New data about Australophlebotomus notteghemae Léger & Pesson, 1993 (Diptera, Psychodidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACTTwo endemic Australophlebotomus species have been recorded in New Caledonia: Au. notteghemae Léger & Pesson and Au. maduloae Léger & Pesson, as reported in 1993. At that time, the authors mainly based their description on male holotypes, and tentatively associated two different females called ‘A’ and ‘B’ to each male. Very scarce in New Caledonia, these two species have been reported on very few occasions, with specimens coming from various locations of this island. Having now access to two Australophlebotomus females and two Au. notteghemae males caught in 1997 in the Touaourou cave (New Caledonia), our aim was to validate the male-female association in Au. notteghemae and to add to the description of this species. One pair was subjected to a DNA analysis while the other pair was used for morphological studies. Cytochrome b of the mtDNA, and the D1, D2 and D8 domains of the 28S rDNA were sequenced. For each marker, full sequence homology (100%, no mutation) was observed for the processed male and female. Original drawings and new morphological data about Au. notteghemae are provided. Both molecular and morphological evidences strongly associate female ‘A’ to the male Au. notteghemae specimen.