Cerodontha (Poemyza) rafaelii Sousa, Gomes & Couri, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: de Sousa, Viviane R.
name: Gomes, Marina M.
name: Couri, Márcia S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Agromyzidae
Cerodontha
Cerodontha rafaelii

description: Cerodontha (Poemyza) rafaelii sp. nov.
Figs 6, 7
https://zoobank.org/f7bf5f70-150e-46ec-aa39-c2034636521f
Type material. HOLOTYPE: 1♂ INPA: Brasil, AC, Bujari, FES Antimary 9°20’01”S 68°19’17”W, 18–31.viii.2017, Malaise grande, E.F. Morato & J.A. Rafael cols. – Rede BIA. PARATYPES: 1♂ INPA, 1♂ MNRJ: MNRJ-ENT1-69664, same data as holotype.
Description. Wing length: 1.9–2.0 mm (♂). Length of ultimate section of vein M 4 divided by penultimate section: 0.7. Eye height divided by gena height: 10. Ocellar triangle short, ending before posterior ors. Fronto-orbital plate slightly prominent when viewed laterally. Parafacial not prominent. Lunule ending before the posterior ori. First flagellomere slightly pointed apically, with very short hairs. Arista short pubescent. Clypeus large. Gena narrow and rounded, not projecting posteriorly (Fig. 6A–C).
Chaetotaxy. Two incurved ori, three reclinate ors. Ocellar and postocellar setae subequal to fronto-orbitals. One row of long and reclinate orbital setulae. Eye with sparsely pilosity. One pair of prominent setae apically on each palpus. One presutural, fine and short, little more developed than acrostichals and three postsutural dorsocentral setae, third shorter and thinner than second and first. Six to seven rows of acrostichal setulae. Prescutellar acrostichal setae absent. Lateral scutellar setae fine and reduced, about 1/3 of the length of the apical setae. Mid tibia with one short and fine lateromedial seta.
Coloration. Body mostly shining dark brown. Fronto-orbital plate brown, slightly shining, with inner margin yellowish. Ocellar triangle slightly shining dark brown, with a yellowish edge. Frons dark brown, with grey pruinosity. Lunule yellowish brown, with grey pruinosity. Face and gena yellowish brown. Antennae yellowish brown. Arista brown, with base yellowish. Clypeus dark brown, slightly shining. Palpus yellowish brown. Labellum paler yellow. Scutum and scutellum shining dark brown. Pleurae dark brown, with a yellow stripe on superior and posterior margins of anepisternum. Notopleuron and posterior margin of postpronotum yellow. Katepimeron yellow basally. Wing hyaline, yellow at base. Calypter grey, margin and hairs brown. Halter yellow. Legs dark brown, except all femora yellow. Abdomen shining dark brown, yellow only to basal margins of tergites.
Genitalia. Epandrium with long, pointed supra-anal process and about six short spines on inner margin. Cerci long and narrow, long setulose. Surstylus small and narrow, incurved, with about 14 fine setae (Fig. 7A, B). Subepandrial sclerite pointed apically. Hypandrium U-shaped. Basiphallus medium size, tubular, sclerotized ventrally. Hypophallus large and sclerotized, with short and curved clear extension apically. Paraphallus narrow. Mesophallus short and straight, slightly wavy when viewed from lateral view. Distiphallus bifid at base, but fused and broad at apex (Fig. 7C, D). Ejaculatory apodeme with a large blade and very narrow stem with a small, rounded sub-basal process, sperm pump oval, with a rounded sclerotized process laterally (Fig. 7E).
Etymology. The name is in honor of the important Brazilian taxonomist, Dr. José Albertino Rafael from INPA, who contributed with part of the material herein studied.
Host. Unknown.
Distribution. Brazil.
Remarks. The distiphallus of this species is unusual when compared to other known Cerodontha species, which typically have a long and bifid distiphallus. In this species, the distiphallus is bifid at the base but fused and broad at the tip, resembling the distiphallus of a few other species such as Cerodontha (C.) trispinella Spencer, 1977 and Cerodontha (C.) trispinosa Spencer, 1977. Although these similar species belong to a different subgenus, the presence of lateral scutellar setae, the absence of acrostichal setae and the apex of first flagellomere only slightly angulate confirm that the new species belongs to the Poemyza subgenus.
description: Published as part of de Sousa, Viviane R., Gomes, Marina M. & Couri, Márcia S., 2024, On Cerodontha (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from Brazil: new species and new records, pp. 1-17 in Zoologia (e 23038) (e 23038) 41 on page 10, DOI: 10.1590/S1984-4689.v41.e23038, http://zenodo.org/record/14704436