Polypedilum (Tripodura) francisae Namayandeh & Vasquez, 2026, sp. nov.

Polypedilum (Tripodura) francisae sp. nov. Fig. 7 Type material. Holotype • 1 male; Belize, Guanacaste National Park, Roaring Creek, trib. to Belize River; 17.261937, -88.790266; leg. A. A. Vasquez; dep. ARC. Paratypes • 2 males; same as holotype; except one male with only the hypopygium. Diagnostic characters. The adult male of P. francisae sp. nov. can be separated from the related species by a combination of the following: AR 1.72–1.83; wing with a faint, large patch covering the basal portion of cell r 4 + 5 and anteromedial portion of cell m 1 + 2, faint patches also on the basal portion of cells m 3 + 4, cu, and an; anal point broad and conoid with small basal notches; superior volsella robust, and tubular with a branch of long, basolateral, spine-like setae; gonostylus narrow and curved. Description. Male (n = 2; unless otherwise stated). Total length 3.07–3.15, 3.11 mm. Wing 1.57–1.61, 1.59 mm long and 0.46–0.47 mm wide. Total length / wing length 1.96. Wing length / profemur length 3.79–3.94, 3.87. Coloration. Head, antenna, thorax, abdomen, and hypopygium brown. Wing pale brown with a faint patch covering the basal portion of cell r 4 + 5 and anteromedial portion of cell m 1 + 2, faint patches also on the basal portion of cells m 3 + 4, cu, and an. Head (Fig. 7 A). Antenna with 13 flagellomeres; 2 nd - 4 th flagellomeres each with a pair of long, thin sensilla chaetica as long as the segment bearing them; last flagellomere with 8 sensilla chaetica; AR 1.72–1.83, 1.78. Temporal setae 10, uniserial (n = 2). Clypeus nearly squared, 61–94, 78 μm long and 99 μm wide, bearing 20–26, 23 setae. Tentorium 146–163, 155 μm long. Length of palpomeres (in μm; 3–5 (n = 1)): 50–54, 52; 41–43, 42; 130; 150; 216. Thorax. Acrostichals 20–21; dorsocentrals 15–16, uniserial; prealars 5; scutellars 10, uniserial. Antepronotal lobe well-separated, bare. Wing (Fig. 7 B). Anal lobe well-reduced. R with 17–21, 19 setae; R 1 with 16–19, 17 setae; R 4 + 5 with 31–40, 35 setae. Brachiolum with 1 seta. Squama with 5–7 setae. VR 1.23–1.26, 1.25. Legs (Fig. 7 C-E). Fore tarsus missing. Fore tibia with prominent triangular scale, 41–43 μm long. Mid tibia with divided comb and single spur, 67–72, 70 μm long. Hind tibia with divided comb and single spur, 53–63, 58 μm long. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 5. Hypopygium (n = 3; Fig. 7 F, G). Posterior tergite IX with lateral projections 21–26, 23 μm long. Anal point conoid with small basal notches, 59–76, 66 μm long, 23–24 μm wide at the base, and 15–22, 18 μm wide at the apex. Sternapodeme 53–62, 57 μm long. Phallapodeme 68–73, 71 μm long. Superior volsella 68 μm long, robust, and tubular with a branch of long, basolateral, spine-like setae. Inferior volsella 117–132, 126 μm long, sub-cylindrical with a cluster of long apicoventral setae. Gonocoxite 100–109, 105 μm long. Gonostylus narrow and curved, 185–195, 191 μm long. HR 0.54–0.56; HV 1.62–1.66, 1.64. Etymology. The new species is named in honor of Francis Vasquez, the co-author’s wife, for her many years of support. Remarks. P. francisae sp. nov. closely resembles the Nearctic species Polypedilum (Tripodura) digitifer Townes, 1945, and Polypedilum (Tripodura) griseopunctatum (Malloch, 1915). The tergite IX of P. digitifer has numerous setae, particularly adjacent to the anal point. The tergite IX of P. francisae sp. nov. and P. griseopunctatum have only a few setae with no long setae adjacent to the base of their anal point. The anal point of P. francisae sp. nov. is longer on average, 66 μm, and narrower, 23–24 μm at the base and 15–22 μm at the apex. Soponis and Simpson (1992) did not provide any measurements for the anal points of P. digitifer and P. griseopunctatum. However, based on examination of the adult males of these species from Alabama, USA, both species have on average shorter (53–59, 56 μm & 57 μm, respectively) and wider anal points (33–40, 37 & 33 μm at base; 21–28, 23 & 28 μm at apex, respectively). The apex of P. francisae sp. nov. anal point is conoid, whereas P. digitifer and P. griseopunctatum are crescent-shaped. P. griseopunctatum anal point is setose with numerous minute lateral setae, whereas those of P. digitifer and P. francisae sp. nov. are bare (Fig. 8 A – C). The superior volsella of the new species has a branch of long, basolateral, spine-like setae, which is only present basally on P. griseopunctatum superior volsella. However, species differ in the shape and size of their superior volsella (Fig. 8 A – C). P. griseopunctatum superior volsella is 70–74 μm long; whereas those of P. digitifer and P. francisae sp. nov. are 47–65 μm and 68 μm long, respectively. Polypedilum digitifer wing has no markings, whereas P. francisae sp. nov. and P. griseopunctatum have markings, albeit those of P. griseopunctatum are more prominent (Figs 7 B, 8 D, 8 E). The fore tibia scales of P. digitifer and P. francisae sp. nov. are wider with short spinous apex, whereas P. griseopunctatum fore tibia scale is narrower and has a long spinous apex (Figs 7 C, 8 F, 8 G). Among the Neotropical species, the apex of the anal point of the new species resembles those of Polypedilum (Tripodura) epomis Sublette & Sasa, 1994, Polypedilum (Tripodura) luteopedis Sublette & Sasa, 1994, Polypedilum (Tripodura) titicacae Roback & Coffman, 1983, Polypedilum (Tripodura) bacalar Vinogradova, 2008, and Polypedilum (Tripodura) scharfi Vinogradova, 2008. However, the latter species lack a basal notch on their anal points. Furthermore, their posterior tergite IX lateral projections are much shorter compared to the new species. Among the Neotropical species, P. titicacae and Polypedilum (Tripodura) umayo Roback & Coffman, 1983 have superior volsella with spine-like setae. However, the latter species, superior volsellae, differ in shape and size from the new species. Based on Bidawid and Fittkau’s (1995) categorizations of the morphological characters of the Neotropical Polypedilum, the new species is characterized as in Table 6. The genus is under revision for the Neotropical realm. The faunistic records, descriptions, and major studies on the Neotropical species of Polypedilum can be found in the works of Armitage et al. (2025), Ballesteros et al. (2022), Baranov et al. (2020), Bello-González et al. (2024), da Silva et al. (2023), Pinho and da Silva (2020), Pinho et al. (2015), Bidawid and Fittkau (1995), Bidawid-Kafka (1996), Fuentes and Donato (2014), Mendes et al. (2011), Roback and Coffman (1983), Shimabukuro et al. (2019), Sublette and Sasa (1994), and Vinogradova (2008).