lagartos, Peten “Tucha”, 14-oct-1996, light trap, GPS [21° 35′ 46″ N, 88° 08′ 47″ W], Huerta, H., 1 male CAIM [CAIMCrt/lam-97-02897]; same date except, Tizimin, entrada Zac-Boo , selva baja caducifolia, light trap, 19-mar-1996, Ibáñez-Bernal, S., 1 female CAIM [CAIMCrt/lam-98-00731]. New Yucatan record.

Distribution. USA (Texas), Mexico (Morelos, Veracruz, Yucatan), Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil.

Remarks. This species is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, but it is only known in the Nearctic region from Texas. We provide the first record from Yucatan.