First records of Pantophthalmidae (Insecta: Diptera) for the state of Tocantins, Brazil

Abstract Pantophthalmidae (Diptera) are recorded exclusively in the Neotropical Region. Despite the large size of adults, their species are often rare and poorly represented in entomological collections. Only two genera and 20 species are known, of which 12 are recorded in the five regions of Brazil. In the North region, the family is reported from all states, except in Tocantins. The present work provides the first records of the family for Tocantins, expanding the distribution of two species, Pantophthalmus kerteszianus (Enderlein, 1914) and P. tabaninusThunberg, 1819. Both species are recorded for the first time in the Cerrado biome. In addition, we provide photographs of the species and a distribution map.


INTRODUCTION
Pantophthalmidae are a small family of Diptera also known as timber flies or giant flies. They are robust flies, with adult body varying from 18 to 45 mm (Woodley, 2009). The family is found only in the Neotropical Region, with only two genera and 20 valid species: Pantophthalmus Thunberg, 1819, with 19 species and Opetiops Enderlein, 1921, with only one species (Val, 1976;Papavero, 2009). Of these, 11 species of Pantophthalmus and Opetiops alienus (Hermann, 1916) occur in Brazil, distributed in the five major regions of the country. Currently, eight species of Pantophthalmidae are reported from the states of the North region of Brazil, however, no records of the family have been reported from the state of Tocantins so far (Barros et al., 2019;Fachin, 2023).

MATERIAL & METHODS
The examined specimens are deposited at the Coleção de Entomologia da Universidade Federal do Tocantins (CEUFT) and were collected in the municipalities of Colinas do Tocantins, Paraíso, and Porto Nacional, both located in the state of Tocantins, North region of Brazil. The specimens were identified with Val's (1976) key and compared with photos of the types deposited at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany (MfN) (Fig. 2) and also with additional material from the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (MZUSP). Images of the adults were obtained through a Leica M165C stereomicroscope with a coupled camera. Editing of photos and plates were done with Adobe Photoshop. For plotting the distribution of each species on a map, we checked all the literature known to us, providing the approximate coordinates based on the center of the locations using Google Earth™ and informing which study was the source of each locality record ( Table 1). The distributional map was elaborated with QGIS (2022) and the shapefile with the Brazil limits and the Brazilian biomes were obtained from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) (https://www. ibge.gov.br) and that with South and Central America limits from Efran Maps (https://www.efrainmaps.es/english-version/free-downloads/americas). In the examined material section of each species, the label information was reproduced exactly as one can read from the labels and complementary data when added, is between parentheses [ ]. (Enderlein, 1914) Figs. 1, 2, 4

Pantophthalmus kerteszianus
Acanthomera kertéziana Enderlein, 1914: 578. Lectotype: female (MfN, examined by photo; according to Val, 1976, the two females syntypes should be in Warsaw and Budapest, one in each collection, but no specimen was found in Warsaw; a female labeled as the type was found in the Berlin collection and designated as lectotype, see Val, 1976: 79). Type locality: Peru, Mariscal Cáceres, Juanjui. [For nomenclatural history, see Papavero (2009: 3), no changes are proposed here].
Diagnosis: Female -Body predominantly brownish to black (Fig. 1A). Frons and antenna orangish-brown ( Fig. 1B, C). Face with a very prominent beak (Fig. 1C). Thorax covered with grayish pruinosity and three dark brown longitudinal bands; lateral bands thicker and almost parallel, medial band narrower than lateral bands and interrupted near the posterior margin of scutum (Fig. 1A). Wing with yellowish-brown base, most visible at the level of humeral vein (Fig. 1D). Legs reddish-brown to dark brown, except all tarsomeres 1-2 yellow (Fig. 1A), ventral spine of hind femur reduced in size (Fig. 1E).
Abdomen black with small white spots on lateral margins of tergites 2 and 3. Comments: Val (1976: 79, fig. 102, female) mentioned the presence of a dark triangular spot on the posterior region of the scutum. In the examined specimens, the triangular mark is small, barely visible, similar to that observed in the lectotype and additional female deposited in Berlin (Fig. 2). In addition, the studied specimens have considerable variation in size, the smallest measures 19 mm and the largest, 26 mm. This size difference was also noted by Carrera & d'Andretta (1957), who mentioned that the body length of this species varied between 20 and 35 mm. Diagnosis: Female -Body predominantly brown to black (Fig. 3A). Frons yellow (Fig. 3A, B). Face with a slightly prominent beak (Fig. 3B, C). Antenna dark brown, covered with yellowish pruinosity, flagellum with the first two flagellomeres wider than the others, last flagellomere tapering towards apex, with an orange tip (Fig. 3D). Thorax predominantly brown with a wide yellowish longitudinal Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2023; v.63: e202363027 4/8 median stripe. (Fig. 3A). Wing with brown base (Fig. 3E). Legs reddish brown to dark brown, hind femur without ventral spine (Fig. 3F). Abdomen black with small white spots on lateral margins of tergites 2 and 3.

Comments:
The beak on the face of one examined specimen is dented, giving the impression that the structure is excavated. In the illustration provided by Val (1976: 121, fig. 80, female) of P. tabaninus, it is possible to verify that the beak, although not very prominent, does not have a recess.

DISCUSSION
Pantophthalmus kerteszianus is now reported from 15 localities in the Neotropical Region, of which six are in Brazil. Three of these records are in the Amazon Forest biome (states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso, and Pará), one in the Pantanal biome (state of Mato Grosso do Sul), and now two in the Cerrado biome (state of Tocantins). Pantophthalmus tabaninus seems to be a more common species, often collected, reported from 67 localities, of which 22 are in Brazil. More than half of the Brazilian records of P. tabaninus are in the Atlantic Forest (13 records), followed by the Amazon Forest (six records), one record in the state of Bahia, this without information on the specific location, and now one in the Cerrado (Fig. 4).
Despite the economic importance of pantophtalmids, the group is still poorly studied, and the distribution of its species not completely understood. Pantophthalmus kerteszianus, for example, has already been recorded feeding on plants in the states of Amazonas (Abreu & Rocha, 2003) and Pará (Lunz et al., 2010), neighboring states of Tocantins. Thus, the expansion of sampling in remote or poorly studied regions, such as Tocantins, will contribute to understanding the distributional patterns and feeding preferences of the family.  (Enderlein, 1914) and P. tabaninus Thunberg, 1819 (as P. immanis (Wiedemann, 1830)). © Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2023;v  Pap. Avulsos Zool., 2023; v.63: e202363027 6/8