(Figures 1−11)
Male. General body coloration not observed; body uniformly sclerotized. Head: pyriform in frontal view, vertex not enlarged; ratio of head length to width: 1.18; setae alveoli patches extending anteriorly at midline, meeting supraocular alveoli patches. Eyes small, slightly longer than the clypeus. Frons with intra-ocular sutures about 0.3 its width. Ratio of labrum length to head length: 0.53; ratio labrum length to flagellomere 1 length: 0.41; ratio of flagellomere 1 length to length of flagellomeres 2 + 3: 1.20 (Fig. 1). Ascoids simple, those of flagellomere 2 about 0.53 times as long as flagellomere, one terminating basal to sensory papilla, the other terminating at level of sensory papilla, both inserted at slightly different levels (Fig. 2); flagellomeres 2 and 3 with sensory papilla rosette-like. Palpal formula: 1.0: 3.8: 4.6: 3.6: 8.3 (Fig. 1). Newstead´s scales numbering approximately 10, inserted at midpoint of medial margin of palpomere 3. Cibarium and pharynx unarmed. Thorax: with ventrocervical sensilla (Fig. 3); katepisternum with distinct pilosity on frontal margin; with 7 upper and 3 lower mesanepisternal setae. Wing about 3.9 times the width, delta positive (Fig. 4) but variable. Abdomen: sternite 2 about 1.91 longer than wide, with 4−5 + 4−5 distal setae (Fig. 5). Terminalia: Gonostylus with subterminal seta and 4 spines inserted as follows: one at apex, one at distal 0.20, one at mid-length, one at basal 0.25; gonocoxite with tuft of 16−20 setae inserted basally (Figs. 10, 11), with patch of about 20 thin and long persistent setae on apical half (Fig. 10); paramere simple, arched, with apex swollen, bearing two spiniform setae and few smaller setae ventrally, arm one third as wide as lateral lobe at middle, smooth, base broad, cylindrical, with patch of about seven prebasal setae (Figs. 8−10); ejaculatory ducts striated, about twice the length of apodeme + ejaculatory bulb (Fig. 6), with apices about two times as wide as duct diameter, greatly modified, each forming two shell-like structures partially superposed with those of the other duct (Figs. 7, 9); lateral lobe about 0.60 times the length of gonocoxite, narrowing at mid-length; cercus about as long as gonostylus and apically rounded (Fig. 10).
Measurements (mean ± s. d. (interval), n= 4 except when other number is indicated). Head height: 0.323 ± 0.005 (0.32−0.33) n= 3; head width: 0.273 ± 0.005 (0.27−0.28) n= 3; eye height: 0.127 ± 0.005 (0.12−0.13); eye width: 0.08 ± 0.016 (0.06−0.10); interocular distance: 0.11 ± 0.018 (0.09−0.13); labrum length: 0.175 ± 0.005 (0.17−0.18); flagellomere 1 length: 0.41 ± 0.014 (0.39−0.42); flagellomere 2 length: 0.178 ± 0.002 (0.175−0.180); flagellomere 3 length: 0.17; palpal segment 1 length: 0.035 ± 0.005 (0.03−0.04); palpal segment 2 length: 0.111 ± 0.008 (0.10−0.12); palpal segment 3 length: 0.15 ± 0.014 (0.14−0.17) n= 4; palpal segment 4 length: 0.12 ± 0.01 (0.11−0.13); palpal segment 5 length: 0.268 ± 0.022 (0.25−0.30); wing length: 1.762 ± 0.04 (1.70−1.80); wing width: 0.437 ± 0.015 (0.42−0.45); alpha length: 0.40 ± 0.068 (0.30−0.44); beta length: 0.245 ± 0.058 (0.20−0.33); gamma length: 0.29 ± 0.011 (0.28−0.30); delta 0.17 ± 0.082 (0.05−0.21); ejaculatory apodeme + bulb length: 0.165 ± 0.005 (0.16−0.17); ejaculatory ducts length: 0.387 ± 0.026 (0.35−0.41); gonocoxite length: 0.305 ± 0.017 (0.29−0.33); gonostylus length: 0.175 ± 0.01 (0.17−0.19); paramere length: 0.25; lateral lobe length: 0.40 ± 0.008 (0.39−0.41); cercus length: 0.195 ± 0.005 (0.19−0.20).
Type locality. MEXICO, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Benito Juárez, Central Vallarta (20 ° 51´54.4 N, 87 ° 03´58.06 W).
Material examined. 4 males. Holotype male. MEXICO, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Benito Juárez, Central Vallarta (20 ° 51´54.4 N, 87 ° 03´58.06 W), 27 -II- 2008 EMU, CDC light trap (DP- 10774, IEXA). Paratypes 3 males: MEXICO, Quintana Roo, Municipality of Benito Juárez, Central Vallarta, 27 -II- 2008 EMU, CDC light trap (DP-10771, 1 male, CLEM); Municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, Solferino (21 ° 20´47.4 N, 87 ° 24´22.3 W), 24 -II- 2008, DML, CDC light trap (DP- 10376, DP-10380, 2 males, MZCFS, and CAIM, respectively).
Etymology. This species is named itza, after the name given to the actual ethnic group and the language of the people living in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, northern Belize, and Guatemala. The Itza descended from a Yucatecan Maya lineage the Ah Itzá, who dominated the Yucatan peninsula in the Post-classic period (Drew 1999).
Comments. According to the classification of Young and Duncan (1994), Pi. (Pif.) itza corresponds to the verrucarum species group and verrucarum series. This species somewhat resembles those species included in Sciopemyia Barretto, 1962, by the long flagellomere 1 that is longest than in the female, simple ascoids, palpomere 5 subequal to palpomeres 3 + 4, gonocoxite with persistent setae, gonostylus with four spines, and simple parameres. Nevertheless, Pi. (Pif.) itza has a gonostylus with subterminal setae and modified ejaculatory duct apices, which do not correspond to the diagnosis of subgenus Sciopemyia. Another similar species is the ungrouped Lutzomyia ignacioi Young, 1972, but it differs from Pi. (Pif.) itza by the absence of subterminal setae in the gonostylus, the gonocoxite basal setae tuft composition, the ejaculatory duct apex only slightly modified, short lateral lobe compared to gonocoxite length, and ascoids with short proximal spurs.
Considering the Galati´s (2003) classification system, this species clearly is a member of tribe Phlebotomini Rondani, 1840, and subtribe Lutzomyiina Abonnenc and Leger, 1976, having palpal segment 2 as long as or slightly longer than 4, Newstead´s scales located at middle or dispersed on the internal margin of palpal segment 3, flagellomere 3 with rosette-like sensillum, pharynx unarmed, male´s flagellomere 1 with external ascoid somewhat distad as compared with internal ascoid, and female´s cibarium with vertical teeth disposed in one or two transversal rows. This species does not correspond to Sciopemyia, because this taxon (considered as a genus) includes species without ventrocervical setae and males without subterminal setae in the gonostylus, both characteristics are present in Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) itza. Genus Pintomyia Costa Lima, 1932, as defined by Galati (2003), is characterized by having ventrocervical sensilla, and usually long pilosity on the frontal margin of katepisternum, in the male flagellomere 1 longer than 0.5 X the head height, paramere simple without pointed protuberance in the ventral margin of preapical region, lateral lobe thinner than gonocoxite and with rounded apex, abdominal tergum VIII usually with strong setae, gonocoxite with strong longitudinal sclerotization on the basal portion of internal margin, gonostylus with subterminal setae, all characteristics present in Pi. (Pif.) itza. Within Pintomyia, the subgenus Pifanomyia Ortiz and Scorza, 1963, is characterized by females having the spermathecal common duct unsclerotized and as long or longer than onehalf the length of furcal stem; however, there are no apparent male apomorphies. Seven series of species and three ungrouped species of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) are recognized (Galati 2003), one of them, the verrucarum series (Fairchild, 1955) is characterized by the gonocoxite with basal and medial-apical persistent tufts of setae, gonostylus bearing 3−4 spines of which the internal one is situated basally, and ejaculatory ducts shorter than 5.0X the apodeme + bomb length in males, and by having small eyes slightly longer than the clypeus, all characteristics present in Pi. (Pif.) itza. Following this classification system, the verrucarum series is composed of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) andina (Osorno, Osorno-Mesa, and Morales 1972), Pi. (Pif.) aulari (Feliciangeli, Ordoñez, and Manzanilla 1984), Pi. (Pif.) cajamarcensis (Galati, Cáceres, and Le Pont 1995), Pi. (Pif.) columbiana (Ristorcelli and Van Ty 1941), Pi. (Pif.) deorsa (Pérez, Ogusuku, Monje, and Young 1991), Pi. (Pif.) disiuncta (Morales, Osorno, and Osorno-Mesa 1974), Pi. (Pif.) moralesi (Young 1979), Pi. (Pif.) verrucarum (Townsend 1913) (Cazorla 1995; Galati 2003), and now Pi. (Pif.) itza sp. nov.
Diagnostic characteristics of Pintomyia (Pif.) itza are in general constant, but there are differences in the length of delta of the specimens studied; one specimen shows a short delta (0.05 mm), whereas the other three have long delta (0.23 mm).
It is important to note that all the previously known species of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) series verrucarum are from northern South America, with records in Colombia, Peru and Venezuela (Cazorla 1995; Galati 2003). Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) itza is the only species of this series known to occur outside this region, with a discontinuous distribution to southeastern Mexico, as no other species of the series have yet been recorded in Central America.