Megalopelma lopesi Afiune & Oliveira, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Afiune, Giovana P. S.
name: Oliveira, Sarah S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Mycetophilidae
Megalopelma
Megalopelma lopesi

description: Megalopelma lopesi sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: F32AD3FB-A3A5-411E-AE45-EB6176C83BCB
(Figs. 3, 4, 5)
Diagnosis: Mostly yellow with brown markings at the abdomen and the tip of the antennae (Figs. 3, 4, 5A–B). Wing membrane densely covered with macrotrichia, with some rows reflexed towards the wing base; Sc complete, reaching C beyond the base of R 2+3; sc-r is located almost at Sc apex, beyond R 2+3; Rs transverse, the same size as r-m; R 2+3 present; Rs and R 2+3 form a small trapezoid cell; r-m transverse almost longitudinal; anterior and posterior forks present (Fig. 5C). Male T9 elongated and setose, almost the same length as gonocoxite, heart-shaped at the base with rectangular apex covered by a ventral comb of dark spines (Fig. 5E); gonostyle hook-shaped, setose, folded into the terminalia (Figs. 3C, F; 5E, F).
Material examined. HOLOTYPE: 1♂ Brazil, Goiás state, Mineiros, Parque Nacional das Emas, Malaise, Parcela 2 Mata, -52.9964093068 -17.9022253779, 15.i.2016 – 20.ii.2016, Cols. Oliveira, Lopes & Fava [MZUSP, in slide]. PARATYPES. 1♀, same data as holotype [MZUSP, in slide]. 5♂ 7♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Goianápolis, Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP), malaise mata, Trilha do Tamanduá, -16,553250 -49,131511, 880 m, 18.i.2023 – 16.ii.2023, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [MZUSP, 4♂ 6♀ in alcohol, 1♂ 1♀ in slide]; 5♂ 7♀ same data, but 12.xii.2022 – 18.i.2023 [MZUSP, in alcohol]. 3♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Goianápolis, Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP), malaise mata, próximo ao reservatório, Trilha da Mangueira, - 16,555119 -49,172473, 18.i.2023 – 16.ii.2023, Oliveira, S.S. & equipe cols. [MZUSP, in alcohol]; 2♂ 4♀ same data but 16.ii.2023 – 21.iii.2023 [MZUSP, in alcohol]; 3♂ 5♀ same data but 12.xii.2022 – 18.i.2023, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [MZUSP, in alcohol]. 4♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Goianápolis, Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP), malaise mata, margem do córrego Carapina, Trilha da Onça, -16,534879 -49,113812, 790 m, 18.i.2023 – 16.ii.2023, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [MZUSP, in alcohol]. 1♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Cocalzinho de Goiás, Parque Estadual dos Pirineus (PEP), malaise mata estacional semidecidual, Casa dos Padres, 15°47’37.1”S 48°50’14.6”W, 17.i.2023 – 16.ii.2023, 1249m, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [MZUSP in alcohol]; 4♀ same data but 15.xii.2022 – 17.i.2023 [MZUSP, in alcohol].
Additional material is not included as paratypes because the specimens are damaged.
1♂ 1♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Goianápolis, Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP), malaise mata, Trilha do Tamanduá, -16,553250 -49,131511, 880 m, 18.i.2023 – 16.ii.2023, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [ZUFG, in alcohol, ♂ with abdomen broken medially, but still with the male genitalia, and ♀ without head]. 1♀ Brazil, Goiás state, Goianápolis, Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP), malaise mata, próximo ao reservatório, Trilha da Mangueira, -16,555119 -49,172473, 16.ii.2023 – 21.iii.2023, Oliveira, S.S. & equipe cols. [ZUFG, in alcohol, left-wing without its distal third]. 1♂ Brazil, Goiás state, Silvânia, Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Malaise, Mata de galeria, 16°37’48.7”S 48°39’57.7”W, 29.ii.2020 – 04.iv.2020, Cols. Oliveira, S.S. & Lopes, W.R. [ZUFG, in alcohol, left-wing broken].
Description. Male. Head. (Fig. 3C, D, E). Yellow and flattened dorsoventrally, vertex yellow with brown setae. Three ocelli triangularly arranged, the mid one smaller, positioned slightly more anterior than the others. Mid ocellus separated from the lateral ones by a distance equal to its size. Vertex yellow, setose. Occiput light brown, setose. Ocellar triangle well defined, dark brown, oval-shaped, wider than long. Eyes slightly set back near the scape, forming an S-curve. Scape and pedicel yellow, pedicel with longer setae dorsally along the apical margin. 14 flagellomeres, the first one with a yellow base and brownish at the distal half. Flagellomeres 2–3 light brown, 4–14 brown. Frons yellow, with sparse setae, clypeus, and labrum yellow, covered with thin setae. Labella and palpi yellow, getting lighter towards the apex. Five palpomeres, the first two very short, mid ones increasingly longer until the last palpomere very long and slender, at least two times the length of penultimate, with rounded tip. Short thin setae present at the anterior apical portion of all the palpomeres. Thorax. (Fig. 3B, C, D). Entirely yellow. Scutum yellow with lighter medial V-shaped marking, setose. Scutellum with rows of horizontally aligned scutellar bristles. Laterotergite setose with small setae at the dorsal half. Mediotergite with 2–4 small lateral setae. Halter light yellow, with few long setae on the pedicel and more dense and short setae on the knob. Coxae, femora, tibiae, and tarsi are light yellow. Trochanter dark brown distally. Hind tibiae with strong long brown posterior bristles. Front femur with strong long anterior bristles, mid and hind femur, at the apex in a cluster. Tibiae are all covered with brown setae, front tibiae with laterally aligned short bristles, and mid tibiae with laterally aligned long bristles. Hind tibiae with long bristles aligned in two lines, one lateral and one ventral. Wing. (Fig. 3C, E; 5C). Membrane homogeneously hyaline, densely covered with microtrichia in all cells. Macrotrichia distributed in rows reflexed towards the wing base. Sc complete, setose, reaching C beyond the base of R 2+3. Sc-r almost reaching Sc apex. R 2+3 present, forming a trapezoid cell with Rs. Rs transverse, the same size as r-m. C ends in the wing apex, extending the distance between R 5 and M 1 about a third. r-m transverse almost vertically. Anterior and posterior fork present, M 1 as long as the r-m length. The base of the posterior fork is distal from the base of the anterior fork. The stem of the anterior fork is very short compared to the fork itself, an eighth of the anterior fork length. M 1 runs parallel, diverging slightly toward the apex. The stem of the posterior fork is longer than the fork itself, around four times the posterior fork length. CuP is incomplete, and not present on the apical half of the wing. All apical veins are covered with dorsal macrotrichia.
Abdomen. (Fig. 3A–C, F). Mostly yellow, covered with dense brown setae. T1–T2 yellow. T3 yellow in the middle with two lateral brownish maculae. The tergite brown markings are progressively increasing in size. T4 is like T3 but with bigger brown maculae. T5 with the borders yellow and a large brown band with a yellowish middle. T6–T7 brown. S1–S4 yellow, S5 yellow with lateral spots brownish, S6–S7 brown. Terminalia. (Figs. 3A, C, F; 5A, C, E, F). Conspicuous, brown, except for the yellow apex of T9 (its distal third). Gonocoxite setose with dark maculae at the apex fused only at the ventral margin. T9 homogeneously setose, as long as the gonocoxite, with a decanter shape, in which the base is large and rounded, straight towards the apex, which is rectangular with rounded borders, covered by a group of ventral short dark spines. The gonostyle elongated, curved medially towards the inner region of the gonocoxite, with a bifid apex, homogeneously setose until its second third, being bare at its distal third (apex region). Aedeagus is long, slightly sclerotized, with a simple apex.
Female. (Fig. 4). Similar to the male, except for the following features. Palpus darker than in male, wing vein M 4 more sclerotized. Abdomen mostly yellow, with T1–T2 yellow, T3 yellow with distal lateral light brown spots. T4–T7 yellow with distal lateral brown spots. S1–S5 yellow, S6–S7 brown. Terminalia. (Figs. 4A, C, E, F. 5B, D). Short and light yellow. S6–S7 brownish, S8 brownish, whole setose, with a medial cleft conferring a slightly cordiform shape, with long setae in the distal margin around the cleft. Ce1 and Ce2 flattened, setose, and almost of the same length. Ce1 with a more rectangular shape, Ce2 is ovoid.
Variations. Thorax. The light V-shaped medial marking is not always visible. Wing. R 2+3 might be partially or fully fused to Rs, forming a small triangle cell, or even R 2+3 appearing to be absent. In some specimens that might happen in just one of the wings (Figs. 3C, E; 5B). Abdomen. Some males and females might have yellow T3, light brown T4–T5 markings, light brown T6–T7, and light brown terminalia. (Fig. 5A, B). The discoloration might be due to the alcohol exposure effect.
Biology. Unknown.
Distribution. Brazil (Goiás state, under Cerrado landscape, in the UCs of PNE, FLONA, PEP, and PEAMP).
Etymology: The species’ name is in memory and tribute to Prof. Dr. Welinton Ribamar Lopes (1976–2023), a great professor and friend. Welinton contributed significantly to various projects, participated in field trips, and supervised many students during his time at the Universidade Federal de Goiás. He was always kind, polite, smiling, and lovely with all the staff, all the students, and professors.
Comments. Among the five Neotropical species of Megalopelma known, M. lopesi sp. nov. resembles M. cellularis Edwards, 1940, but has important differences in head, palpi, halter, and abdomen coloration. For instance, in one hand M. lopesi sp. nov. has the head yellow, tergites 1–2 yellow, T3 yellow in the middle with two lateral brownish maculae, T4 like T3 but with bigger brown maculae, T5 with the borders yellow and a large brown band with yellowish middle, T6–T7 brown, sternites 1–4 yellow, S5 yellow with lateral spots brownish, S6–S7 brown, halter all light yellow (Figs. 3, 4, 5). In other hand, M. cellularis has the head light brownish, tergites 1–2 orange, T3–T7 blackish to a variable extent, the dark areas forming complete bands on T6–T7 and interrupted in the middle on T3–T5, sternites orange, halter darkened at the base (see Amorim & Oliveira 2013: 12, Fig. 26). Besides, a detailed comparison between male genitalia is not possible because M. cellularis was described based on a type series composed of four female specimens, two of which are still housed at the NHM, with the lectotype designated by Amorim & Oliveira (2013: 15).
description: Published as part of Afiune, Giovana P. S. & Oliveira, Sarah S., 2024, Eighty years later: a new Neotropical species of Megalopelma Enderlein (Mycetophilidae) from the Cerrado and its conservation units, pp. 519-530 in Zootaxa 5523 (5) on pages 522-525, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5523.5.2, http://zenodo.org/record/13949841