Ins Evenhuis, new genus

Type species: Anthrax ignea Macquart, 1846, by present designation.

Included species: Ins celeris (Wiedemann, 1828), n. comb.; Ins curta (Loew, 1869), n. comb.; Ins galathea (Osten Sacken, 1886), n. comb. (Anthrax); Ins ignea (Macquart, 1846), n. comb. (Anthrax); Ins leucocephala (Wulp,

1882), n. comb.; Ins martinorum (Painter, 1962), n. comb. (Villa); Ins minas (Macquart, 1848), n. comb.; Ins pectorcolumbo Evenhuis, n. sp.; Ins pleuralis (Williston,1901), n. comb.; Ins zanouts Evenhuis, n. sp.

Diagnosis. Face slightly produced, rounded in lateral view, not prominent; wing dimidiately infuscate on basal half (slightly fading along posterior edge in some specimens of I. pleuralis); fore tibia smooth, without distinct bristles or spines (a few minute spicules may be present); pulvilli absent; meron with small patch of scales or fine hairs at posterodorsal corner anterior to posterior spiracle; distiphallus with subapical dorsal notch; parameral sheath smooth, apex rounded in dorsal view, without minute spicules subapically on dorsal surface; parameral sheath with dorsomedial blade-like ridge seen in lateral view as a broadly rounded protuberance at level of the apex of the distiphallus (this feature is found in some Hemipenthes s. str. as a small sharply pointed process in lateral view but is reduced or absent in other species currently placed in Hemipenthes); female abdomen tear-drop-shaped, acutely tapered apically; male less so; abdomen often with dense silvery white scales laterally and apically on apical tergites (cf. Fig. 2); ejection apparatus of female genitalia two times length of sclerotized portion of spermatheca; apical valve of ejection apparatus short, less than width of sclerotized portion of spermatheca.

Remarks. The abdominal shape that is teardrop-like with the abdomen acutely tapered, especially in females, is typical for species the genus but not unique to it as there are a few Nearctic species currently placed in Hemipenthes s. lat. that have this shape [e.g., Hemipenthes edwardsii (Coquillett) and H. incisiva (Macquart)]. The typical shape for Hemipenthes s. str. is more cylindrical or sometimes appears slightly flared with the midpoint slightly wider than the base [e.g., H. seminigra Loew; Fig. 1] due to tufts of erect (not decumbent) thick hairs and/or scales laterally on abdominal segments III–V. However, the teardrop shape can be used to initially segregate species that can then be examined for the scale patch on the meron, which typifies the genus. The scales on the meron anterior to the posterior spiracle may be rubbed off in some specimens, which will necessitate examination of the male or female genitalia to ensure accurate placement; however, the possession of the combination of the other external characters including general shape of the abdomen and pattern of white abdominal pile should help place species properly.

There are also other North and Central American species that do not possess all the characters typical of Hemipenthes s. str. and may belong elsewhere, e.g., Hemipenthes albus Ávalos-Hernández, H. chimaera (Osten Sacken), H. edwardsii (Coquillett), H. incisiva (Walker), H. inops (Coquillett), H. lepidota (Osten Sacken), H. nudiuscula (Thomson), H. scylla (Osten Sacken), H. translucens Ávalos-Hernández, and H. webberi (Johnson). They are here tentatively kept in Hemipenthes until further study is conducted to better ascertain their generic placement.

In the treatment of species below, descriptions are given for those species not treated by Ávalos-Hernández (2009) and for new species. For descriptions of other Nearctic species and associated male genitalia descriptions and illustrations, the reader is directed to Ávalos-Hernandez (2009). Illustrations of wings are presented for all species available for study and descriptions for female genitalia where numbers of specimens allowed dissection.

Etymology. The genus name is an arbitrary combination of letters. Gender is feminine.