Amiota elsaltoensis Jones & Grimaldi 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Jones, Lance E.
name: Grimaldi, David A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Drosophilidae
Amiota
Amiota elsaltoensis

description: Amiota elsaltoensis, sp. nov.
Figures 29C–D, 30C–D, 32, 86B
DIAGNOSIS: Small fly (ThL 0.97 mm), nearly black; frons black dorsally, ventral third silvery near lateral corners; outer paraphysis long, linear, tapering to a point, 3 pairs of slender, dorsal spines curved inward; base of inner paraphysis with 3 sets of medially pointed lobes, terminating in 3 pairs of dorsally pointed appendages, 2 apical sets fused at base, forming a semicircular inner region.
DESCRIPTION: Small fly (ThL 0.97 mm), nearly black, fading slightly to dark brown ventrally; legs yellow. Frons black dorsally, ventral third silvery in lateral corners. Cheek relatively wide (EL/CW 11.83), whitish gray posteriorly. Palp yellow. Tergites 1 and 2 lightly colored. Arista: Medium, plumose; longest branch D3; A.R. 0.28; 4 dorsal, 1 ventral branch; branch D4 pointed mediad; arista trunk with medium microtrichia nearly to apex. Male genitalia: Epandrium split medially, margins not grading into surrounding membrane; ventral lobes very long in posterior view, extending well beyond surstyli. Cercus semicircular, not grading into surrounding membrane; dorsal membranous area large, triangular. Surstylus triangular or wedge-shaped; 12 short prensisetae, apices blunt; numerous scattered setulae along lateral margin on ventral third; small lobe on apicallateral corner not extending beyond prensisetae. Subepandrial sclerite simple, tapering to an acute point; lacking subepandrial appendage. Outer paraphysis large and distinctive: long; linear, slightly sinuous in shape, especially distal third; apex tapered to blunt point; 5–7 sensilla clustered subapically; dorsally with 3 equally spaced pairs of slender spines, each pair curved medially, overlapping; base of outer paraphysis in lateral view with a dorsoposteriorly pointed spine, base cuplike, intersecting perpendicularly with a strongly hooked appendage. Inner paraphysis base with 3 pairs of basal lobes, pointed medially; distal portion with 3 pairs of appendages pointed dorsally; posterior pairs fused at base, forming a semicircular shape; basalmost pair of appendages simple, with a small lateral spine. Aedeagal apodeme 1.25× longer than wide, broad and shieldlike in lateral view, not strongly bent; lateral margins slightly constricted at middle; distal end flared as wide as base with a shallow concave depression/ emargination. Hypandrium U-shaped; lateral arms thickened with a distinctive gonopod; stalk small, expanding at the apex to a wide oval pad. Ejaculatory apodeme small, 0.4× length of epandrium, barely sclerotized. Head and thorax measurements: (n = 1, Am 1455) FL/FW 0.59, EL/EW 1.25, EL/CW 11.83, FML/FMW 0.26, PR/RR 0.54, ThL 0.97 mm.
TYPE MATERIAL: Holotype: male: 14 mi. SW. El Salto, Dgo. [Durango] MEX., [23.786449, -105.597725], 8000′, June “26” 1964, J.F. McAlpine, attracted to man, Am 1455, [specimen glued to pin, dissected]. Deposited in the Canadian National Collection (CNC).
OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: Known only from the holotype.
ETYMOLOGY: Derived from El Salto, city in Durango State of Mexico, a productive locality for Amiota.
DISTRIBUTION: Amiota elsaltoensis is currently known only from the holotype in the vicinity of El Salto within the state of Durango.
COMMENTS: This species exhibits the characteristic behavior of attraction to the eyes and face common to many Amiota.
description: Published as part of Jones, Lance E. & Grimaldi, David A., 2022, Revision Of The Nearctic Species Of The Genus Amiota Loew (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-181 in Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2022 (458) on pages 51-65, DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.458.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7400026