Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2024-04-05
Page range: 207-230
Abstract views: 9
PDF downloaded: 1

Description of new species of Pseudogaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae) from Brazil, with notes on natural history

Zoology Department; Entomology Laboratory; Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG); Belém; PA; Brazil
Zoology Department; Entomology Laboratory; Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG); Belém; PA; Brazil
Zoology Department; Entomology Laboratory; Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG); Belém; PA; Brazil
Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology; Department of General Biology; Universidade Federal de Viçosa; Viçosa; MG 36570-900; Brazil
Diptera Amazon frit flies grass flies Neotropical Oscinellinae

Abstract

Pseudogaurax Malloch is a genus of Chloropidae with about 70 described species found in all biogeographic regions, but several additional undescribed species are known. In this study we describe six new species from Brazil: Pseudogaurax alvinae sp. nov., Pseudogaurax amazonica sp. nov., Pseudogaurax braoculatus sp. nov., Pseudogaurax cyclosa sp. nov., Pseudogaurax primavera sp. nov., and Pseudogaurax wheeleri sp. nov. Pseudogaurax trifidus (Duda) and Pseudogaurax unilineatus Hall are newly recorded from South America, and Pseudogaurax tridens Sabrosky is newly recorded from the Brazilian Amazon. Data on host records are provided for P. alvinae sp. nov., P. braoculatus sp. nov., P. cyclosa sp. nov., P. tridens, P. trifidus, and P. trilineatus. The puparia of P. alvinae sp. nov., P. cyclosa sp. nov., and P. longilineatus Sabrosky are described as well.

References

  1. Amorim, D.S., Brown, B.V., Boscolo, D., Ale-Rocha, R., Alvarez-Garcia, D.M., Balbi, M.I.P.A., Barbosa, A.M., Capellari, R.S., Carvalho, C.J.B. de, Couri, M.S., Perez-Dios, R.V., Fachin, D.A., Ferro, G.B., Flores, H.F., Frare, L.M., Gudin, F.M., Hauser, M., Lamas, C.J.E., Lindsay, K., Marinho, M.A.T., Marques, D.W.A., Marshall, S.A., Melo-Patiu, C., Menezes, M.A., Morales, M.N., Nihei, S.S., Oliveira, S.S., Pirani, G., Ribeiro, G.C., Riccardi, P.R., Santis, M.D. de, Santos, D., Santos, J.R. dos, Silva, V.C. & Rafael, J.A. (2022) Vertical stratification of insect abundance and species richness in an Amazonian tropical forest. Scientific Reports, 12, 1734. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05677-y
  2. Barnes, J.K., Higgins, L.E. & Sabrosky, C.W. (1992) Life histories of Pseudogaurax species (Diptera: Chloropidae), descriptions of two new species, and ecology of Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus) (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) egg predation. Journal of Natural History, 26, 823–834. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939200770501
  3. Coquillett, D.W. (1898) Notes and descriptions of Oscinidae. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 6, 44–49.
  4. Cumming, J.M. & Wood, D.M. (2017) Adult morphology and terminology. In: Kirk Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 1. Introductory chapters and keys to Diptera families. Suricata 4. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 89–113.
  5. Davidson, A. (1896) Parasites of spider eggs. Entomological News, 7, 319–320.
  6. Duda, O. (1930) Die neotropischen Chloropiden (Dipt.). Folia Zoologie und Hydrobiologie, Riga, 2, 46–128.
  7. González, C.T., Wcislo, W.T., Cambra, R., Wheeler, H. & Fernández-Marín, T.A. (2016) A new ectoparasitoid species of Pseudogaurax Malloch, 1915 (Diptera: Chloropidae), attacking the fungus-growing ant, Apterostigma dentigerum Wheeler, 1925 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 109, 639–645. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saw023
  8. Ferrar, P. (1987) A guide to the breeding habits and immature stages of Diptera Cyclorrhapha. Part 1. Entomonograph 8. E.J. Brill/Scandinavian Science Press, Leiden and Copenhagen, 478 pp. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004533936
  9. Gillung, J.P. & Borkent, C.J. (2017) Death comes on two wings: a review of dipteran natural enemies of arachnids. The Journal of Arachnology, 45, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-16-085.1
  10. González, C.T., Wcislo, W.T., Cambra, R., Wheeler, H. & Fernández-Marín, T.A. (2016) A new ectoparasitoid species of Pseudogaurax Malloch, 1915 (Diptera: Chloropidae), attacking the fungus-growing ant, Apterostigma dentigerum Wheeler, 1925 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 109, 639–645. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saw023
  11. Hall, D.G. (1937) The North and Central American spider parasites of the genus Pseudogaurax (Diptera: Chloropidae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 27, 255–261.
  12. Ismay, J.W., Ismay, B. & Deeming, J.C. (2021) Chloropidae (Frit Flies, Grass Flies and Eye Gnats). In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 3. Brachycera–Cyclorrhapha, excluding Calyptratae. Suricata 8. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 2035–2114.
  13. Kanmiya, K. (1983) A systematic study of the Japanese Chloropidae (Diptera). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington, 11, 1–370.
  14. Kaston, B.J. & Jenks, G.E. (1937) Dipterous parasites of spider egg sacs. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society, 32, 160–165.
  15. Lockley, T.C. & Young, O.P. (1993) Survivability of overwintering Argiope aurantia (Araneidae) egg cases, with an annotated list of associated arthropods. Journal of Arachnology, 21, 50–54. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3705378]
  16. Marques, C.O., Riccardi, P.R. & Ale-Rocha, R. (2022) New records and species of Pseudogaurax Malloch, 1915 (Diptera: Chloropidae) from the Amazon basin. Zootaxa, 5200 (6), 501–524. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5200.6.1
  17. Melo, A.S. & Wheeler, T.A. (2009) A new species of Pseudogaurax Malloch (Diptera: Chloropidae) reared from dobsonfly egg-masses (Megaloptera: Corydalidae) in Brazil. Zootaxa, 1972 (1), 53–58. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1972.1.5
  18. Pierce, W.D. (1942) Fauna and flora of the El Segundo sand dunes. 12. Utilization of the black widow parasite and further data on spiders and parasites. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, 41, 14–28.
  19. Riccardi, P.R. (2021) Chloropidae. In: Catálogo da Fauna do Brasil. PNUD. Available from: http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/fauna/faunadobrasil/140377 (accessed 8 April 2023)
  20. Riccardi, P.R. & Pádua, D.G.D. (2021) First record of egg sac predation of the fly Pseudogaurax cingulatus Sabrosky (Diptera, Chloropidae) upon spider Tetragnatha sp. (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in northern Brazil. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 61, e20216104. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.04
  21. Riccardi, P.R., Fachin, D.A., Ale-Rocha, R., Amaral, E.M., Amorim, D.S., Gil-Azevedo, L.H., Capellari, R.S., Carmo, D.D.D. do, Carvalho, C.J.B. de, Ferro, G.B., Flores, H.F., Gomes, L.R.P., Gottschalk, M.S., Lamas, C.J.E., Lampert, S., Marinho, M.A.T., Marques, D.W.A., Mello, R.L., Mello-Patiu, C.A. de, Menezes, M.A., Morales, M.N., Oliveira, S.S. de, Pereira, T.P.L., Pereira-Colavite, A., Pirani, G., Rafael, J.A., Santos, J.R. dos, Savaris, M., Schelesky-Prado, D.C., Silva, V.C., Sousa, V.R. de, Urso-Guimarães, M.V., Vargas, L.V., Yamaguchi, C. & Falaschi, R.L. (2022) Checklist of the dipterofauna (Insecta) from Roraima, Brazil, with special reference to the Brazilian Ecological Station of Maracá. Papéis Avulsos De Zoologia, 62, e202262014. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2022.62.014
  22. Sabrosky, C.W. (1949) A new species of “Pseudogaurax” from Brazil (Diptera, Chloropidae). Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 9, 33–34.
  23. Sabrosky, C.W. (1966) Three new Brazilian species of Pseudogaurax with a synopsis of the genus in the western hemisphere (Diptera, Chloropidae). Papéis Avulsos do Departamento de Zoologia, Secretaria da Agricultura, São Paulo, 19, 117–127.
  24. Sabrosky, C.W. & Paganelli, C.H. (1984) Family Chloropidae. In: Papavero, N. (Ed.), A Catalogue of the Diptera of the Americas South of the United States. Departamento de Zoologia, Secretaria da Agricultura, São Paulo, pp. 1–64.
  25. Travassos-Filho, L. & Carrera, M. (1949) Contribuição para o conhecimento de Pseudogaurax longilineatus Sabrosky, parasita de ooteca de Mantodea, Diptera, Chloropidae. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 9, 97–101.
  26. Vetter, R.S., Vincent, L.S., Itnyre, A.A., Clarke, D.E., Reinker, K.I., Danielsen, D.W.R., Robinson, L.J., Kabashima, J.N. & Rust, M.K. (2012) Predators and parasitoids of egg sacs of the widow spiders, Latrodectus geometricus and Latrodectus hesperus (Araneae: Theridiidae) in southern California. Journal of Arachnology, 40, 209–214. https://doi.org/10.1636/Hi11-93.1
  27. Viquez, C. & De Armas, L.F. (2009) Parasitism on whip spider eggs (Arachnida: Amblypygi) by Chloropidae flies (Insecta: Diptera). Boletin de la SEA, 45, 541–542.
  28. Wheeler, T. (2010) Chloropidae (frit flies, grass flies, eye gnats). In: Brown, B.V., Borkent, A., Cumming, J.M., Wood, D.M., Woodley, N.E. & Zumbado, M. (Eds.), Manual of Central American Diptera. Vol. 2. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, pp. 1137–1153.