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Type: Article
Published: 2013-08-14
Page range: 423–434
Abstract views: 40
PDF downloaded: 1

Two New Species of Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) from the High Andes of Colombia

new species páramo Psilopelmia Pternaspatha Simulium

Abstract

The females, males, pupae, and larvae of two new species of Simulium are described and illustrated from a small stream 3950 m above sea level in the Lake Otún area of the Colombian Andes Mountains. Simulium (Pternaspatha) quimbayium n. sp. represents a 630-km northeastern extension of the distributional range of previously known members of the subgenus Pternaspatha, and Simulium (Psilopelmia) machetorum n. sp. represents the highest altitude recorded for a species of the subgenus Psilopelmia. These species illustrate the unique simuliid biodiversity in the páramo ecosystem of the high northern Andes.