Liriomyza touroulti Boucher, 2025

Liriomyza touroulti Boucher , n. sp.

( Fig 9 View FIG )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6DB60EB7-4210-4CF4-84A6-37E8F4F2BFBD

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Guyane • ♂; Mitaraka , sampling site: MIT-E-savane roche 2; 02°13’59.8”N, 54°27’46.5”W; 471 m; open/ partially opened areas; 13-20.VIII.2015; MT (6 m); Pierre-Henri Dalens leg.; sample code: MITARAKA/230 , sorted by M. Pollet; MNHN. GoogleMaps

Paratypes. Guyane • 1 ♂, 6 ♀; same as for holotype; MNHN • 1♂, 2 ♀; same as for holotype; LEMQ .

ETYMOLOGY. — The species name is a patronym in honour of Julien Touroult, the PI of the entomological component of the “Our Planet Reviewed” Mitaraka survey.

DIAGNOSIS. — This species differs from other Neotropical species of Liriomyza by the combination of the following character states: orbital plate and frons completely yellow; inner vertical bristle and outer vertical bristle on yellow background; thorax subshining black with yellow patch at hind corner; femora yellow, tibia and tarsi slightly darker (especially of mid and hind leg); clypeus pale brown; wing length (male) of 1.5 mm; male genitalia with the distiphallus only slightly longer than the mesophallus.

DISTRIBUTION. — French Guiana.

HOST. — Unknown.

DESCRIPTION

Orbital plate not projecting in front of eye in profile; frons including orbital plates narrow, approximately 0.15 mm at midpoint; eye bare; lunule small; two well-developed reclinate ors and two well-developed inclinate ori (anterior one at most only slightly shorter than posterior ori); orbital setulae sparse, short and reclinate, in one row; first flagellomere small, covered with short but dense white pubescence ( Fig. 9A View FIG ); arista with distinct pubescence; gena slightly deeper at rear end ( Fig. 9A View FIG ), at midpoint about 0.16 × maximum eye height; clypeus with upper margin rounded; small epistoma present; 3 +1 dc; prsc well-developed; acrostichal setulae long, arranged in about 4-5 rows; mid tibia without posterolateral setae; wing length (male, female) 1.5 mm; last section of M 4 0.6 times length of penultimate section. Stridulatory organ present.

Colour

Head yellow, except for slight greyish infuscation on the orbital plate; pleura yellow except for mostly brown katepisternum and anepisternum with a small brown patch; mesonotum shiny brown with small yellow patch at hind corner; legs yellow, tibiae and tarsi slightly darker (pale brown); calypter yellow, fringe short and pale brown.

Male genitalia

Phallus small: length of distiphallus combined with mesophallus measuring approximately 0.08 mm; distiphallus ( Fig. 9B View FIG , arrow a) approximately 1.5 × as long as mesophallus ( Fig. 9B View FIG , arrow b) and approximately 1.6 × as long as wide (at largest point, Fig. 9B View FIG , arrow c); distal end of phallus somewhat claw-like in lateral view ( Fig. 9C View FIG ); ejaculatory apodeme with long, narrow stalk: width of blade at largest point, about 5 × as wide as stalk at midpoint ( Fig. 9D View FIG ); epandrium and surstylus each with one spine ( Fig. 9E View FIG ); spine of surstylus located near midpoint.

REMARKS

Externally, this new species is most similar to L. sativae Blanchard, 1938 , a species widely distributed in the Neotropical region (and elsewhere), and also recorded from French Guiana (EPPO 2022; Martinez & Étienne 2002; Ryckewaert 2003). These two species can be separated from each other by the male genitalia: in L. sativae , the mesophallus is much shorter than the distiphallus and the ejaculatory apodeme has a shorter stalk and wider blade. Also, the spine on the surstylus is subapical (see Lonsdale 2021). In lateral view, the phallus of L. touroulti Boucher , n. sp. is similar to that of L. geniculata Sasakawa, 1992 from Venezuela ( Sasakawa 1992a), but it is quite different in ventral view. Furthermore, the surstylus has two apical spines. Short DNA sequences (356 bp) were obtained from two female paratypes of L. touroulti Boucher , n. sp., with the following GenBank accession numbers: OK623731 and OK623719 ( Boucher & Savage 2022).