Heptozus hansoni James, 1966

Heptozus hansoni James, 1966 View in CoL

( Figs. 3–4)

Heptozus hansoni James, 1966: 679 View in CoL . HT ♂ [USU]. Panama: Cerro Campana.

Diagnosis. According to James (1966), H. hansoni James differs from H. ecuadorianus Lindner by presenting the following set of characters: (1) the base of the arista-like stylus is not strongly inflated, and the flagellar complex is consequently more widely differentiated from the arista-like stylus; (2) antennal pedicel is slightly shorter than the scape; (3) flagellum black and darker than pedicel; (4) frontal black marking not horseshoe-shaped; (5) fore tibia yellow; (6) scutellar spines shorter than scutellum.

Distribution. Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul), Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama.

Material examined. BRASIL, MT [*MS - Mato Grosso do Sul instead of MT - Mato Grosso], Dourados , 27-28.xii.1976, J. Lorenzoni col. / DPTO ZOOL [Departamento de Zoologia], UF-PARANÁ [Universidade Federal do Paraná] (♂ DZUP-460927). [* Until 1977, the city of Dourados was part of Mato Grosso ( MT), when the state was dismembered, and the southern part of the state became Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). It became a state of the federation in 1979, when it was officially separated from Mato Grosso ( IBGE, 2024).

Comments. The specimen examined is in a good condition, but some structures have been lost, such as: antennal flagella, scutellar spines, left wing, terminal tarsomeres of the forelegs, and midlegs ( Figs. 3–4). Discussion. Heptozus hansoni is recorded for the first time in Brazil through a single specimen collected in the municipality of Dourados, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the 1970s.Its previously known distribution was restricted to Costa Rica, Panama (Central America) and Ecuador (South America) ( Woodley, 2001). In Central America, the species is common at low to middle elevations and possibly has a wider distribution north into tropical lowlands ( Woodley, 2009). While for Ecuador, the only known record in the literature is of a male paratype from the original description of the species ( James, 1966). Since H. hansoni is recorded for Ecuador, it was at least expected that it could have a distribution throughout Andean America ( Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela) or even an Amazonian distribution ( Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela). So, at least in principle, the species was not expected to be found in the Brazilian Central-West, in a location under the domain of the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. However, this implies that very little is known about the species, which is also true for the entire subfamily. Recently Neanalcocerus hortulanus ( Williston, 1900) was recorded for Nicaragua ( Maes and Fachin, 2024), after more than 120 years known exclusively for Mexico. Knowledge about the natural history of the Raphiocerinae is still quite scarce, and aspects of adult biology are usually limited to accidental observations of these insects in the field ( McFadden, 1970; Woodley, 2001, 2009; Marshall, 2012; Godoi and Rafael, 2013). According to Woodley (2009) H. hansoni is a fairly common species in Malaise trap samples from low to middle elevations in Central America, but this is not the case in South America, so its taxonomic and ecological information remains limited. Thus, expanding sampling, especially in regions poorly studied, will certainly contribute to understanding the distribution patterns and natural history, both Heptozus and the entire subfamily.