Primer registro de Argentoleon irrigatus (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) para Minas Gerais, Brasil

MARISE SILVA¹, BRÍGIDA SOUZA² and CÉSAR FREIRE CARVALHO³

¹M. Sc. in Entomology, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Departamento de Entomologia. Campus Universitàrio, Postal Code 37200-000 - Lavras, MG - Brazil - PO Box 3037. marisesilva15@hotmail.com. Corresponding author.
² D. Sc. in Entomology, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Departamento de Entomologia.Campus Universitàrio, Postal Code 37200-000 - Lavras, MG - Brazil - PO Box 3037. brgsouza@den.ufla.br.
³ D. Sc. in Entomology, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Departamento de Entomologia. Campus Universitàrio, Postal Code 37200-000 - Lavras, MG - Brazil - PO Box 3037. cfcarvalho@den.ufla.br

Abstract: Report of the first record of occurrence of Argentoleon irrigatus in the state of Minas Gerais, from three specimens collected in the Mata do Baú, municipality of Barroso, MG, Brazil. Thus, knowledge of the geographic distribution of this species of Myrmeleontidae in Brazil is increased.

Key words: Biodiversity. Environmental conservation. Antlion. Mata do Baú. New record.

Resumen: Se da el primer registro de la ocurrencia de Argentoleon irrigatus en el estado de Minas Gerais, a partir de tres especímenes recolectados en la Mata do Baú, municipio de Barroso, MG, Brasil, ampliando así el conocimiento de la distribución geográfica de esta especie de Myrmeleontidae para el Brasil.

Introduction

The genus Argentoleon (Stange, 1994) has known distribution in South America and includes two species Argentoleon irrigatus (Gerstaecker, 1894) and Argentoleon longitudinalis (Navas, 1914) (Stange 1994). A. irrigatus is registered for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela (Stange 2010). For Brazil, there are occurrence reports in the states of Sao Paulo and Amazonas and the deposit registry of a specimen at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, containing only the description "Chapada" as collection location (Stange 2010).

Reports published by Stange (2010), regarding the external morphological traits of A. irrigatus, mention that the adults can be recognized by the frons without setae; antenna short, same length in both sexes, about 30 flagellomeres; antennal fossae separated by about width of pedicel; fore femur without clavate setae; ocular rim without setae; fore femoral sense hair as long as fore femur and mid femoral sense hair; mesonotum without blade-like setae; tibial spurs present; pretarsal claws large, longer than one-half length of distal tarsomere; pilula axillaris large; fore wing vein 2A runs in a fairly even curve toward 3A; posterior area of hind wing narrower than presectoral area, CuA bends to hind margin at or before origin of medial fork; anterior banksian line weakly developed; fore wing without dark brown stripe in mediocubital area.

Samples were taken fortnightly between March 2010 and February 2011, for an uninterrupted period of 2 h each samples, in a fragment of about 400 ha of native vegetation, characterized by semideciduous montane forest, riparian forest and open grassland formations, known as the "Mata do Bau", in Barroso, MG, Brazil (Menini-Neto et al. 2004). The area is located between parallels 21°11’ - 21°12’S; 43°55’ -43°58’W, in a region of highland tropical climate, characterized by hot rainy summers and cold dry winters (Koppen Cwb42 mesothermal climate). The three specimens were captured in March 2010 (Fig. 1), in semideciduous forest, using 30 cm diameter entomological nets, 1.5 m handle rod, made of voile fabric. The examined specimens were deposited in the collection of the Entomology Department of the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, MG, Brazil. The result presented here might be of great use in defining the properties for preservation actions, thus, contributing for the creation of the first environmental reserve in the municipality of Barroso, given that Mata do Bau is located between the priority regions for the conservation of flora and invertebrates in Minas Gerais (Drummond et al. 2005).

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and the Fundagao de Amparo á Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG, Programa Biota Minas) for financial support for the study. The authors are grateful to the Doctor Benjamin Robert Diehl, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA, for the identification of specimens.

Literature cited

DRUMMOND, G. M.; MARTINS, C. S.; MACHADO, A. B. M.; SEfBAIO, F. A.; ANTONINI, Y 2005. Biodiversidade em Minas Gerais: um atlas para sua conservagao. Fundagao Biodiversitas, Belo Horizonte. 222 p.         [ Links ]

MENINI-NETO, L.; ASSIS, L. C. S.; FORZZA, R. C. 2004. A familia Orchidaceae em um fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual, no municipio de Barroso, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Revista Lundiana 5 (1): 9-27.         [ Links ]

STANGE, L. A. 1994. Reclassification of the New World antlion genera formerly included in the tribe Brachynemurini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae). Insecta Mundi 8 (1-2): 67119.         [ Links ]

STANGE, L. A. 2010. Preliminary report on the Myrmeleontidae (Neuroptera) of Paraguay. Insecta Mundi 0114: 1-14.         [ Links ]

Received: 11-Feb-2015
Accepted: 13-Nov-2015

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