Nocticanace
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Ordo: Diptera
Familia: Canacidae
Name
Nocticanace Malloch (35 species worldwide; 2 from Brazil) – Wikispecies link – Pensoft Profile
- Nocticanace Malloch 1933[1]: 4. Type species: Nocticanace peculiaris Malloch, by original designation. Wirth 1951[2]: 269–274 [revision]; 1975: 2–3 [Neotropical catalog]. Munari and Mathis 2010[3]: 20–24 [world catalog].
Diagnosis
Small to medium-sized beach flies, body length 1.80–3.70 mm; general coloration grayish black to black. Head: Interfrontal setae 1 pair; postocellar setae either absent or much reduced, less than 1/4 length of ocellar setae; ocelli arranged to form an isosceles triangle, distance between posterior ocelli greater than that between either posterior ocellus and the anterior ocellus. Two-3 long dorsoclinate genal setae; anteroclinate genal setae moderately well developed, at least 1/2 length of larger dorsoclinate genal setae. Epistomal margin sinuous; clypeus low, width subequal to length of antenna. Palpus grayish black, bearing 1 to several long setae, each seta 2–3 times greatest width of palpus. Thorax: Anepisternum with scattered setulae; proepisternal seta absent; katepisternal seta present, well developed. Legs entirely dark colored, grayish black; forefemur bearing 4–6 long and evenly spaced setae along posteroventral margin, length of setae at least equal to and usually greater than width of femur.
Discussion
This is the most species-rich genus of surf flies (Canacinae; 35 species) and has greatest species diversity in the Old World (Mathis 1992[4]). The New World fauna now comprises 14 species. The species known from Brazil belong to the pacifica, and galapagensis groups.
Annotated Key to Species Groups of the Genus Nocticanace
The pacifica Group
Diagnosis. Coloration generally dark, grayish brown to grayish black but with exceptions (Nocticanace flavipalpis and Nocticanace litorea: lighter, with some tan coloration on the body and legs extensively yellowish). Head: 2 large, dorsoclinate, genal setae. Thorax: Acrostichal setulae absent; apical scutellar setae distinctly dorsoclinate; anterior notopleural seta absent; proepisternal seta(e) present; anepisternum with scattered setulae; katepisternal seta present. Legs usually entirely dark, grayish brown to black (Nocticanace flavilpalpis and Nocticanace littorea are exceptions with yellowish legs); forefemur with 4–6 long and evenly spaced setae along posteroventral margin, length greater than width of femur; midfemur of male lacking a comblike row of setae; hindtibia lacking spinelike setae apically. Wing with length of apical section of vein CuA1 long, about twice length of crossvein dm-cu; vein M index 0.44.
' Nocticanace packhamorum Mathis & Marinoni sp. n. Figs 1–2 As in species group diagnosis with the following additions: Small to moderately small beach flies, body length 1.85–2.45 mm, of the pacifica group (see key to species groups). Head: Coloration of face and gena lighter, mostly whitish gray. Palpus yellowish gray to gray. Thorax: Brown coloration of mesonotum extended laterally and ventrally to about dorsum of notopleuron, thereafter gradually becoming more whitish gray with some very faint greenish tinges. Pleural areas mostly whitish gray. Legs concolorous, mostly gray to blackish gray; dorsum of femur and to a lesser extent tibia somewhat microtomentose, lightly grayish; tarsi black. Abdomen: Dorsum mostly grayish; median portion of each tergite with some brownish-purplish coloration, lateral margins often faintly bluish gray. Male terminalia (Figs 1–2): Surstylus deeply cleft ventrally, with a distinct anterior and posterior lobe; anterior lobe moderately slender and long, in lateral view with posterior margin angulate, moderately rounded apically, in posterior with medial surface bearing numerous, prominent, setulae along most of margin, medial portion in posterior view rectangular, apical 1/3 abruptly narrowed; posterior lobe in posterior view narrowed sub-basally, thereafter ventrally slightly expanded to form a broadly rounded apex, in posterior view with short setulae along medial surface apically. The holotype male is labeled “BRAZIL.' S[anta]. Catarina: Barra Velha (26°38'S, 48°40.9'W; beach), 29 Apr 2010[,] D. & W. N. Mathis/USNM ENT 00118070 [plastic bar code label]/HOLOTYPE ♂ Nocticanace packhamorum Mathis & Marinoni, DZUP [red].”The holotype is double mounted (minuten in a block of plastic), is in excellent condition, and is deposited in DZUP. Seventeen paratypes (13♂, 4♀; DZUP, USNM) bear the same label data as the holotype. Neotropical: Brazil (Santa Catarina). The specific epithet, packhamorum, is a Latin genitive patronym to recognize and honor Dean and Ieda Packham, who guided us to the type locality and offered hospitality. Finding a species of the pacifica group along the Atlantic beaches of southern Brazil was unanticipated.
The galapagensis Group
Diagnosis. Thorax: Acrostichal setae lacking; apical scutellar setae nearly straight in lateral view, slightly convergent in dorsal view, but not distinctly curved dorsally; anterior notopleural seta present but weaker than posterior seta; proepisternal seta(e) present; midfemur of male lacking comblike row of setae; hind basitarsomere lacking spinelike basoventral setae. Wing with length of apical section of vein CuA1 long, length nearly twice that of crossvein dm-cu; M vein index 0.42–0.49.
Discussion. The galapagensis group now comprises nine species with the addition of the new species described below. Previously, there were eight species (Nocticanace arnaudi Wirth, Nocticanace cancer Wirth, Nocticanace curioi Wirth, Nocticanace darwini Wirth, Nocticanace galapagensis (Curran), Nocticanace scapanius Wirth, Nocticanace spinicosta Wirth, and Nocticanace usingeri Wirth) that were only known from the Galápagos Archipelago and southwestern Nearctic Region. The discovery of Nocticanace austra from southern Brazil is a major range extension for this species group and perhaps indicates a more extensive distribution in southern South America for the group. Better sampling in southern South America is urgently needed to test this possibility.
' Nocticanace austra Mathis & Marinoni sp. n. Figs 3–6 As in the species group diagnosis with the following additions: Small to moderately small beach flies, body length 1.80–2.40 mm, of the galapagensis group (see key to species groups). Head (Figs 3–4): 3 large dorsoclinate and 1 inclinate genal setae. Thorax: Scutellar disc with 1 pair of setae, apical scutellar setae very shallowly curved, not distinctly oriented dorsally compared with lateral scutellar setae. Legs generally gray, with basitarsomeres blackish gray dorsally. Abdomen: Tergites generally gray or slightly brownish gray medially. Male terminalia as follows (Figs 5–6): Epandrium in posterior view bearing long setulae on dorsal half, with medial projection at level of dorsal 1/3 from each lateral arm, forming a cercal cavity, but cerci not evident; medial margin thereafter ventrally forming a wide cavity that narrows ventrally because of medially directly surstyli; surstylus broadly attached or fused to ventral margin of epandrium, in lateral view only slightly narrower than ventral portion of epandrium, essentially an extension of epandrium, slightly swollen posteroventrally, bearing numerous short setulae along posterior margin, ventral margin shallowly bifurcate, forming posterior and anterior lobes, posterior lobe slightly shorter than anterior lobe, gently rounded; anterior lobe more robustly developed than posterior lobe, bluntly rounded to truncate apically, very slightly produced anteroventrally as a shallow, obtuse, point, in posterior view with posterior lobe of surstylus extended medially, pointed apically, anterior lobe more broadly developed apically. The holotype male is labeled “BRAZIL.' São Paulo: Praia do Estaleiro (23°20.5'S, 44°53'W; beach), 30Mar2010[,] D. & W. N. Mathis/USNM ENT 00118071 [plastic bar code label]/HOLOTYPE ♂ Nocticanace austra Mathis & Marinoni, DZUP [red].” The holotype is double mounted (minuten in a block of plastic), is in excellent condition, and is deposited in DZUP. Five paratypes (4♂, 1♀; DZUP, USNM) bear the same label data as the holotype.
Other Specimens examined from Brazil. PARANÁ. Matinhos (N.; 25°46.4'S, 48°30.8'W; 3 m; beach/estuary), 9 Apr 2010, D. and W. N. Mathis (1♂; USNM); Paranaguá (Rio Itiberê; 25°31.4'S, 48°30.3'W; 3 m), 23 Jan 2010, D. and W. N. Mathis (1♀; DZUP). Neotropical: Brazil (Paraná, São Paulo).
Etymology. The specific epithet, austra, is of Latin derivation and means southern, referring to the distribution of this species in the Southern Hemisphere. This species differs from congeners in the galapagos group in structures of the male terminalia, especially the shape of the surstylus (see figures and description above). The surstylus has a shallow, ventral bifurcation, somewhat like Nocticanace wirthi, but is more narrowly developed, like Nocticanace panamensis. The anteroventral surstylar lobe is slightly longer than the posterior lobe.
Taxon Treatment
- Mathis, W; Marinoni, L; 2012: A conspectus on the Canacidae (Diptera) of Brazil ZooKeys, 162: 59-92. doi
Other References
- ↑ Malloch J (1933) Some acalyptrate Diptera from the Marquesas Islands. BP Bishop Museum Bulletin 114: 3-31.
- ↑ Wirth W (1951) A revision of the dipterous family Canaceidae. Occasional Papers of Bernice P. Bishop Museum 20 (14): 245-275.
- ↑ Munari L, Mathis W (2010) World catalog of the family Canacidae (including Tethinidae) (Diptera), with keys to the supraspecific taxa. Zootaxa 2471: 1-84.
- ↑ Mathis W (1992) World catalog of the beach-fly family Canacidae (Diptera). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 536: iv+18.
- ↑ Mathis W (1989) A review of the beach flies of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico (Diptera: Canacidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 102 (3): 590-608.
