Phytobia pluviasilvae Boucher 2025, n. sp.
Creators: name: Marc, Stéphanie Boucher
name: Pollet, Marc
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Agromyzidae
Phytobia
Phytobia pluviasilvae

description: Phytobia pluviasilvae Boucher, n. sp.
(Figs 16; 17)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 729A6EFF-6882-42BA-835A-4544F923F80F
TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Guyane • ♂; Mitaraka, near site MIT-A-RBF1, river; 25.III.2015; MT (6 m); leg. Julien Touroult & Eddy Poirier (FR-GU/Mitaraka/2015); sample code: MITARAKA/189, sorted by Marc Pollet, 2015; MNHN.
ETYMOLOGY. — This species (from sample 189) was collected from a 6 m Malaise trap installed in tropical lowland rainforest over the Alama River (Boucher & Pollet 2021). The specific name is referring to the habitat of the type specimen (“pluvia” for rain; “silva” for forest).
DIAGNOSIS. — This species differs from all other Neotropical species of Phytobia by the combination of the following characters: wing hyaline; presutural dc present; abdomen largely yellow; legs all brown; scutellum and prescutellar area yellow; anepisternum mostly brown, with a narrow yellow border dorsally; male phallus with two very long and coiled tubules.
DISTRIBUTION. — French Guiana.
HOST. — Unknown.
DESCRIPTION
Male
Orbital plate not projecting in front of eye in profile; frons width including orbital plates 0.38 mm at midpoint; frons becoming narrower anteriorly; orbital plate 0.17 × width of frons at midpoint; lunule small, wide and low, with silvery pubescence (Fig. 16B); frons and orbital plate mat; ocellar triangle small, not extending beyond anterior ocellus; two (three on one side) reclinate ors and two inclinate ori; orbital setulae reclinate, in one row; first flagellomere small, rounded apically with short white pubescence; arista long with short pubescence; gena narrow, at midpoint about 0.04 × maximum eye height; clypeus narrow, widely open with upper margin rounded; small epistoma present (Fig. 16D); 4+1 dc with only two posterior ones well-developed, all other dc less than half the size of posterior ones; prsc absent; acrostichal setulae numerous, in about 9-10 rows; fore femur with a row of three long ventrolateral setae in addition to a few shorter ones; mid tibia with two posterolateral setae; wing length 2.28 mm in male; last section of M 4 approximately 0.83 times length of penultimate; vein R 4+5 ending very close to wing tip; subcostal vein extending to costa independently from R 1 and distal margin of R 1 straight, not expanded near junction (Fig. 16C).
A B C D E F
Colour
Frons mat black with small reddish spot near lunule; orbital plate mat brown with small yellow patch anteriorly (Fig. 16B); antennae brown; clypeus dark brown, subshining; palpus and face brown. Mesonotum brown except for largely yellow prescutellar area and yellow scutellum (Fig. 16E); brown area of mesonotum separated into two bands laterally (Fig. 16E); postpronotum yellow with large brown spot centrally (Fig.16A); notopleuron yellow; anepisternum mostly brown except for narrowly yellow area dorsally; all other pleura brown; legs brown (Fig. 16A); halter yellow; calypter, margin and fringe brown. All abdominal tergites yellow with brown spots medially and laterally (Fig. 16F).
Male genitalia
Phallus divided into two very long and coiled tubules (Fig. 17A, B); hypandrium narrow, U-shaped and without apodeme (Fig. 17B); postgonites well-developed; surstylus (Fig. 17B, inset) with a few long hairs and separated from epandrium by suture; ejaculatory apodeme with small blade (Fig. 17C).
REMARKS
Although the narrow, elongated hypandrium is unusual for this genus (broadly rounded in most Phytobia) and the phallus of this species is most similar to some Neotropical species of Japanagromyza, this new species belongs to the genus Phytobia on the basis of wing venation, the shape of the surstyli, the presence of 4+ 1 dc, and the presence of postgonites. This species was identified as morphospecies Phytobia Mit- 1 in Boucher & Pollet (2021).
description: Published as part of Marc, Stéphanie Boucher & Pollet, Marc, 2025, New species and new records of leaf-miner flies (Diptera, Agromyzidae) from rainforest and inselberg at Mitaraka (French Guiana), pp. 13-42 in Zoosystema 47 (2) on pages 33-37, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2025v47a2, http://zenodo.org/record/14670952