Agromyza parca Spencer

Guglya, Yuliia, 2025, Rearing mining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from host plants as an instrument for associating females with males, with the description of two new species. Report 2, Zootaxa 5658 (1), pp. 1-86 : 11

Agromyza parca Spencer

( Figs. 16–18 , 115–127 )

Material examined. Ukraine: Volyn Region: near Shatsk , 51°28'28"N, 23°48'27"E, 23.v.2019, Yu.Guglya (1♀) ; Kyiv Region: Bila Tserkva , 49°48'N, 30°4'E, 20.vi.2015, Yu. Guglya (1♂) ; Rzhyshchiv , ecostation “Hlyboki Balyky”, 49°57'44"N, 31°07'08"E, 21.vii.2021 —mines collected, 22.vii.2021 —pupation outside the mine, 4.viii.2021 —imago, Yu. Guglya, ex Setaria viridis (1♂ 1♀) ; same locality, 21.vii.2021, Yu. Guglya (1♀) ; same locality, 29.viii.2021, Yu. Guglya (1♀) ; Kharkiv Region: Kharkiv, City Center , 50°00'N, 36°14'E, 1.vii.2022 — mines with larva collected, 16–18.vii.2022 —imago, Yu. Guglya, ex Setaria viridis (6♂ 5♀) ; same locality, 7.vii.2023 —mines with larva collected, 21–25.vii.2023 —imago, Yu. Guglya, ex Setaria viridis (3♂ 1♀ 1 larva) ; Stara Pokrovka , 49°48'N, 36°32'E, 17.vi.2023, Yu. Guglya (1♂ 1♀) .

Hosts. Poaceae : D. clandestinum (Lam.) Gould , Glyceria canadensis (Michx.) Trin. , G. striata (Lam.) Hitchc. ( Eiseman and Lonsdale 2018) , Dichanthelium scoparium (Lam.) Gould ( Eiseman and Lonsdale 2021) , Alopecurus pratensis L., Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski ( Grigoryan & Hovhannisyan 2024). Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv.— a newly recorded host plant.

Mine. ( Fig. 16 ) Several larvae form a dirty whitish blotch apical leaf mine. Pupation takes place outside the mine in the soil.

Puparium. ( Figs. 17, 18 ) Orange-brown, glossy, 2.8 mm long, with deep segmentation; surface quite smooth except for three-row spine bands between all segments, and with two posterior segments wrinkly. Both posterior spiracles are set on one stout conical protuberant mounting; dark brown, with three elongated bulbs set in a circular configuration at acute angles to each other.Anal plate brown, scarcely protruding above the surface of the puparium viewed from the side and directed ventrally.

Cephalopharingeal skeleton. ( Fig. 118 ) Both mouthhooks equal in size and shape, with sharp abducted ventro-anterior portion directed latero-posteriorly. Both mouthhooks bear two strong accessory teeth; dorsal blunt and ventral sharped. Mouthhooks and most of intermediate sclerite are strongly sclerotized, dorsal cornua and ventral cornu much less so. Lower dorsal cornu 3.5× as wide as upper ones and less sclerotized. The ventral cornu bears an elongated “closed” window posteriorly. Indentation index 80.

Male terminalia. ( Figs. 122–127 ) See description in Lonsdale (2021).

Female head. ( Figs. 115, 116 ) Bicolour; ocellar tubercle, hind margin, palps black, the rest brown; i vt s and o vt s both in brown ground; fronto-orbital plate not visible laterally; 2 ors, 2 ori; 1 st fl black apically, brown basally, rounded bearing short white hairs.

Wing. ( Fig. 117 ) Hyaline, with beige veins; costa reaching M 1; last section of CuA 1 0.75× as long as penultimate; calypter, margin and fringe pale beige. Wing length 2.3–2.5 mm.

Female genitalia. ( Figs. 119–121 ) Proctiger relatively short, equal in length with spermatheca; uniformly cylindrical. Cercus sausage-shaped, 0.56× as long as proctiger. Several large spines are developed only near posterior margin of proctiger; cercus bears patches of long and medium spines apically and internalaterally. Capsule of spermathecae 0.5× as high as anterior part of oviscape. Spermathecae equal in size and shape, dark brown, cylindrical, with wrinkled surface; basal half of spermatheca 2× as wide as apical ones. Neck of spermatheca dark brown, smooth, relatively narrow, 0.3× as wide as basal part of spermatheca. Internal duct invagination 0.92× as deep as height of spermatheca. Spermathecal duct weakly sclerotized. Totally seven females of A. parca were reared and three were captured during this investigation. The dissection shows nine females having spermatheca as in fig. 120a and one as in fig. 120b. For comparison, dissected female from USA have a shape of spermatheca as in fig 120b (Owen Lonsdale’s personal communication).

Distribution. North America: USA ( Lonsdale 2021), Western Asia: Lesser Caucasus ( Grigoryan & Hovhannisyan 2024). Central Europe: Ukraine (first record).

Comments. In Grigoryan & Hovhannisyan (2024) designated A. parca as “widespread in the Palaearctic region, China, Japan …” species, but the author can’t name the source of this information and reference to Nartchuk (2019) was a mistake (Nonna Grigoryan’s personal communication).

Figures

FIGURES 13–18. Figures 13–15: Agromyza paralucida Guglya; 13: mine in Setaria viridis leaf; 14: empty puparium viewed from the side; 15: posterior segments of puparium (posterior view). Figures 16–18: Agromyza parca Spencer; 16: mine in Setaria viridis leaf; 17: empty puparium viewed from the side; 18: posterior segments of puparium (posterior view).

FIGURES 114–121. Figure 114: Agromyza paralucida Guglya, cephalopharingeal skeleton. Figures 115–121: Agromyza parca Spencer; 115: frontal view of head; 116: head viewed from the side; 117: wing; 118: cephalopharingeal skeleton; 119: oviscape and spermathecae proportionally; 120 a, b: spermathecae; 121: proctiger.

FIGURES 122–127. Agromyza parca Spencer; 122: epandrium; 123: surstylus; 124: hypandrium and postgonite proportionally; 125: ejaculatory apodeme; 126: phallus viewed from the side; 127: phallus viewed from below.