Fannia palta Grisales & De Carvalho 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Grisales, Diana
name: De Carvalho, Claudio J. B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Fanniidae
Fannia
Fannia palta

description: Fannia palta sp. nov.
(Figs. 1H, 3 J–L, 5H, 6H, 8H)
Diagnosis. Fore tarsomere 1 with 1 broad leaf–like spine at the tip of posterior surface and another tiny leaf–like spine; tarsomeres 3–5 flattened; tarsomere 1 and 2 yellowish on apical half.
Description. Holotype male (Fig. 1H).
Head: eye densely setulose. Frontal vitta velvety black, pollinose. 15 fr. Ocellar triangle black; oc proclinate and developed, 5 less developed setulae on ocellar area. Fronto–orbital plate black and pollinose. Parafacial bare, narrowing ventrally, golden pollinose. Fronto–genal suture and gena golden pollinose, gena with long setae. Scape black, 3 setae reaching pedicel. Pedicel black pollinose, dorsal setae developed, one much longer than the others. Postpedicel black, golden pilose, 2 times the length of pedicel. Arista black, with short pubescence, rays shorter than width of base of arista. Palpus black and slightly spatulate.
Thorax: black. Scutum without vitae. Acr 2:3–4, not arranged in rows. Dc 2:3, long, posterior–most postsutural pair developed. Pprn 2, developed. Pra 2. Pro–epimeron setulose.
Wing: brownish, with upper third between vein C and half of vein R 2+3, and cells br, bm and cup darker. Calypters whitish. Haltere brown with stem and base lighter in colour.
Legs: black, pulvilli brownish and tarsi black, except for fore tarsomere 1 and 2 with apical half yellowish. Fore femur setulose on posterior surface with 1 row of long pv and d; ventral surface bare. Fore tibia with 1 strong pre–apical d; 1 apical pv; 1 apical v. Fore tarsomere 1 with 1 broad leaf–like spine at the tip of posterior surface and another tiny leaf–like spine (Fig. 3J); tarsomeres 3–5 flattened (Fig. 3K). Mid femur with 1 row of decreasing av from base to apex; 2 rows of long pv with small tuft of setae with hooked apex on apical third. Mid tibia with 2 pronounced constrictions on ventral surface on basal half area, densely setulose on entire surface, 1 v; 1 developed pre–apical ad; 1 median a and 1 apical; 1 apical av; 1 apical modified pv; 2 pd; (Fig. 3L). Hind coxa with setae on posterior margin. Hind femur on ventral surface with strong pre–apical protuberance and tuft of long setae on the protuberance; 1 row of ad, 4 stronger setae running towards dorsal surface; posterior surface with strong protuberance on median third (Fig. 3 M–N). Hind tibia with 1 median d and 1 pre–apical; 1 median ad; 3 av on apical half and 1 apical; anterior surface with short setae and 1 short apical; 2 strong median av, 1 apical (Fig. 3 M– N).
Abdomen: elongate, black, weakly greyish pollinose with developed setae. Sternite 1 densely setulose. Sternite 5 (Fig. 5H). Terminalia (Fig. 6H): epandrium wider than long, strong setae on basal half, short apical internal expansions; cercal plate elongate, globose, apically wide, short weak setae on the plate; surstylus articulates with epandrium, curved apically, shaped as a comma in lateral view, basal half with internal basal expansion; bacilliform process spiral and simple.
Female: unknown.
Biology. Label information indicates that this species occurs in the Andean highlands, above 3000 m, from southern Ecuador to the Central Cordillera in Colombia. Nothing else is known about its habits or biology.
Comments. Fannia palta sp. nov. is morphologically similar to Fannia albitarsis Stein, 1911, in the first fore tarsomere having 1 broad leaf–like spine at the tip of posterior surface but differ in the fore tarsi that are not strong, flattened and yellowish. Fannia palta sp. nov. has fore tarsomeres 1 and 2 with apical half yellowish and the remainder brownish, tarsomeres 3–5 slightly flattened.
Etymology. Name in apposition. The species epithet refers to the Palta indigenous people that once inhabited the Province of Loja in the pre-Incan era.
Type material. Holotype male (UTPL). ECUADOR: 13155 – (EC) Loja: Cajanuma / Podocarpus National Park, trail Oso / de Anteojos, 3000m, 27/02/2009 – 5/03/2009 (YPT), leg. Marc Pollet &/ Anja De Braekeleer, sorted by Marc Pollet – sample code: EC/ 2009 – 37 / MP &ACB–011. Paratype. COLOMBIA. Antioquia: San José de la montaña/ El Congo. 10–15\set\2011/ 3000m. L.Rios /VSR pez trampa 5 (1 male, CEUA). Voucher code DG013.
The abdomen of holotype was taken to dissect the terminalia and it was fixed with the holotype. The paratype was used as voucher in a molecular study of Fanniidae (Voucher code DG013).
Distribution. Colombia: Antioquia department (Central Cordillera, Andean region); Ecuador: Loja province (Andean region) (Fig. 8H).
description: Published as part of Grisales, Diana & De Carvalho, Claudio J. B., 2019, Highland biodiversity of Fanniidae (Insecta, Diptera): fourteen new species from the Andes and Central America, pp. 330-360 in Zootaxa 4551 (3) on pages 344-345, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4551.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/2622947