Psychoda dactyla, Cordeiro & Bravo & Carvalho, 2023

Cordeiro, Danilo Pacheco, Bravo, Freddy & Carvalho, Claudio José Barros de, 2023, New species of Psychoda Latreille (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Brazilian Amazon with sexual association using molecular data, EntomoBrasilis (e 1058) 16, pp. 1-4 : 2-3

Psychoda dactyla sp. n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:15122A4C-1C1F-4C40-AC3C-67F3B0B63533

( Figs. 1 A-H)

Diagnosis: antenna with 14 flagellomeres, 12-14th reduced, 14th smaller than the others; palpus short, 1º segment of palpus slightly longer than the others; male hypandrium with an inverted V shape; male gonostylus with median finger-like projection; female hypogynium with pilosity not restricted to the lobes, with a wide bridge connecting the apical lobes to the base of the hypogynium.

Description: Head ( Figure 1A ). Vertex, frons and clypeus pilose; frons hair patch extending posteriorly between eyebridge, reaching first row of facets, eyebridge with four facets; eyes separated by 1.3 (male) and 1.7 (female) times the diameter of a facet; vertex hair patch separated from occipital hair patch; 5-6 supraocular setae, 3 occipital strong alveoli on the posterior margin of eye; interocular suture absent; clypeus with two conspicuous lateral alveoli; frontoclypeal suture absent; antenna with scape cylindrical, 1.4 times the length of the subspherical pedicel, and with 14 flagellomeres, 12-14th reduced, subspherical and fused, 14th smaller ( Figure 1D ), apico-lateral spine present on 11th and 13th flagellomeres; ascoids Y shaped ( Figure 1C ); palpal formula 1.0:0.9:0.7:0.8 ( Figure 1B ); labellum with 3 apical digitiform setae (‘teeth’) and one lateral setae. Thorax: pre-sutural setae continuous with supra-alares setae; anepisternal setae patch undivided; few anepimeral setae present; pteropleurite well developed, subquadrate; anepisternal suture complete but weak at apex; transversal suture on upper margin of katespisternum present. Wing ( Figure 1E ): Second costal node present; Sc vein short, ending at the line of base of veins Rs, M and CuA; radial fork apical to medial fork, both complete; M 1+2 slightly expanded at base; costal cell infuscated. Legs: first tarsomere short, around 2 times longer than the second; distitarsus with short apical projection. Male terminalia: epandrial appendage long, sinuous, with globose base and a single tenaculum at the apex ( Figure 1G ); epandrium with one foramen ( Figure 1G ); posterior margin of hypoproct pointed ( Figure 1G ); hypandrium projected posteriorly, resembling a boomerang in shape, with an inverted V-shaped posterior margin and a concave anterior margin ( Figure 1F ); gonostylus around 1.4 times the length of gonocoxite, with a median finger-like projection and short sparse setae ( Figure 1F ); gonocoxal bridge (fused gonocoxal apodemes) bare, not projecting posteriorly; aedeagus long, around 2.2 times the length of aedeagal apodeme; paramere slender and straight in dorsal view, with a globose base and a pointed apex. Female terminalia: hypogynium bilobed, with lobes connected to the base of the hypogynium by a wide area, setae on lobes and on posterior margin of basal area ( Figure 1H ); genital digit present; genital chamber wider than long, without posterior apodeme; cercus long and pointed, around 1.3 times the width of female terminalia at the base.

Examined Material: holotype male Brazil, AM, São Gabriel da Cachoeira , Tigre, 20.vii.2010, M47, CRIO ( INPA) (Genbank OR 289961) . Paratype female, same data ( INPA) (Genbank OR 289960) .

Etymology: the name ‘dactyla’, from the ancient greek dáktulos, meaning finger, is an allusion to the finger-like projection of the gonostylus.

Genetics: Two specimens (one male and one female) were sequenced and the uncorrected pairwise distance between them was 0.008 (6bp) (Genbank access numbers: OR289960 and OR289961). The results of BLASTn search did not recover any sequence with a percent identity of 93% or higher.

Comments: The combination of a wide inverted-V shape (boomerang like) hypandrium, a straight and pointed paramere that runs parallel to the aedeagus and the gonostylus with a small median finger-like projection makes this species unique among Psychoda . The configuration of apical flagellomeres and the internal ornamentation of the female’s hypogynium of Psychoda dactyla sp. n. resembles that of Psychoda velita Ibáñez-Bernal, 1993 , a species known from Central Mexico, but the general shapes of the hypogynium of the two species are different, with the basal half of the hypogynium much wider in the new species. The shape of the parameres in the males of the two species is also very different, being strongly curved in P. velita and straight in the new species.

Figures

Figure 1A-H. Psychoda dactyla sp. n. A. head, frontal view. B. Palpus. C. Basal flagellomeres showing one ascoid. D. Flagellomeres, 10-14th. E. Wing. F. Male Terminalia: hypandrium, gonopods aedeagus and paramere, dorsal view. G. Male Terminalia: epadrium, epandrial appendage and hypoproct, ventral view. H. Female hypogynium and genital chamber. Abbreviations: aed-aedeagus; eap-epandrial appendage; epaepadrium; gcb-gonocoxal bridge; gch-genital chamber; gcx-gonocoxite; gdg-genital digit; gnt-gonostyle; hpg-hypogynium; hpp-hypoproct; hyp-hypandrium; par-paramere. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (E), 0.1 mm (A), 0.05 mm (B-D, F-H).