Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis Menezes & Calhau & Ale-Rocha 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Menezes, Isis Sá
name: Calhau, Julia
name: Ale-Rocha, Rosaly
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Heleomyzidae
Neorhinotora
Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis

description: Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis sp. nov.
(Figs. 1 A–F, 2 A–I)
Diagnosis. Wing with smoky brown spots towards the base of R 2+3, on transverse veins and at distal end of veins R 2+3, R 4+5 and M 1. Cell r 1 with three supernumerary veins. Surstylus robust, geniculate, median portion with projection on inner side and a small protuberance on dorsal surface.
Description. Holotype male. Body: 5.38 mm. Wing: 4.27 mm.
Head. (Figs. 1 B, C) Subtrapezoidal, compound eyes obovate and prominent. Frons with brown pruinescence on anterior half, becoming golden towards occiput and yellowish around eyes. Two fronto-orbital bristles, the anterior one thin and half the length of posterior one. Ocellar triangle brown, subshiny, translucent, darker on ocellar tubercle. Median occipital sclerite yellow with sparse pale golden pruinescence on lower half. Occiput bright yellow, with divergent translucent brown stripes lateral to median occipital sclerite. Antenna reddish brown, slightly darker on apicodorsal portion of postpedicel; arista glabrous, mostly brown, with yellow basal third and white apex; second aristomere short, as long as wide. Lunule and face brown, with thick golden pruinescence, except on lateral protuberances of face with brown pruinescence. Anterior portion of gena brown with dense brown to golden pruinescence, posterior portion light brown with sparse golden pruinescence in lateral view. Postgena yellow, slightly darker on lower margin with thin golden setae. Subcranial margin prominent, broad and brown. Clypeus prominent, shiny, laterally with silver pruinescence. Palpus spatulate, dark brown with brownish golden pruinescence, short, about 2/3 the length of clypeus in lateral view. Proboscis dark brown, elongate, about 2x the length of palpus.
Thorax. (Figs. 1 A, D) Scutum subshiny, dark brown, with silver to golden sparse pruinescence, forming three dorsocentral longitudinal stripes, less defined posteriorly, dorsally covering the anterior half of postpronotal lobe. Scutellum subtrapezoidal with lateral protuberances at the apex, the dorsal surface strongly swollen, longitudinally excavated; yellow with two brown lateral stripes outside the groove, darkening towards the apex; pruinescence pale golden, sparse only around lateral bristles. Pleura subshiny, dark brown except proepisternum and metathorax lighter; pruinescence golden to silver, sparse, forming small spots from the median region of proepisternum to the anterior margin of anepisternum, on posterior half of anepimeron, lateral surface of anatergite, and narrow bands on posteroventral margin of katepisternum and posterodorsal margin of anepisternum.
Legs. Fore coxa and femur dilated, dark brown; mid and hind coxae brown; trochanters yellow; mid femur brown with apical portion and P surface light brown, not dilated; fore tibia brown, mid and hind tibiae brown with median portions lighter; hind femur brown with posteromedial portion, P and V surfaces yellow, slightly dilated compared to mid femur; tarsi with first and second tarsomeres yellow; third tarsomeres brown, yellow on mid tarsomere, fourth and fifth tarsomeres dark brown. Fore coxa and femur with silver pruinescence, which is finer on A surface of fore femur. Fore femur with AD setae, beyond middle, slightly larger than covering setulae, with row of long and strong AV setae, row of long and thin PV setae and several short and spinous setae on V surface; fore tibia with a row of short, spinous setae on V surface; first tarsomere of fore tarsus with subbasal V setae slightly larger than others; mid femur with 1 AD and 1 apical AV setae slightly stronger and longer than covering setulae, row of AV setae on apical half long and strong, long and thin PV setae and short, spinous and misaligned PV-V setae; mid tibia with elongate and robust apical AV seta, apical setae on A, V and PV surfaces slightly stronger than others; hind femur with 1 posteromedial D seta, row of long and strong AV setae on apical 2/3, 1 subbasal AV, long and thin seta, 1 AD and 1 apical PD setae slightly longer than covering setulae; hind tibia with 1 long and robust apical AV seta.
Wing. (Fig. 1 A, F). Subhyaline with smoky brown spots towards the base of R 2+3, on transverse veins and at distal end of veins R 2+3, R 4+5 and M 1; spots not connected to each other. Cell r 1 with three supernumerary veins.
Abdomen (Fig. 1 E). Subshiny, dark brown with medium portion of tergites and sternites light brown; setae sparse, thin, and more elongate on lateral margin. Male terminalia (Fig. 2): Segment 6 with bilobed ventral margin (Fig. 2 C). Epandrium with oval margin around the anus. Bacilliform sclerites elongated, free from each other and connected to the hypandrium, inverted U-shaped (Fig. 2 E). Surstylus robust, geniculate, median portion with projection on inner side and a small protuberance on dorsal surface (Figs. 2 E, F), flattened laterally with an acuminate apex directed to dorsal surface (Fig. 2 D) and covered by robust setae on apical half. Cerci fused to each other and to epandrium, triangular, narrow, longer than wide and with several elongate setae (Figs. 2 E, F). Ventral plate of hypandrium with apical margin slightly trilobed (Fig 2 G). Phallus obovate, wide with rounded apex (Figs. 2 G, I). Ejaculatory apodeme club-shaped with rough apical half (Figs. 2 G, H, I).
Female. Unknown.
Variation: The supernumerary veins of the paratype are complete, extending from R 2+3 to Costa. In the holotype, the veins are incomplete, not reaching the Costa. It is also common in the genus to vary the number of supernumerary veins in cell r 1, but this variation is restricted to only one of the wings.
Type material: Holotype ♂ (USNM): Nº. 174-35, Date. 8.23.56. Loc. [El Salvador] S[anta]. Tecla, Col. P. A. B / Neorhinotora new species, det. Woodley 2006. Specimen in good condition. PARATYPE: 1 ♂, same data as holotype. Terminalia dissected; left wing missing, right wing mounted between microslides.
Distribution: El Salvador (Santa Tecla).
Etymology. The specific name refers to the country, El Salvador, where the specimens were collected.
Comments: Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis sp. nov. is closest to N. diversa due to the presence of supernumerary veins, but it differs by wing color pattern with brown spots only on the transverse veins, on the distal portion of the radial veins and on M 1, three supernumerary veins in cell r 1; arista glabrous; structures of the male genitalia, such as the geniculate form of the surstylus and ventral plate of hypandrium with trilobed apical margin. N. diversa has the wing with many brown spots all over its surface, five supernumerary veins in cell r 1 and two supernumerary veins in cell r 2+3; arista micropubescent; surstylus, consisting of two projections, one facing the dorsal surface and the other, much smaller in size, facing the ventral surface in lateral view, and ventral plate of hypandrium longer than wide, with rounded apical margin.
Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis sp. nov. is the undescribed species from El Salvador recorded by McAlpine & Woodley (2010) deposited in USNM, with probable conspecific specimens deposited at Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidade INBio, Costa Rica. A second Neorhinotora species, N. aristalis, was also newly recorded by McAlpine & Woodley (2010) for Central America (Panama).
In the specimen of N. aristalis from Central America there is a small variation in the wing, an incomplete supernumerary vein in cell r 1, differing from the majority of N. aristalis specimens collected in Brazil, in which the supernumerary vein is absent. However, in some specimens from the Amazon, an inconspicuous vein or remnant of the vein was observed, at least on one of the wings (Figs. 1 G, H, I). This feature can help to distinguish females of N. aristalis from females of N. amapaensis, two remarkably similar species, where only males are differentiated by the characters of the genitalia. The ability to sort the females of these species would also allow us to obtain more accurate distribution records.
description: Published as part of Menezes, Isis Sá, Calhau, Julia & Ale-Rocha, Rosaly, 2021, Description of a new species of Neorhinotora Lopes, 1934 (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) from Central America, pp. 581-586 in Zootaxa 4969 (3) on pages 582-585, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4969.3.10, http://zenodo.org/record/4751343