Description of the female of Brasineura diamantina Silva ‐ Neto & García Aldrete ( Psocodea : “ Psocoptera ” : Ptiloneuridae ) , with comments on variation in the wing venation

The unknown female of Brasineura diamantina Silva-Neto & García Aldrete is described and illustrated, with new records and comments on variation in the fore-hindwing venation, based on 27 females and 113 males collected in five localities in the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. Thirty four types of variation and anomalies in the fore-hindwing veins were found. A revised diagnosis of B. diamantina is also presented. Key-Words. Taxonomy; Neotropics; Epipsocetae.


INTRODUCTION
Recently, two of us (D.Moura Lima and A. Moreira da Silva Neto) found among specimens collected by the PPBio-Semi-arid Project, in the Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia, 113 males and 27 females specimens of B. diamantina.The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate the female of B. diamantina, to describe the variation and anomalies of the fore-hindwing venation, to present a revised diagnosis of B. diamantina and to modify the identification key to the males of the species of Brasineura, in Silva-Neto et al. (2018).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
There were 113 males and 27 females were available for study.They were dissected in 80% etanol and their parts were mounted on permanent slides in Canada balsam.Standard measurements (in μm) were taken with a filar micrometer.Abbreviations of parts measured are as follows: FW and HW: right fore-and hindwing lengths; F, T, t1, t2 and t3: lengths of femur, tibia and tarsomeres 1, 2 and 3 of right hind leg; f1…fn: lengths of flagellomeres 1…n of right antenna; Mx4: length of fourth segment of right maxillary palpus; IO: minimum distance between compound eyes in dorsal view of head; D and d: antero-posterior and transverse diameter, respectively, of right compound eye in dorsal view of head; PO: d/D.The specimens were stored in "CD boxes" as described by Silva-Neto et al. (2016a).The variable number of branches (primary and secondary) of the M vein of the fore-hindwings, were considered as variations, while other modifications in wing veins such as presence of the spur-vein, transverse vein and forewing R₄₊₅ or R₂₊₃ forked were considered as anomalies, because they are not present in most specimens of B. diamantina and absent in other species of Ptiloneuridae (With the exception of one crossvein between vein 2A and wing margin in the forewing as in Timnewia Garcia Aldrete and Loneuroides Garcia Aldrete and one crossvein between 1A and wing margin and pterostigma with a spur-vein in forewing as in Timnewia).Specimens that presented wings with a pattern different from the holotype of B. diamantina were named as follows: Male (M1…Mn) or female (F1… Fn).
Photographs of parts of the specimens were taken with a Leica DFC500 digital camera attached to a Leica M205C stereomicroscope, connected to a computer with the Leica Application Suite LAS v3.6 software, which includes an Auto-Montage module (Syncroscopy software).The distribution map was generated on the website SimpleMappr.
The specimens studied are deposited in the Entomological Collection Prof. Johann Becker of the Zoology Museum of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil (MZFS).6); gonapophyses with six large setae on outer lob (Fig. 7).

Description of the female
Color: Body pale yellow, with brown and pale brown areas as indicated below.Compound eyes black, ocelli hyaline, with ochre centripetal crescents; head pattern (Fig. 1); a brown band on vertex, from each compound eye to upper part of ocellar group; a brown irregular band between compound eyes, limited posteriorly by the postclypeus; each gena with a brown band from lower compound eye to subgenal sulcus.Scape, pedicel and f1 pale brown, f2-f4 brown.Maxillary palps pale yellow, Mx4 more pigmented distally.Legs with coxae yellow; trochanters, femora, tibiae and tarsomeres pale brown.Forewings almost hyaline, as illustrated in Fig. 2; a brown spot on confluence of Cu2-1A; veins brown.Hindwing (Fig. 3) almost hyaline throughout, veins brown.
Hindwing Rs-M joined for a distance, Rs, R₂₊₃ and R₄₊₅ almost straight, M vein 2-branched (Fig. 3; see also variation of the other females below).Subgenital plate broad, wide basally, with sides converging towards a straight posterior border, pigmented area wide, V-shaped, setae as illustrated in Fig. 5. Ninth sternum (Fig. 6) broad, with three distinct areas, an anterior area weakly sclerotized, almost elliptic, slightly concave in the middle, anteriorly and posteriorly; a mesal area heavily sclerotized, wide, transverse, with inner margin almost trapezoidal and antero-lateral corners narrowing posteriorly, with apices acuminate; a posterior área with numerous small lines, proximally wide, narrowing posteriorly.Gonapophyses: v1 stoutest near its base rather than in the middle and distally acuminate; outer edge and ends heavily sclerotized; v2 + 3 broad, narrowing at the ends, with long, almost rectangular heel, distally blunt; six setae on outer lobe, distal process slender, short and distally lightly acuminate (Fig. 7).Epiproct triangular, with three mesal setae, other setae as illustrated in Fig. 8. Paraprocts almost triangular, broad, sensory fields with 27 trichobothria on basal rosettes; setae as illustrated in Fig. 8.

DISCUSSION
Until now, the distribution of B. diamantina was restricted to the type locality, but with the new records found, the distribution increases to 218 km (from Abaíra to Morro do Chapéu), but remains restricted to the Chapada Diamantina region (Fig. 43).The female of B. diamantina differs from that of B. jiboia in details of the ninth sternum (compare Fig. 6  The number of primary branches in vein M of the fore-hindwings is an important diagnostic character of ptiloneurid genera.In Brasineura the number of primary branches in vein M of the hindwing is also an important diagnostic character, it is associated with the external parameres distally forked or not forked, in the first step of the key to identify the species of Brasineura (see Silva-Neto et al., 2018), dividing them in two groups: one with hindwing M two-branched, and external parameres distally not forked (B.diamantina and B. jiboia) and another group with hindwing M three to four-branched and external parameres distally forked (B.serranortensis, B. troglophilica and B. spinosa).The extreme intra specific variation in number of primary branches of the hindwing M described in this paper for B. diamantina, imposes the need to modify the first step of the key cited above.The exclusion of the hindwing in the first step of the key solves the question, without loss of efficiency of the latter.
The number of branches (primary or secondary) in the fore-hindwing M is not a good diagnostic character for species of Brasineura.Variations in the number of branches in the forewing M were reported in other species of Brasineura by Silva-Neto et al. (2016b, 2018), although the number of specimens analyzed by these authors was small.
The holotypes of B. troglophilica and B. serranortensis have forewings identical to type 17 and hindwings type 31, as described in this paper for six Brasineura males (M11, M50, M52, M57, M58, M67).Furthermore, the paratypes of B. troglophilica and B. serranortensis present forewings identical to type 18 as described in this paper.
In the future with more collections of specimens, including species of other genera of Ptiloneuridae, investigators may be alerted to the need to exclude the number of branches in the fore-hindwing M as a key step for specific or generic identification keys in this family.