Rafaelomyia Soares, Capellari & Ramos-Pastrana 2023, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Soares, Matheus M. M.
name: Capellari, Renato S.
name: Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Dolichopodidae
Rafaelomyia

description: Rafaelomyia Soares, Capellari & Ramos-Pastrana gen. nov.
Type species: Rafaelomyia inpa Soares, Capellari & Ramos-Pastrana sp. nov., by present designation. Gender feminine.
Etymology. The new genus is named after the Brazilian entomologist Dr. José Albertino Rafael (INPA), who has contributed substantially to the knowledge of the Neotropical invertebrate fauna, collecting, leading projects and training specialists in the most varied taxonomic groups, and adding the Greek feminine word myia, meaning fly.
Diagnosis (males). Head. Face wide, about as wide as or wider than ocellar tubercle, with eyes nearly parallelsided (Figs 1C, 7C, 9C) (narrow face in the entire type series of R. singularis sp. nov., Fig. 5C, is probably an artifact produced during specimen drying); antenna inserted on top of head (1/4 of head height distant from vertex), dorsal surface of scape bare, postpedicel short, sub-triangular, with stylus inserted on top of it. Thorax. Posterior mesonotum distinctly flattened (Figs 1D, 3C, 5B, 7B, 9D), acrostichal setae bi-seriate, ending between the fourth and fifth pairs of dorsocentrals, 6 pairs of strong dorsocentrals setae. Wing. Anal lobe developed, membrane with “ bosse alaire ” (depression on the distal part of vein R 4+5) (e.g., Figs 1F, 7F), vein R 2+3 usually thickened before apex (Figs 3F, 5F, 9F), vein R 4+5 and M 1 nearly straight. Legs. Femur III with 1 long dorsal seta near apex (e.g., Fig. 5A). Tibia I with anterodorsal row of short setae and ventral row of long slender setae from basal 1.5/6 to apex (e.g., Fig. 1B). Tibia II with 1 long apicoventral seta (about 1/2 as long as IIt 1) (e.g., Fig. 5D). Tarsus I: It 1 with posteroventral row of short stout setae, ventral surface of It 1–5 mostly bare and covered with weak silvery pruinosity (all MSSC) (e.g., Figs 1B, 3B). Abdomen. Six segments clearly visible, tergite 6 setose, segment 7 with reduced sclerites and not forming a peduncle for the male hypopygium (e.g., Figs 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A); hypopygium: cercus long and branched (e.g., Figs 2C, D, 6C, D, 8B, C), cercus unbranched in R. exu sp. nov. (Fig. 4C, D) surstylus as a single lobe, indistinctly fused to genital capsule (e.g., Figs 2E, 4E, 6E), postgonite noose-shaped, surrounding the base of the phallus (e.g., Figs 2F, 4F). Female (Figs 11, 12): Similar to male, except for MSSC, with six visible abdominal segments, acanthophorite divided into two hemitergites, each bearing five spines.
Remarks. It is noteworthy that all the examined specimens were taken on moist rocks near or over streams, in relative highlands in the Amazonian rainforest (800–2000 meters high, Fig. 13A–C). These data may indicate habitat preferences in the genus, as observed in some species of the genus Pseudosympycnus Robinson (Soares & Capellari 2020; Soares & Ale-Rocha 2022).
Key to males of Rafaelomyia gen. nov.
1 Femora mostly brown to dark brown (Figs 3A, 5A).......................................................... 2
- Femora mostly yellow (Figs 1A, 7A, 9A).................................................................. 3
2 Femur II with antero- and posteroventral rows of long and strong setae (Fig. 3B, D); tibia III lacking posteroventral rows of long setae near apex; cercus unbranched (Fig. 4C, D); phallus trident-shaped in ventral view (Fig. 4G)................................................................................................... Rafaelomyia exu sp. nov.
- Femur II with 1 strong anteroventral seta near base (Fig. 5D); tibia III with posterior to posteroventral rows of long setae from apical 4/6 to 5.5/6; cercus branched (Fig. 6C, D); phallus mostly tubular and widening at apex (Fig. 6F, G).......................................................................................... Rafaelomyia singularis sp. nov.
3 Tibiae I and II yellow to dark yellow (Fig. 9A, B); R 2+3 thickened at middle (Fig. 9F); basal 1/2 of dorsal edge of phallus with dentiform processes (Fig. 10F)..................................................... Rafaelomyia xavieri sp. nov.
- Tibiae I and II brown to dark brown (Figs 1A, B, 7A); R 2+3 not thickened (Figs 1F, 7F); basal 1/2 of dorsal edge of phallus lacking dentiform processes (Figs 2F, 8E).................................................................. 4
4 Body length 3.8–4.4 mm (Fig. 1A); wing light brown (Fig. 1F); outer branch of cercus with short, truncated inner projection near apex (Fig. 2C, D); phallus with 2 long, narrow acute processes near apex (Fig. 2F, G)....... Rafaelomyia inpa sp. nov.
- Body length 6 mm (Fig. 7A); wing dark brown (Fig. 7F); outer branch of cercus with wide, rounded inner projection near apex (Fig. 8B, C); phallus with lobulated processes near apex (Fig. 8E, F).................. Rafaelomyia uniamazonia sp. nov.
description: Published as part of Soares, Matheus M. M., Capellari, Renato S. & Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany, 2023, Rafaelomyia, a remarkable new genus of South American long-legged flies (Diptera, Dolichopodidae), pp. 151-172 in Zootaxa 5389 (2) on pages 152-153, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5389.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10406732