Simulium lobatoi, new species of blackfly (Diptera: Simuliidae) from the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás, Central Brazil

Abstract

During studies on the taxonomy of the Simuliidae of Brazil, a new species of Simulium was found. Full descriptions of the adults and pupae of this species are described here, its affinities with other species are discussed and its distribution, biology, and medical importance in Brazil are recorded.Key words: Simuliidae -Neotropical region -taxonomy -Simulium lobatoi -onchocerciasis -Mato Grosso -Goiás -BrazilThe discovery of several onchocerciasis foci in Central and South America has greatly contributed to our present knowledge of the systematics of Simuliidae in the Neotropical Region. In Brazil, the disease was first discovered 30 years ago in the states of Roraima and Amazonas (Shelley 1988) and, more recently, in Minaçu, state of Goiás (Maia-Herzog et al. 1999). Several revisionary studies on the epidemiology and dispersal of this disease have been published in the last decade (Py-Daniel 1997, Shelley et al. 1997, 2001a, Shelley 2002 together with the description of several new species and species complexes, as collecting efforts and taxonomic research continue on this morphologically homogeneous group (e.g. Coscarón et al. 1992, Charalambous et al. 1996, Hamada & Adler 1998a, b, 1999, Hamada 2000, Strieder & Coscarón 2000, Strieder & Py-Daniel 2000, Shelley et al. 2001b, Hamada et al. 2003. Further collecting of simuliids in the states of Mato Grosso and Goiás has revealed the presence of a new species, which is described in this paper. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe techniques for collection, dissection, and measurements of specimens as well as the terminology used in the species description are those detailed in Shelley et al. (1997Shelley et al. ( , 2000Shelley et al. ( , 2002. Images illustrating the morphology were obtained directly from the specimens using a Synoptics composite image analysis system (Shelley et al. 2000) and have been stored on CDs in The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH). Type specimens have been deposited in the Entomology Departments of the BMNH and the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), as indicated in material examined. Head -Dichoptic with dark red eyes and nudiocular area well developed (Fig. 1). Frons, clypeus, and occiput black, with silvery grey pruinosity; clypeus and frons covered with semi-recumbent brown hairs. Mouthparts and maxillary palps dark brown. Antennae with scape and pedicel yellowish brown, rest of flagellum dark brown. Cibarium with well developed, sclerotised cornuae and without teeth (Fig. 2). Thorax -Scutum dark brown with evenly arranged, recumbent, whitish setae, interspersed with fine, semi-recumbent brown setae; posterior margin with long dark hairs. Scutal pattern varying slightly with illumination. With anterior illumination, thorax dark brown with 1+1 submedian, white vittae, beginning near anterior border of scutum and curving towards mid line in anterior fourth of scutum from where they diverge to lateral margins, terminating at a point two thirds of length of scutum; 1 median, fine, vitta beginning on anterior margin and running in a straight line for...