Biting midges of the genus Palpomyia Meigen (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in India

2005·2.9 MB·English

by  Sujit K Das Gupta

Bonnerzoologische Beiträge Band 56 (2007) Heft 1/2 Seiten 43-48 Bonn, März 200S
Biting Midges of the Genus Palpomyia Meigen
(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in India
Sujit K. Das Gupta^^ Abhijit Mazumdar^) & Prasanta K. Chaudhuri^)
^^Depaitment ofZoology, Presidency College, Calcutta, India
2^Department ofZoology, University ofBurdwan, Burdwan, India
Abstract.TheIndian speciesofPalpomyiaMeigenarerevisedwiththeadditionoftwonew species,P.pseiidorividaris
andP. simplitheca and two new records ofP. magna Tokunaga andP. Stella Tokunaga previously described from New
Guinea.ThespeciesP.flexicligitaSinhaetal.andP. novitaSaha& DasGuptaareproposedasnewsynonymsofP cras-
sipalpis Sinhaet al., andP. barbara Saha& Das Gupta is considered hereas a new synonym ofP. deminiitipalpis Sin-
haetal.
Keywords. Diptera, Ceratopogonidae, Palpomyia. newspecies, synonyms, India.
INTRODUCTION MATERIALAND METHODS
1. 2.
Palpomyiawas establishedas a genusby Meigen (1818) The insectswerecollectedwith lighttrapsatdifferentlo-
(as a synonym ofCeratopogon Meigen) with the single calities in West Bengal, India. They were cleared and
type species,the European CeratopogonflavipesMeigen. mounted in a mixture ofphenol and Canada Balsam on
Edwards (1926) divided the genus into three groups on microscope slides afterappropriate orientation. Morpho-
the basis of the number of spines and the degree of logicalterminologyusedinthespeciesdescriptionsmost-
swellingoftheforefemora. Grogan& Wirth(1975)rec- ly follows Giles & Wirth (1984) and Bose etal. (2003).
ognized four distinct groups based on a combination of Types and identified specimens are housed in the Insect
morphological features. collections ofthe Entomological Laboratory ofthe Uni-
versity ofBurdwan and will be submitted to the Nation-
The larvae ofPalpomyia are an important source offood al Zoological Collections (NZC), Calcutta.
for fishes preying on zoo benthos (Remm 1976) and are
utilized as indicators ofwaterquality on account oftheir
response to certain types ofpollution (Grogan & Wirth 3. TAXONOMY
1979). According to Borkent & Wirth (1997) and up-
dated by Borkent (2008), there are 264 extant species, Key to Indian species ofPalpomyia Meigen
includingnineIndianspecies: Palpomyiaalbiditarsis Ki-
effer 1910, P. himalayae (Kieffer, 1911), P. leiicopogon * Kieffer types are considered lost, hence types ofthese
Kieffer 1911, rivularisKieffer \9\\,P. crassipalpis Sin- specieswerenotseenandthespeciesnamesmaybenom-
ha, Das Gupta& Chaudhuri 2003,P. dernimitipalpis Sin- ina dubia.
ha, Das Gupta & Chaudhuri 2003,P.flexidigita Sinha, P.
barbara Saha & Das Gupta 2005, and P. novita Saha & 1. Wing membrane pale brown to grayish 2
Das Gupta 2005. Wing membrane hyaline 7
2. Scutum with short anteromedially bristles and with-
This paper presents a revision of the Indian species of out
Palpomyia includingtwonewspeciesandnewrecordsof tubercle 3
two species previously known only from New Guinea. Scutum without any bristles anteromedially and with
Palpomyiaflexidigita and P. novita are proposed as new tubercle 4
synonyms ofPalpomyia crassipalpis andP. barbara as a 3. Male with naiTOw stemite IX having a deep caudo
new synonymofPalpomyiademiniitipalpis. Thus,theto- median excavation
talnumberofvalidspeciesofPalpomyia inIndiaadds up Gonostylus short, bud-like, with a blunt end
to ten. crassipalpis cf
Fig. 1. A-J.Palpomviapseudoriviüaris sp.n. ?.A) antenna, B)Palpus, C)Mandible, D-F) fore, mid.hmdfemoraandtibiae, G)
spineson fore femur, H) hind tibial comb, I) wing, J) spennathecae.
Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 (2007) 45
Male with a broad stemite IX, without caudomedian The species may be diagnosed by the following combi-
excavation. Gonostylus slender, with a hooked tip nation ofcharacter states: short palpal segments, anteri-
demiuittipalpis cf orpart ofthorax hairy, 5 bristles on the scutellum, femo-
4. Mid and hind femora with darkbrown apical bands. ra with dark brown broad apical band, hind tibia dark
Mid tibia with one apical spine 5 brown with pale band at its apical l/3rd, 5 forefemoral
Mid and hind femora pale, without pigmented bands. spines, 9 spines ofhind tibial comb, thumb like hind tib-
Mid tibia without apical spine 6 ial spur,grayishwingaboutthreetimes longerthanbroad,
5. Palpal segment III offemale with a subapical pit ri 1.5 times longerthanr,, aedeaguswith longerrecurved
with two sensillae. Palpal segment V with a long api- basal arms and slender distal arm, parameres fused and
cal spines implitheca 9 slendergonostylus ending with a bud
Palpal segment III offemale without sensillae. Palpal
segment V with a short subapical spine
pseudorivularis 9 Palpomyia deminiitipalpis Sinha, Das Gupta & Chaud-
6. Female with inflated forefemurbearing 8-10 ventral huri, 2003 (Sinha et al. 2003: 79).
spines on entire length magna 9 Palpomyia barbara Saha & Das Gupta, 2005: 62. New
Forefemur slender in both sexes, with 3 and 4 apical synonym.
spines, respectively Stella d", 9 9: Unknown.
7. All femora ofmale armed with stout spines
*leucopogon cf Material. 3 c?. WestBengal,Asansol, 23.vii.2001, leg. G.
Only fore femora armed with stout spines 8 Bhattacharyay;1 cf, Kumardubi, 25.vii.2001, leg. D. Sai.
8. Female thorax shining red, bearing a pair ofmedio- Holotype cT, Belpahari, 8.vi.l991, leg. S. Sinha.
lateral spinules *himalayae 9
Female thorax either dark brown orblack and devoid Remarks. The present specimens confomi with those of
ofspinules 9 Sinha et al. (2003) in structures and the morphometries.
9. Female dark brown with pale halter .. *albiditarsis 9 The diagnostic features ofthe species are: elongatedpal-
Female with a deep black body and dark brown halter pal segment II with sensory pit, reduced palpal segment
*riviilaris 9 V, scattered hairs and streak on thorax, 7 fore femoral
spines, hind tibial comb of7 spines, X2 little longer than
r,, elongated gonocoxite with broad base, short gonosty-
Descriptions ofthe species lus with bud at the tip, triangular aedeagus having deep
medianexcavationandheavilysclerotizedparamereswith
Palpomyia crassipalpis Sinha, Das Gupta & Chaudhuri, fused basal arms
2003 (Sinha et al. 2003: 75).
Palpomyiaflexidigita Sinha, Das Gupta & Chaudhuri, On examination ofthe types and previous description of
2003: 79. New synonym. Sinha et al. (2003), it appears that Palpomyia deminuti-
Palpomyia novita Saha & Das Gupta, 2005: 63. New palpis and Palpomyia barbara are the same species and
synonym. P. barbara is proposed as a new synonym ofthe former
9: Unknown. species due to similarities ofmorphological features as
stated above.
Material: Holotypecf, WestBengal,PanagarhAgriculture
Farm, 20.vi.l990. leg. P. K. Chaudhuri. 2 d', Durgapur, Palpomyia magna Tokunaga, 1966
13.vii.2001, leg D.Sai; 1 cf, Asansol, 18.viii.2001, leg. (T0KLINAGA 1966: 130).
S. Sen. Material: 2 9, West Bengal, Jorebanglow (2040m),
21.vii.2001, leg. U. Majumdar; 1 9, Tindharia (1320 m)
Remarks. Sinhaetal. (2003) describedthe species from 25.vii.2001, leg. S.K. Pradhan.
India.Themidges inthepresentstudyconform fullywith
those ofthe above authors and the holotype ofP. crassi- Remarks. Tokunaga (1966) describedthe female ofthe
palpis. AftercriticalstudyandacomparisonoíPalpomyia species from New Guinea. In the course of the present
flexidigita and P. novita with P. crassipalpis it has been study,threeinsectsoftheHimalayasareidentifiedascon-
concluded that these species are synonymous with formingfullytothedescriptionbyTokunaga(1966).The
Palpomyia crassipalpis. In this context, it shouldbe not- species may be diagnosed by: eyes separated as wide as
edthatFig.1 ofP. crassipalpis wasmistakenlyprintedas one facet, 12 (6 large and 5 minute) mandibular teeth,
Fig. 3 ofSinha et al. (2003). scutellum with 4 large and many small bristles, fore fe-
murmostly with 10 spines, hind tibial comb of8 spines,
46 SujitK. Das Gupta etal: Biting Midges ofthe GenusPalpomyia Meigen in India
Fig. 2. A-J. Palponma sunplitneca sp.n. .'. i\) iiagcuuuicics i-yv.n, ia.jj.
tibiae, G) spmes on fore femur, H) hind tibial comb, I) wing, J) spennathecae.
Bonnerzoologische Beiträge 56 (2007) 47
wing pale with brown apical part, r-m shorter than cf of hairy thorax, 8 bristles on the scutellum, dark brown col-
thebaseofRsandM, abdomenochreouswithpalebands or band ofhind tibia, 6 stout femoral spines, 7 spines of
on segments I-IV, dark brown bands on segments V-IX, hindtibialcomb, lengthofTt,darkbrownhalterknob dis-
small gland rod and two sub equal oval spermathecae. tinctglandrod, structureofspermathecaanddistinctrudi-
mentary spennatheca.
PalpomyiapseudorivularisDasGupta, sp. n. (Figs 1A-J)
Palpomyia simplitheca Das Gupta, sp. n. (Figs 2A-J)
9. Head. Eyes separated completely. Antenna (Fig. lA)
withflagellomeres I-VIII yellow atbases, IX-XIII com- 9. Head. Eyes separated as widely as 2 facets. Antenna
pletelybrownwithpalebasesand2xlengthofVII; lengths (Fig. 2A) with flagellomeres I-VIII yellow basally, api-
offlagellomeres I-XIII 8: 5: 5: 5: 5: 5: 5: 6: 10.5: 13.5: cally brown, IX-XIII brown with pale bases and almost
AR
14.5: 16: 18.5, (Antennalratio) 1.65. Palpus(Fig. IB) equal or longer than VIII; length ratio of flagellomeres
uniformly brown, palpal segment III with apical sensory I-XIII 8 : 5 .5 : 5 : 5 : 5 : 5 : 5 :5 :I0 : 12 : 12.5 :13.5 :
pit, segmentVelongatedbearingasubapicalspine; length 18, AR 1.52. Palpus (Fig. 2B) uniformly brown; palpal
ratio ofpalpal segments I-V 3: 4: 7: 5: 10, PR(Palpal ra- segmentIIIwithasensorypithaving2 sensillae, segment
tio) 3.0. Mandible (Fig. IC) with 6 strong teeth. V long with a long stiffspine in addition to normal two;
length ratio ofpalpal segments I-V 2.5: 4: 6.5: 4.5: 10,
Thorax. Brown,veryhairywithsmallbluntanteriortuber- PR 3.25. Mandible (Fig. 2C) with 6 large strong teeth.
cle, scutellum pale, with 8 large and many small bristles. Thorax. Darkbrownwitha fewanteriorhairsandasmall
blunt anterior tubercle, scutellum pale with 4 large and
Legs(Figs ID-F). Coxaebrown,trochantersyellow, fore several small bristles.
femur(Fig. IG) with 7 stout spines, mid and hind femo-
ra with dark brown apical band, tibiae with dark brown Legs (Figs2D-F). Coxaebrown, trochantersyellow, fore
basal and apical bands, mid tibia with 1 apical spine, tar- femur(Fig. 2G) with 6 short and stout apical spines, mid
someres I-II light yellow. III light brown, IV-V totally and hind femorawithdarkbrownapices,tibiaewith dark
brown, mid tarsomeres I-II with 2 apical spines; length brownbasalandapicalbands,colorbandofhindtibianar-
ratioofleg segments 23:19: 8: 4: 2.5; 2: 3 in fore leg, 28: row, tarsomeres I-II pale yellow. III little brown, IV-V
23: 12: 4: 2: 1.5: 2.5 inmidleg, 32: 27.5: 14: 7: 2.5: 2:3.in brown; length ratio of leg segments 18.5: 16.5: 8: 3: 2:
hindleg.TR(Tarsalratio)ofhindleg2.0. Hindtibialcomb 1.5: 3 in fore leg, 23: 20: II: 3: 2: 1.5: 2.5 in mid leg
,
(Fig. IH) with 7 spines. 28: 24: 13: 5: 2: 1.5: 3 in hind leg. TR ofhind leg 2.6.
Hind tibial comb (Fig. 2H) with 8 spines.
Wing (Fig. II): Wing length 2.85 (2.84^2.85, n=4), wing
breadth 1.05 (n=3) mm. Membrane light brown with Wing (Fig. 21). Wing length 2.38 (2.35-2.39, n=4), wing
brownveins, R4+5 endingwellbeyondthemiddle,ri 2.33 breadth 0.84 (0.84-0.85, n=4) mm. Membrane light
times longer than r, (21:9), costal length 2.3Imm; CR brown, R 4+5 ending well beyond the middle, M2 arising
(Costal ratio) 0.81. Halter brown. before r-m cross vein; Xj2.35 times longerthan r,, costal
length 1.93 mm. CR 0.8. Halterbrown with light brown
Abdomen. Tergites brown, cerci brown, gland rods dis- knob.
tinct. Spermathecae (Fig. IJ) large, unequal, 0.18 x 0.12
and 0.14 X O.I0 mm, and the third rudimentary distinct. Abdomen. Tergites brown, cerci brown. Spermathecae
mm
(Fig.2 J) simple, small, unequal, 0.091 by 0.067 and
Material. Holotype9, Darjeeling(2180m) 20.x.1978, leg. 0.076 by 0.062 mm.
Sikha Sarkar. Paratypes 2 9, Darjeeling, 12.ix.2002, leg.
A. Mazumdar. Material. Holotype 9, Darjeeling, 23 .VII.1968, leg. S.K.
Das Gupta.
Remarks. Due to its relatedness to P. rivularis Kieffer,
1911, the species is named P. pseudorivularis. It resem- Paratypes 2 9, Darjeeling, 23, vii. 1968, leg. S. K. Das
blesP. rivularis Kiefferinthe shapeoftheflagellomeres, Gupta; 19, 28.vii.2001, leg. U. Majumdar.
tarsomere I and structure ofthe spermathecae. The color
pattern ofthe hindtibia andthe femoral spines ofP. sub- Remarks. The species isnamedP. simplitheca duetothe
spara (Coquillett, 1901) andfl tainana Kieffer, 1912 are simple spermatheca. In the number and nature of
somewhatsimilartothoseofthenewspecies,butthe fol- mandibular teeth, the wing, and the spermathecae, the
lowing character states are distinctive:, dark palpal seg- species resembles the females ofP.Jlaviceps (Johannsen,
mentIIIwithanapicalpit,6strongteethofmandible,very 1908) and P.jimmensis Tokunaga, 1966. The color pat-
48 Sujit K. Das Gupta et al: Biting Midges ofthe Genus Palpomyia Meigen in India
BosE, M., Das Ggupta, S. K., Mazumdar,A. & Chaudhuri,
ternoflegs ofthe new species andofP. lineata (Meigen) P. K. 2003. BitingmidgesofthegenusAtrichopogon Kieffer
appears more or less similar. It appears to be closer to P. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from India. Tijdschrift voorEn-
pseudorivularisbutthe followingcombinationofcharac- tomologie 146: 259-296.
ter states is unique: flagellomeres IX-XI brown at base, CoQUiLLET, D.W. 1901. NewDiptera intheU.S.NationalMu-
yellow at the apices and almost equal in length to fla- seum. ProceedingsoftheUnitedStatesNationalMuseum23:
593-618.
gellmere VIII, 6 large teeth ofthe mandible, thorax with
Edwards,F.W. 1926.OntheBritishbitingmidges(Diptera,Ce-
a few anteriorhairs and a small blunt anteriortubercle, 8
ratopogonidae)TransactionsoftheEntomological Societyof
large bristlesandseveral small bristles on scutellum, col- London 74: 389^26.
orpatternoffemoraandtibiae, nanowcolorbandonhind GILES, F. E. & Wirth, W. W. 1984. Two new species ofOrien-
tibia, 8 spinesonhindtibialcomb, lengthofr2, andasim- talbitingmidges(Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Proceedingsof
ple, small spermatheca the Entomological Society ofWashington 86: 210-213.
Grogan, W. L & Wirth, W. W. 1975. Arevision ofthe genus
PalpomyiaMeigenofNortheasternNorthAmerica(Diptera:
Ceratopogonidae). Agricultural Experiment Station, Univer-
Palpomyia Stella Tokunaga, 1966 sity ofMaryland 5076: v+49 pp.
(ToKUNAGA 1966: 136). Grogan, W. L. & Wirth, W. W. 1979. The North American
predaceousmidgesofthegenusPalpomyiaMeigen(Diptera:
Material. 3 2 9, Burdwan, 17.vi.l999, leg. P.K.Chaud- Ceratopogonidae). Memoirsofthe Entomological Societyof
huri; 2 cf, 2 9, Durgapur, 12.V.2000, leg. D. Sai; 1 c?, Ut- JOHWAaNsNhSiEnNg,toOn.8:A.1-1192058.. New North American Chironomidae.
tarapara, 01.viii.2001, leg. U. Majumdar; 1 cf, Chinsura, Pp. 264-285 inFeU, P: 23''''reportofthe StateEntomologist
21.vii.2003, leg. D. Sai on injurious other insects ofthe State ofNew York, 1907.
NewYork State Museum, Museum Bulletin 124: 5-541
Remarks. Tokunaga (1966) originally described this Kieffer,J.J. 1910. EtudeSurlesChironomidesDesIndesOri-
species from New Guinea and New Britain. Afew biting entales avec description de quelques nouvelles especes
midges inourstudyare identifiedasPalpomyiaStellabe- d Egypte. Memoirs ofthe Indian Museum 2: 181-242.
cause they appear indistinguishable. The species may be Kieffer, J. J. 1911. Les chironomides (Tendipedidae) de I'Hi-
malaya et d'Assam. Records of the Indian Museum 6:
identified by the following combination of characters: 319-349.
small size, veiy pale ochreous palpus, swollen segment Kieffer,J. J. 1912. Tendipedidae(Chironomidae)(Dipt.). Sup-
III, presence ofconical scutal tubercle, scutellum with 4 plementa Entomológica 1: 27^3.
longbristles and 15 shortbristles, absenceofdefinitecol- Meigen, J. W. 1818. Systematische Beschreibung derbekann-
orpatternon legs, 3 spines on fore femur, 3 spines onthe ten europäischen zweiflügeligen Insketen 1, xxxvi+333pp.,
hindtibial comb, pale wing with C extendingbeyond the ReAmamc,heHn..1976. A synopsis ofthe Palpomyia ofthe U.S.S.R.
end ofR4+5, X2 2.25 times longer than r, slender and ta- (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Loodusuurijate Seltsi Aastaraa-
pered gonocoxite, gonostylus swollen arched, with 3-4 mat 64: 172-197.
small setae,trapezoidaedeagus, fiisedparamereswithstar- Saha,N. C. &DasGupta. S. K. 2005.TwoNewspeciesofthe
like median lobe little longer than basal arms and the tip genus Palpomyia Meigen (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from
rounded, bearing barb-like hook; female abdominal ter- lowerDamodarvalleyofEasternIndia.Geobios32(1): 61-64.
gitesI-II withpalemedianlinearstripes,absenceofgland Sinha, S.,DasGgupta. S. K.&Chaudhuri,P K.2003.Preda-
ceous midges ofthe genus Palpomyia Meigen (Diptera: Ce-
rods and presence oftwo unequal oval spennathecae.
ratopogonidae) from West Bengal, India. Proceedings ofthe
Zoological Society, Calcutta 56(2): 75-80.
Acknowledgements. We are thankful to the Ministry ofEnvi- Ttokunga, M. 1966. Biting Midges ofthe Palpomyiinae from
ronment&Forests,Govt,ofIndiaforfundingtheprojectofthe New Guinea (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Pacific Insects,
Dipteran fauna ofIndia and to the Heads ofthe Department of Monograph 8: 101-152.
Zoology, University ofBurdwan and Presidency College, Cal-
cuttaforlaboratoryfacilities.OursincerestgratitudeowestoDr
ArtBorkentoftheRoyal BritishColumbiaMuseum,Canadafor Authors'addresses: Professors SujitK. DasGupta, De-
criticalappraisalofthemanuscriptandforhisusefulsuggestions partment of Zoology, Presidency College, Calcutta 700
for its improvement. 073, India;AbhijitMazumdar& PrasantaK. Chaudhuri,
DepartmentofZoology,UniversityofBurdwan,Burdwan
713 104, India; E-Mail: chaudhurijpk(gyahoo.co.in;
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