Phytobia (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from Brazil: new species, new record and a key to the Neotropical species

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Phytobia Lioy, 1864 flies occur in all continents. There are four recorded species of these flies in Brazil, but recent expeditions at unexplored areas in the country have revealed that the genus is far more diverse than previously known.Based on material collected in the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Rondônia (as part of the SISBIOTA Diptera Project), we describe fourteen new species of Phytobia. Additionally, we redescribe P. kallima (Frost), previously recorded only from Panama, and provide a key to the 32 resulting Neotropical species. All descriptions include details and illustrations of the male and female terminalia. The speciemens are deposited in the collections

MioceneCupressinoxylonfrom Gökçeada (Imbros), Turkey withProtophytobiacambium mining and the study of ecological signals of wood anatomy

“…The occurrence of marrow spots of Protophytobia in Juniperoxylon silesiacum is not restricted only to the cambium, as in C. barnimense , but also observed in the transverse section in the middle part of the growth zone up to the last latewood and into the earlywood of the following growth zone ( Süss, 1979 ). These marrow spots are represented both in the fossil and extant Phytobia’s fluid–feeding habit ( De Sousa & Couri, 2017 ; Geissert, Nözzold & Süss, 1981 ; Süss, 1979 ; Süss, 1980 ; Winkler et al, 2010 : Fig. 1–1) and is also observed in Gökçeada wood, with scars fully measured as seen in ‘Pith flecks diagnose’ paragraph, and in Table S2 both inside and between the growth rings.…”

“…1–1) and is also observed in Gökçeada wood, with scars fully measured as seen in ‘Pith flecks diagnose’ paragraph, and in Table S2 both inside and between the growth rings. More specifically, although it was believed that Phytobia mining larvae fed directly on cambium, it has been found that the larvae feed on young, undifferentiated cells right after their detachment from the cambium ( Solomon, 1995 ; De Sousa & Couri, 2017 ), a feature regarded as plesiomorphic, resulting in a long history of this genus ( Spencer, 1990 ).…”