Cerodontha (Poemyza) inconspicua Malloch

• Main Authors: Eiseman, Charles S., Lonsdale, Owen
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2018
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Agromyzidae; Cerodontha; Cerodontha inconspicua; Canada; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5997762; https://zenodo.org/record/5997762

Cerodontha (Poemyza) inconspicua (Malloch) (Figs. 29, 132) Material examined. MISSOURI: Franklin Co., Gray Summit, Shaw Nature Reserve, 1.vii.2015, em. 30.iv– 15.v.2016, C.S. Eiseman, ex Elymus virginicus , #CSE2434, CNC634783–634785 (2♂ 1♀). Hosts. Poaceae: Elymus * virginicus L. Malloch (1913), Frick (1959) and Spencer (1969) recorded the host of the holotype as an unspecified Agropyron , but Spencer & Steyskal (1986) stated that it was A. repens , a synonym of Elymus repens (L.) Gould. If this is specified on the label, it is unclear why it was omitted by both Malloch and Frick. Boucher & Wheeler (2001) noted that other grasses likely serve as hosts. Leaf mine. (Fig. 132) The single photographed example began with two eggs inserted near the leaf margin. The larvae at first mined apically, forming gradually widening linear mines that eventually merged. They reversed direction several times, ultimately forming a whitish blotch that occupied the full width of the leaf. It was nearly full-depth, appearing partly pale green and partly whitish on the lower surface. The black frass was mostly in small grains, initially forming two rows but later more irregularly scattered. Puparium. (Fig. 29) Spencer & Steyskal (1986) state that the puparium is black, but it was brown to reddishbrown in all of our specimens. As illustrated by Frick (1959) and described by Spencer & Steyskal, the posterior spiracles are on widely separated projections. In the mine described above, the two puparia were already formed near the center of the mine at the time of collection. Other larvae, which were elongate and white with a faint bluegreen tinge, emerged a few days later and pupated externally. Adults were reared from both internal and external puparia. Distribution. USA: CA, CO, *MO, NC, UT; Canada: AB, YT (Boucher & Wheeler 2001). Spencer (1969) reported other specimens from AB, BC, MB, ON, and QC, but Spencer & Steyskal (1986) suggested that these, along with others from Finland and Poland, represent another undescribed species in the Cerodontha (Poemyza) atra complex (“superspecies”). Comments. Our rearing suggests this species may be univoltine. The label for the holotype from Colorado, which is apparently the only previous reared specimen, includes just one date (28 July 1910), which might be either the collection date or the emergence date (Malloch 1913). : Published as part of Eiseman, Charles S. & Lonsdale, Owen, 2018, New state and host records for Agromyzidae (Diptera) in the United States, with the description of thirty new species, pp. 1-156 in Zootaxa 4479 (1) on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4479.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/1452913 : {"references": ["Malloch, J. R. (1913) A revision of the species in Agromyza Fallen, and Cerodontha Rondani. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 6 (3), 269 - 336.", "Frick, K. E. (1959) Synopsis of the species of agromyzid leaf miners described from North America. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 108, 347 - 465. https: // doi. org / 10.5479 / si. 00963801.108 - 3407.347", "Spencer, K. A. (1969) The Agromyzidae of Canada and Alaska. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 64, 1 - 311. https: // doi. org / 10.4039 / entm 10164 fv", "Spencer, K. A. & Steyskal, G. C. (1986) Manual of the Agromyzidae (Diptera) of the United States. USDA Agricultural Research Service Agriculture Handbook, 638, 1 - 478. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 119606", "Boucher, S. & Wheeler, T. A. (2001) Diversity of Agromyzidae (Diptera) in disjunct grasslands of the southern Yukon Territory. The Canadian Entomologist, 133, 593 - 621. https: // doi. org / 10.4039 / ent 133593 - 5"]}