Simulium (Pternaspatha) quimbayium Mantilla, Moncada, Matta & Adler, 2013, new species
Creators: name: Mantilla, Juan S.
name: Moncada, Ligia I.
name: Matta, Nubia E.
name: Adler, Peter H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Simuliidae
Simulium
Simulium quimbayium

description: Simulium (Pternaspatha) quimbayium new species
(Figs. 1, 3 A–C, 4A–D)
FEMALE (Figs. 1 A–D). General body color dark brownish; all hair dark brownish to brassy, except pale golden on scutum and scattered among dark brownish hairs on legs.
Head— Frons pollinose, slightly longer than greatest width; head about 3.3–3.4 times longer than greatest width of frons. Maxillary palp with palpomere III bearing somewhat dense, dark hairs, but none longer than its palpomere (hairs not nearly as long as in male); sensory vesicle about 1/3 length and ½ width of palpomere III; palpomere V slender, about 12 times longer than greatest width; ratio of palpomeres III: IV: V = 1.2: 1.0: 2.5. Antenna with 9 flagellomeres; pedicel slightly larger than first flagellomere; no segments with long, dense hair (contrary to condition in male). Lacinia with 30 or 31 teeth. Mandible with 34–36 short, stout teeth on inner margin and 10–15 longer, more widely spaced teeth on outer margin. Cibarium with anterior margin broadly U shaped, smooth; cornuae well sclerotized.
Thorax— Length 1.50–1.70 mm (n = 2). Scutum dull blackish with 2 longitudinal, silvery to pale golden stripes converging posteriorly, producing lyrelike pattern. Katepisternum with patch of hair. Wing with radius bearing, at most, few hairs dorsobasally. Legs dark brownish, except more than ½ of femora, tibiae, and hind basitarsus paler.
Abdomen— Tergites II, VI, and VII bearing pair of shiny, silvery spots. Cercus (Fig. 1 B) in lateral view subrectangular. Anal lobe (Fig. 1 B) in lateral view about 1.7 times wider than greatest length, narrowed dorsally, expanded ventrally, then narrowed again into rounded process about as long as wide; well sclerotized centrally, but less so along margins. Hypogynial valve (Fig. 1 A) subtriangular, rounded posteriorly, covered with microtrichia except along narrowly sclerotized inner margin and along faintly sclerotized, transparent posterior margin. Genital fork (Fig. 1 C) slender; arms about as thick as stem; lateral plates each narrow, with broad, well-sclerotized, darkly pigmented anteriorly directed apodeme. Spermatheca (Fig. 1 D) about 1.1 times longer than wide, darkly pigmented, with faint hexagonal surface pattern and without internal ornamentation; junction with spermathecal duct unpigmented for about 20–25% greatest width of organ.
MALE (Figs. 1 E–K). General body color dark brownish to blackish. All hair dark brown to blackish, with brassy sheen, except recumbent pile of scutum golden; scutum also with sparse cover of long, erect, brownish hairs.
Head— Clypeus with silvery pruinosity. Occiput, postocciput, antennal scape and pedicel, and maxillary palpomeres II and III with dense, long, blackish hairs. Antennal pedicel about 1.8–2.0 times longer than wide, as long as first 4 flagellomeres, about ¼ length of entire antenna; 9 flagellomeres, with first longest and widest and about 2 times length of second. Maxillary palp with sensory vesicle 1/3 or slightly less than length of its palpomere; palpomere V about 2.3 times longer than III.
Thorax— Length 1.45–1.60 mm (n = 2). Scutum with weak silvery pruinose, nonshiny triangles extended posteriorly about 1/3 its length. Postnotum with silvery or golden pruinosity, depending on angle of incident light. Katepisternum with long hairs. Wing length 3.2–3.8 mm; membrane smoky; veins brown to dark brown; subcosta with 3–6 hairs ventrally; radius bare dorsobasally. Halter with stem grayish, club whitish yellow. Legs with all segments dark brownish, except basal half of hind basitarsus pale brown and tarsomere I yellowish brown in area of pedisulcus; hind basitarsus notably widened, 0.7 mm long, 0.3 mm wide; calcipala small, rounded; pedisulcus more than ½ depth of tarsomere I.
Abdomen— Tergites II, VI, and VII with shiny, silvery pruinose patches laterally; long hairs dorsolaterally. Genitalia: Gonostylus and gonocoxite subtrapezoidal; gonocoxite in ventral view about 1.1 times wider than long, about 2.5–2.8 times longer than gonostylus. Gonostylus (Fig. 1 E) in ventral view with body subquadrangular and pair of anteriorly projected processes articulating with gonocoxite (outer arm about 2–3 times longer than inner arm); posterolateral margin smoothly rounded, inner posterior corner slightly projected medially, with 1 subapical spinule visible only in dorsal or lateral view (Fig. 1 F). Ventral plate in ventral view subrectangular, with body of plate about 1.7 times wider than long in situ (Fig. 1 G), slightly tapered posteriorly, rounded posterolaterally, and posterior margin with slight medial concavity with minute nipplelike projection; 1.3–1.5 times wider if lip is tilted ventrally (Fig. 1 H); in lateral view (Fig. 1 I), lip narrow, elongated, projected ventrally from body of plate in smooth curve at about 90° angle to arm. Median sclerite (Fig. 1 J) elongated, widened distally to about 1/3 its length, bifurcated distally for about ¼ of its length. Paramere (Fig. 1 K) large, subtriangular, wrinkled, narrowly connected to series of 2 large parameral spines and about 20 smaller, irregularly shaped parameral spines. Aedeagal membrane with clusters of microsetae.
PUPA (Figs. 3 A–C, 4D). Total body length (without gill) 3.9–4.0 mm (n = 3).
Head— Densely covered with minute, barely raised microgranules, and abundant, irregularly distributed, variously sized microtubercles each with raised microgranules; 1 quadrifid facial trichome and 2 bifid frontal trichomes per side.
Thorax— Microgranules and microtubercles as for head (Figs. 3 B, C); smaller, rounded and acuminate, more sparsely distributed microtubercles without microgranules posteriorly. Oblong depression posterior to each gill base, plus adjacent, more medial pair of smaller depressions. Trichomes 6 per side, small, bifid.
Gill (Figs. 3 A, 4D) — Length 2.5–3.8 mm (n = 4), 60–70% of pupal body length; with 6 dark brown, almost black filaments in compact bundle arising from brownish orange, short trunk about as wide as long and giving rise to 3 pairs of filaments; dorsal pair branching immediately, middle pair branching in apical third, and ventral pair arising from petiole about 2–3 times longer than wide; dorsalmost filament slightly swollen basally, about 1.5 times thicker basally than other filaments; all filaments with tightly spaced, parallel annulations.
Abdomen— Tergite I with 2 or 3 small setae per side and about 15 isolated, scattered toothlike scales; tergite II with 3 or 4 small, single or bifid setae and 3 anteriorly directed hooks per side; tergite III with 4 anteriorly directed hooks and 2 small setae per side; tergite IV with 4 anteriorly directed hooks and 1 small seta per side; tergite V with 1 or 2 small setae per side; tergite VI devoid of setae and comblike scales; tergites VII and VIII each with several rows of minute comblike scales; terminal spines absent. Sternite III with 1 small seta per side; sternite IV with 4 anteriorly directed hooks and several rows of minute comblike scales per side; sternite V with 2 anteriorly directed, bifid hooks, 1 or 2 small setae, and several rows of minute, comblike scales per side; sternites VI and VII each with 2 anteriorly directed, single or bifid hooks and several rows of minute, comblike scales per side. Sternite VIII with several rows of minute, comblike scales per side. Pleural region with 0–3 small setae per segment on each side.
Cocoon— Length (n = 4) dorsally 3.3–4.0 mm, ventrally 3.9–4.4 mm; slipper shaped, light brownish, tightly and uniformly woven, individual threads not easily distinguished; anterior border reinforced with silk.
LARVA (mature, Figs. 4 A–C). Total length 7.3–8.0 mm (n = 3). General body color brownish gray, with or without patch of pigment on either side of dorsal midline of abdominal segments I-IV; intersegmental bands thin, weakly pigmented.
Head— Cephalic apotome (Fig. 4 A) brownish orange, paler than dark chestnut brown of remainder of head capsule; head spots positive, dark brown, distinct or obscured by infuscation of similar intensity; cervical sclerites ovoid, free of postocciput; line over eye slightly paler than surrounding cuticle. Antenna brownish, subequal in length to stem of labral fan; ratio of articles, proximal to distal including apical cone sensillum: 1.0: 1.3: 0.8; apical article uniformly pigmented, medial article unpigmented apically with minute, unpigmented area ventrally slightly distal to midlength, proximal article unpigmented ventrobasally. Labral fan with 43–45 primary rays. Mandible with largest tooth slightly serrated along inner margin; sensillum bifid. Maxillary palp with darkly pigmented area about 1.7 times as long as its basal width and extended to about 85% of palp length. Hypostoma (Fig. 4 B) with anterior margin slightly concave, middle and lateral teeth subequal in prominence and extended anteriorly to same level; 3 or 4 lateral serrations per side; 17–19 rather flat, tufted sublateral setae per side, plus 2 to 4 additional, smaller, unbranched setae per side and 6–8 small, unbranched setae scattered on central disc. Postgenal cleft (Fig. 4 C) subtriangular or miter shaped, extended 60–65% of distance from posterior tentorial pits to hypostomal groove.
Thorax— Lateral plate of prothoracic proleg brownish, subrectangular to subtriangular. Gill histoblast with 6 dark brownish filaments.
Abdomen— Expanded at segment V, abruptly narrowed at segment VIII; ventral tubercles absent. Abdominal cuticle nearly bare, with few, minute, colorless, unbranched setae only; patch of unpigmented setulae on each side of anal sclerite. Anal sclerite with anterior arms broad; posterior arms slender, darker, and slightly longer than anterior arms. Rectal papillae of 3 lobes with 15–20 lobules each. Posterior circlet with 94–100 rows of 12–17 hooklets (typically 14) each.
HOLOTYPE. Female (dissected from pupa) pinned with pupal exuviae and cocoon in glycerin microvial below. COLOMBIA, Department of Risaralda, W side of Cordillera Central Andes, Nevado de Santa Isabel, Lake Otún (4°47'41.9”N 75º24'29.1”W), 3950 masl, 11 January 2012, collectors L. Madroñero, E. Ruiz, S. Mantilla (deposited in Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (ICN), Bogotá, Colombia, accession number ICN-086083). PARATYPES. Same locality and collectors as for holotype, 27 June 2010 (2 pupae on slides, 2 pupae in 80% ethanol, 2 pupae with pharate females on slides, 1 pupa with pharate male on slide, 1 larva on slide); 29 December 2010 (3 pharate females in glycerin vials on pins, 1 pharate male in glycerin vial on pin, 2 larvae in 80% ethanol, 1 larva in glycerin vial on pin). Accession numbers ICN-086087, ICN-086088, ICN-086089, ICN-086090, ICN- 0 86091, and ICN-086092.
Etymology. This species is named for the indigenous Quimbaya people that inhabited the area around Lake Otún—the type locality of the new species—until their mysterious disappearance about the 10th century.
Habitat. Larvae and pupae were found in flows 2.5 m or less in width, with water temperature of 4.5–8.8 °C (mean 6.7 °C), pH 7.3–8.0 (mean 7.6), dissolved oxygen 7.16–7.80 mg /l, and 0–70% coverage by riparian vegetation. This species shared habitat with Gigantodax arrarteorum Wygodzinsky & Coscarón, Gigantodax basinflatus Wygodzinsky & Coscarón, Gigantodax misitu Wygodzinsky & Coscarón, and S. machetorum n. sp. Pupae were found at the middle and end of the year on rocks and trailing vegetation in higher numbers than were other simuliids in the habitat.
Remarks. The enlarged, densely setose basal segments of the antennae and palps of the male and the compact, six-filamented pupal gill with the middle pair of filaments on a long petiole distinguish Simulium quimbayium n. sp. from all other species of Pternaspatha except Simulium cotopaxi, with which it shares a number of features, such as the well-developed scutal pattern and posteriorly emarginated anal lobe of the female; the enlarged antennal scape and pedicel and the dense, long setae on the basal segment of the maxilary palp, scape, and pedicel of the male; and the shape and arrangement of tubercles on the pupal head and thorax. Simulium quimbayium n. sp. can be distinguished from S. cotopaxi by the more bluntly rounded ventral projection of the anal lobe of the female, the apically blunter gonostylus and narrower and longer ventral plate of the male (Fig. 1 E-H), the more distally branched middle pair of gill filaments and basally thicker filaments (especially the dorsalmost filament) of the pupa (Fig. 4 D), and the darker cephalic apotome of the larva (Fig. 4 A).
Simulium cotopaxi is placed provisionally in the nigristrigatum group (Coscarón & Coscarón Arias 2007), and by logical extension, its sister species, Simulium quimbayium n. sp., also is placed tentatively in this group. The northward extension and possible vicariant separation of these two species, with adaptation to the páramo ecosystem, might have contributed to their unique characteristics.
Despite previous “intensive” collecting efforts in Colombia by Wygodzinsky & Coscarón (1979), no members of the subgenus Pternaspatha previously have been found in that country. The discovery of Pternaspatha in Colombia extends the distribution of the subgenus more than 630 km northeast of the previous most northern locality in Pichincha, Ecuador. Simulium (Pternaspatha) cotopaxi has been found only in northern Ecuador at elevations of 3500 to 4400 m. Simulium quimbayium n. sp. has been found only in the Lake Otún area of Colombia at an elevation of 3950 m.
description: Published as part of Mantilla, Juan S., Moncada, Ligia I., Matta, Nubia E. & Adler, Peter H., 2013, Two New Species of Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) from the High Andes of Colombia, pp. 423-434 in Zootaxa 3700 (3) on pages 424-427, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3700.3.6, http://zenodo.org/record/217433