A new species of Leptometopa Becker, 1903 (Diptera, Milichiidae) and an identification key for the neotropical species of the genus

Abstract

The Milichiidae family includes species of small acalyptratae flies distributed into 19 genera, over all biogeographic regions. The genus Leptometopa Becker, 1903, positioned among the Madizinae, is distributed worldwide. The genus is composed of 19 species, of which three are recorded for the Neotropical region: L. halteralis (Coquillett, 1900), L. latipes (Meigen, 1830) and L. niveipennis (Strobl, 1898). Studying material collected in a cave of Amazonas State, Brazil, the authors found a new species of Leptometopa which is described and illustrated herein. The new species L. veracildae n. sp. represents the first record of the genus in South America. An identification key for all Neotropical species is also presented.