Systematics of Agrophaspidium, a new genus of Neotropical Chloropidae (Diptera)

Abstract

Agrophaspidium gen. n. is described for six species: Agrophaspidium flavimana sp. n. (type locality: La Selva, Costa Rica); Agrophaspidium hastatum Duda, 1930, comb. n. (type locality: Suiza de Turrialba, Costa Rica); Agrophaspidium minutum sp. n. (type locality: Gatun Lake, near Colón, Panama); Agrophaspidium monticola sp. n. (type species of genus; type locality: Monteverde, Costa Rica); Agrophaspidium pollinosum sp. n. (type locality: Portachuelo Pass, Venezuela); and Agrophaspidium psilotum sp. n. (type locality: Guanacaste National Park, Costa Rica). Agrophaspidium is distinguished from other Oscinellinae by the combination of an anteromedial-posterolateral arrangement of the vertical bristles, a dorsally flattened scutellum with four elongate marginal projections bearing stout bristles, and characters of the male genitalia (enlarged epandrium, branched surstylus, enlarged and modified cercus). Although the phylogenetic relationships of species within Agrophaspidium are resolved by morphological characters, the generic relationships to other Oscinellinae are unresolved.