Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060 Vol. 93, Num. 3, 1998, pp. 337

RESEARCH NOTE

New Synonymy to Simulium (Inaequalium) inaequale (Paterson & Shannon, 1927)

S Coscaron, DR Miranda-Esquivel*/^+

Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
*Universidad Industrial de Santander, AA 678 Bucaramanga, Colombia
^+Corresponding author. Fax: +54-21-257527. Email: dmiranda@uis.edu.co

Received 26 November 1997; Accepted 2 March 1998

Code Number:OC98064
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Key words: Neotropical Simuliidae - Simulium (Inaequalium) inaequale -Thyrsopelma argentata - synonymy

Simulium (Inaequalium) inaequale, described as Eusimulium inaequalis (G Paterson & RC Shannon 1927 Rev Inst Bacteriol 4: 737-742), is a moderately anthropophilic species with a broad distribution. It is known from Brazil (from Amapa, Paraiba, and Mato Grosso to Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay (Alto Parana and Cordillera), Bolivia (Nor Yungas, La Paz) and Argentina (Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman, and Misiones).

The description of Thyrsopelma argentata Enderlein, 1936 (I Sitz Gesell Naturf Freunde Berlin 125:113-130) was based on a single female specimen. Our revision of this holotype, deposited in the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, shows the following characters. General color black; scutum black with grayish pollinosity; according to light direction it shows 1+1 weak sub-median gray bands, with decumbent pilosity varying from silver to copper. Pleurae black with silver pollinosity. Abdomen black, tergite II with 1+1 sub-lateral silver spots, tergites V-VIII showing a waxy shine. Legs with a color pattern similar to that of S. inaequale. Female genitalia are also similar to those of S. inaequale, paraprocts slightly shorter than basal width, distal border rounded and covered with spicules. Sternite VIII with median dark spot and 1+1 lateral spots. Gonapophyses divergent, sub-triangular, with internal border more sclerotized. Arms of genital fork relatively slim. These characters agree with the description and figures for the subgenus Inaequalium given by S Coscaron and P Wygodzinsky (1984 Arq Zool (Sao Paulo) 31: 37-103). The dissected genitalia have been attached to the holotype pin.

Although we do not know the morphology of the basal portion of the cibarium, that could help us to identify this taxon, the observed characters of T. argentanta do not agree with the diagnostic features of the subgenus Thyrsopelma (type species Simulium orbitale Lutz, 1910 = Thrysopelma brasiliensis Enderlein, 1934) nor with those of Trichodagmia (type species Simulium chalcocoma Knab, 1914 = Trichodagmia latitarsis Enderlein, 1934) based on the actual concept of these subgenera given by RW Crosskey and TM Howard [1997 A New Taxonomic and Geographical Inventory of World Blackflies (Diptera:Simuliidae), The Natural History Museum, London, 144 pp.] Therefore we consider that this holotype specimen of T. argentata belongs to the subgenus Inaequalium. For an accurate species identification additional specimens (females and pupae) need to be examinated, but given the similarity of T. argentata with the description of S. (I.) inaequale and its origin (Bolivia = High Peru = "hoch Peru"), a place where S. (I.) inaequale also occurs (Nigrilluni, Nor Yungas, Dto. La Paz), we propose this new synonymy Simulium (Inaequalium) inaequale (Paterson y Shannon, 1927) = Thyrsopelma argentata Enderlein, 1936.

The actual nomenclatural status of S. (I.) inaequale is as follows:

Simulium inaequale (Paterson & Shannon, 1927) =

Simulium baiense Pinto, 1932
Trichodagmia manicata Enderlein, 1934
Simulium jundiaiense d' Andretta & Dolores Gonzalez, 1964
Thyrsopelma argentata Enderlein, 1934.

Copyright 1998 Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz