Mberu britoi, Silva & Capellari & Oliveira, 2025

Silva, Paulo Cesar, Capellari, Renato S. & Oliveira, Sarah S., 2025, Revision and morphological phylogeny of the Neotropical genus Mberu Capellari & Amorim (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), with description of twelve new species, Zootaxa 5637 (3), pp. 469-514 : 488-491

Mberu britoi sp. nov.

( Figs 10 , 11 )

Description. Male. Body length: 2.11–2.47 mm. Wing length: 2.11–2.33 mm long, 0.59–0.75 mm wide (n = 2). Similar to Mberu amorimi sp. nov. in both general habitus and chaetotaxy, except as noted. Body mostly metallic black. Head ( Figs 10B, C ). Palpus brown, yellowish on edges and apex; proboscis dark brown; postpedicel dark brown, triangular and pubescent, about 1.3 times longer than basal width; stylus about 5.2 times longer than postpedicel. Thorax ( Fig. 10B ). Metallic black, with some green or blue reflections. One presut spal s and two large psut spal s; two dark pprn s, one strong and one tiny. Wing. RMx ratio = 4.5, CuAx ratio = 0.4. Legs ( Fig. 10A ). Mostly brown; coxa I, II and III sclerotized. Yellow at apex of femur I, base of tibia I, apex of femur II and apex of femur III. Leg I. It1–5 with ventral surface covered by small dark setae. Leg II. Femur II covered by small setulae, ventral surface completely bare without pv; tibia II with major setae at ad 1/4 and 1/2 and one ad apical seta. Leg III. Coxa III with one conspicuous, long and dark seta near base; femur III with one av row of 3–4 setae decreasing in size towards apex. Relative podomere ratios: I: 6.9/ 7.3/ 3.8/ 2.6/ 1.6/ 1.3/ 1; II: 9.4/ 9.3/ 6.4/ 3.8/ 2.2/ 1.3/ 1; III: 8.7/ 10.4/ 2.9/ 3.5/ 2.1/ 1.3/ 1. Abdomen. Mostly black, with some dark blue to green reflections; tergite 2–5 with anterior shiny green bands laterally. Hypopygium ( Fig. 11A–H ). Epandrium elongate, twice longer than high, dark ( Fig. 11A, B ); MEp elongate, digitiform, with two small, dorsal setae near apex ( Fig. 13C, E ); DSur and VSur covering internal appendages ( Fig. 11A, B ); VSur ( Fig. 11C ) enlarged, twice higher than DSur, sclerotized at apex; DSur ( Fig. 11D ) elongated, twice wider than height. Hypandrium basally fused to epandrium. Phallus straight, without apical projection ( Fig. 11G ). Cercus ( Fig. 11F ) divided in two parts, ventral part stout, rounded, with 3–4 spines ventrally and one long anterior seta, dorsal part rounded and covered by fine setae, with one long, flattened seta apically. Female. Body length: 2.55–3.32 mm. Wing length: 2.52–3.24 mm long, 0.78–1.04 mm wide (n = 5). Similar to male, except as noted. Head. Face broader (about as broad as ocellar tubercle). Wing. RMx ratio = 2.7, CuAx ratio = 0.4. Legs. Leg II. Tibia II with av at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and at apex, one anterior seta at apex, two ad at 1/3 and 2/3, and two dorsal setae at 2/3 and at apex. Relative podomere ratios: I: 7.1/ 7.9/ 3.6/ 2.8/ 1.9/ 1.1/ 1; II: 6/ 7.2/ 4.5/ 2.8/ 1.8/ 1/ 1; III: 9.5/ 10.8/ 2.6/ 3.7/ 2.5/ 1.3/ 1. Abdomen. Tergites 1–5 covered by short setae. Oviscapt as in M. bodoquena sp. nov.

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, “ BRAZIL, SP [São Paulo], Conchas, | Juquiratiba , Faz. Boa Vista. | 22º59′1.8″ S 48º6′8.8″ W | Malaise. Pomar. [Orchard] | 17-19.I.2022, Capellari leg.”; “ HOLOTYPE | Mberu britoi | Silva, Capellari & Oliveira [red label]” ( MZUSP) . Holotype in good condition, genitalia dissected and stored in microvial with glycerin, pinned beneath the specimen. PARATYPES. Brazil. São Paulo. Same data as holotype (4 ♀, MZUSP; 1 ♀, ZUFG) . Goiás. Varjão, Chácara Nossa Sra.Aparecida, Malaise – Pomar , 17º01′52.04″S 49º33′17.39″W, 12.vi.– 08.vii.2018 Col. Lopes, W. R. (1 ♂, MZUSP) .

Etymology. Named after Dr. Pedro Vale de Azevedo Brito (UFG), an attentive professor and advisor of the first author during the past years.

Remarks. Mberu britoi sp. nov. is similar to M. amorimi sp. nov. but can be differentiated by legs mostly dark brown ( Fig. 10A ), and medial epandrial lobe narrow, approximately 4.5 times less than VSur height, with dorsal face straight ( Fig. 11C, E ). In M. amorimi sp. nov., the legs are completely yellow ( Fig. 8A ) and MEp stout, approximately 2.5 times less than VSur height, with dorsal face rough ( Fig. 9C, F ).

Distribution ( Fig. 24 ). Brazil: states of Goiás (Cerrado biome) and São Paulo (Atlantic Forest Biome).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Mberu amorimi sp. nov., male holotype. A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Head, anterior view; C. Head and thorax, lateral view.

FIGURE 9. Mberu amorimi sp. nov., male hypopygium of paratype in left lateral view. A–B. Hypopygium not dissected and dissected, respectively; C. VSur and epandrial lobes; D. DSur (dotted line represents broken part); E. Cercus; F. MEp (arrow pointing to rough dorsal surface); G. Phallus. Abbreviations: cerc = cercus; DSur = dorsal surstylar lobe; hypd = hypandrium; LEp = lateral epandrial lobe; MEp = medial epandrial lobe; ph = phallus; VSur = ventral surstylar lobe.

FIGURE 10. Mberu britoi sp. nov., male holotype. A. Habitus, lateral view; B. Head and thorax, oblique lateral view; C. Head, anterior view.

FIGURE 11. Mberu britoi sp. nov., male hypopygium of holotype in left lateral view. A–B. Hypopygium not dissected and dissected, respectively; C. VSur and epandrial lobes; D. DSur; E. MEp (arrow pointing to smooth dorsal surface); F. Cercus; G. Phallus; H. Postgonite. Abbreviations: cerc = cercus; DSur = dorsal surstylar lobe; hypd = hypandrium; LEp = lateral epandrial lobe; MEp = medial epandrial lobe; ph = phallus; VSur = ventral surstylar lobe.

FIGURE 13. Mberu lamasi sp. nov., male hypopygium of paratype (Paraguay: Coronel Oviedo) in left lateral view. A–B. Hypopygium not dissected and dissected, respectively; C. VSur and epandrial lobes; D. DSur; E. MEp; F. Cercus; G. Internal appendages; H. Postgonite. Abbreviations: cerc = cercus; DSur = dorsal surstylar lobe; hypd = hypandrium; LEp = lateral epandrial lobe; MEp = medial epandrial lobe; ph = phallus; VSur = ventral surstylar lobe.

FIGURE 24. Geographic distribution of Mberu Capellari & Amorim, 2011 through South America and the phylogenetic hypothesis in the lower left corner. Savannas are represented by the Cerrado and Chaco biomes, fields by the Pampa biome, flooded fields by the Pantanal biome, and tropical forests by the Atlantic Forest biome.