Revisão taxonômica do gênero neotropical Scutops Coquillett, 1904 (Diptera: Periscelididae)

Abstract

Scutops Coquillett, 1904 (type species S. fascipennis), is restricted to the Neotropical Region and currently encompasses six species: S. chapmani ( Curran, 1934), S. fascipennis Coquillett, 1904, S. goianiensis Amorim e Vasconcelos, 1989, S. lopesi Amorim e Vasconcelos, 1989, S. marcgrafi Amorim e Vasconcelos, 1989, S. peruanus Hennig, 1952 and S. striatus Hennig, 1969. Currently, Scutops systematics is characterized by several problems that justify a review: brief species descriptions, which are insufficient for identification, no diagnosis for the genus and no key including all species, as well lack of illustrations of the male and female genitalia, which would facilitate distinction among species, and the recognition of new taxa. The taxonomic revision of Scutops was based on morphological characters of males and females, and includes redescriptions, descriptions of six new species, an identification key to species and the transfer of Scutops striatus Hennig, 1969 to Periscelis, resulting in the new combination Periscelis (Myodris ) striatus (Hennig, 1969) comb. nov.. New geographic records of the genus are presented for Belize, Ecuador and Bolivia, and S. lopesi and S. peruanus are recorded for the first time in the Amazon. The records of three species are expanded: S. fascipennis to Belize, S. peruanus to Brazil and Ecuador and S. lopesi to Ecuador. .