First Record of Argentoleon Irrigatus (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) From Minas Gerais,Brazil

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.

Introduction

The genus Argentoleon (Stange, 1994) has known distribution in South America and includes two species Argentoleon irrigatus (Gerstaecker. 1894) and Argentoleon longitudinalis (Navás. 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 São 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 Baú". 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 (Köppen 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 Baú is located between the priority regions for the conservation of flora and invertebrates in Minas Gerais (Drummond et al. 2005).

Figure 1.

Argentoleon irrigatus (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) from Minas Gerais, Brazil.