Amiota wheeleri 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 wheeleri

description: Amiota wheeleri, sp. nov.
Figures 18C–D, 19I, 27, 85B
DIAGNOSIS: Medium-sized fly (ThL 1.18 mm), dark brown to somewhat black dorsally; outer paraphysis long, laterally flattened, with apical hook, large dorsal spine perpendicular to paraphysis, left spine long, tapered to point, [right spine broken in holotype]; inner paraphyses asymmetrical, heavily sclerotized, each with 3 large, twisting spines; aedeagal apodeme narrow, nearly flat, distally flared, distal margin deeply notched.
DESCRIPTION: Medium-sized fly (ThL 1.18), dark brown, grading black dorsally, legs yellow. Frons black. Characteristic markings faded [likely due to preservation of holotype]. Palp yellow. Tergites 1 and 2 lightly colored. Arista: long, plumose; longest branch D1; A.R. 0.48; 3 long dorsal, 2 long ventral branches, none pointed mediad/laterad; arista trunk with short to medium microtrichia, including on apical half. Male genitalia: Epandrium with narrow dorsal connection, dorsal incision indistinct, grading into surrounding membrane; setae clustered on ventral lobe, with a line of single setae ascending dorsally to apex. Cercus long, oval, distinct from surround membrane. Surstylus wide, paddle shaped, middle region and ventral margin with scattered setulae; 13 prensisetae, apices blunt, of equal size; fingerlike lobe adjacent to lateralmost prensiseta. Subepandrial sclerite broad, wide, prominent notch creating posterior apex, without any appendage. Outer paraphysis long, laterally flattened, distal end rounded; heavily sclerotized, preapical, curved dorsal claw, attached on inner surface of paraphysis, sensilla lining rounded margin at distal end; large proximal spine, perpendicular to paraphysis, heavily sclerotized, oriented dorsally; left appendage slightly sinuous, tapering to point; right appendage shorter, the distal end serrated (possibly broken); proximal to long appendages, 7–8 sensilla on lateral side as well as dorsally. Inner paraphyses asymmetrical, heavily sclerotized; each with 3 large, twisting spines. Aedeagal apodeme long and narrow, the distal end widely flared, deeply notched, width at apex lobes 0.7× length of aedeagal apodeme. Hypandrium U-shaped, simple, lateral arms thick in ventral. Ejaculatory apodeme not examined. Head and thorax measurements: (n = 1, Am 73) FL/FW 0.76, EL/ EW 1.45, EL/CW 10.16, FML/FMW 0.43, PR /RR 0.77, ThL 1.18 mm.
TYPE MATERIAL: Holotype: male: 10 mi. N. Ft. Davis, Texas, [30.781638, -103.895047], MR Wheeler, WB Heed, June 1951, “2174.6,” Am 73, [specimen glued to paper point, dissected]. Deposited in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
OTHER MATERIAL EXAMINED: Known only from the holotype.
ETYMOLOGY: Named for Marshall R. Wheeler (1917–2010), graduate of Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, and professor of biology at the University of Texas at Austin, who collected many specimens used in this revision, and for his many contributions to drosophilid systematics.
DISTRIBUTION: Amiota wheeleri is currently only known from the mountains of West Texas.
COMMENTS: This species is apparently of close relation to Amiota texas, which is also found in the mountains of West Texas. The lack of white spots on the holotype is probably due to preservation techniques.
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 48-49, DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.458.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7400026