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Research Article
First records of two genera and thirteen species of Tabanidae (Diptera) from Honduras
expand article infoKaterin Veroy, Jesus Orozco, Augusto L. Henriques§
‡ Zamorano University, Zamorano, Honduras
§ Coordenação de Pesquisas em Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil
Open Access

Abstract

This works presents information on the diversity of the Tabanidae of Honduras as a product of the examination of 386 specimens and a literature review. Thirteen species and two genera (Bolbodimyia and Dasychela) are recorded from the country for the first time. Eighty-five species distributed in 22 genera, five tribes, and three subfamilies are now known from Honduras. A key to the subfamilies, tribes, and genera of the known Honduran species is also included. All new records are mapped and illustrated to aid in the identification of the species.

Keywords

Central America, diversity, horse flies, tabanids, taxonomy

Introduction

Tabanidae is a family of Diptera that includes flies considered of medical and veterinary importance due to the blood sucking habits of the adults. Currently the group contains around 4,400 species worldwide (Pape et al. 2011). The Neotropical region has the highest diversity, with approximately 1,205 species and about 28% of the global fauna (Henriques et al. 2012), but many its areas continue to be unexplored.

The best known tabanid faunas in Central America are those of Costa Rica and Panama thanks in big part to the works of Fairchild (1961), Hogue and Fairchild (1974), Fairchild (1986), and Burger (2002). Currently, 146 species of tabanids are known from Costa Rica (Borkent et al. 2018) and 152 from Panama (Fairchild 1986). For Honduras, few works deal with the diversity of horseflies in the country, i.e., Bequaert (1925), Root (1925), and James (1950). Coscarón and Papavero (2009), in their catalog for the neotropics, listed 70 species of Tabanidae from Honduras. Henriques (2016) added two additional species, Scione maculipennis (Schiner) and Philipotabanus ebrius (Osten Sacken), for a total of 72 species.

Honduran species diversity is poorly known for many groups. Linares and Orozco (2017) estimated that at least half of the insects in the country are known unknowns, species already described that are not recorded. This poor understanding of the diversity makes conducting ecological and conservation studies very difficult in the country.

This work presents for the first time an overview of the tabanids of Honduras. By nature, this is vastly incomplete as there are many more habitats to sample and collections to revise. In comparison, Costa Rica with less than half the size of Honduras has more than twice the number of known species of tabanids. The aims of this article are: 1) to present the new findings regarding the species diversity in the country, 2) to integrate the records on the tabanid fauna of Honduras scattered in the literature, 3) to provide an updated list of the species, and 4) to create a key for the genera of tabanids known in the country.

Methods

Material of Tabanidae deposited at the Insect Collection at Zamorano University (EAPZ) (Zamorano, Honduras) was examined. Fieldwork was done using H-traps (Egri et al. 2013), light traps, and an aerial net in several locations in Honduras. Specimens were studied under a Leica EZ4 stereo microscope using the keys provided by Bequaert (1931), Philip (1954), Fairchild and Philip (1960), Fairchild (1976), Wilkerson (1979), Fairchild (1983, 1986), Fairchild and Wilkerson (1986), Coscarón and González (1991), Burger (1996), Henriques (2006), Krolow et al. (2007), Burger (2009), Krolow and Henriques (2010), Turcatel et al. (2010), Carmo and Henriques (2019), and Turcatel (2019).

Distributional records were obtained from label data and from the literature.

A species distribution map was made for the new records using SimpleMappr (https://www.simplemappr.net/) and Microsoft Power Point v. 2112.

Photographs were taken using a Canon 100 mm lens mounted on a Canon Rebel T5i attached to a macro rail. Composite images were obtained using PICOLAY v. 2020–02–06 (http://www.picolay.de). Individual images were organized in plates in GIMP v. 2.10.24 (http://www.gimp.org).

Results and discussion

Eighteen genera and 47 species were found in the 386 specimens examined. Thirteen species and two genera are recorded for the first time (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. 

Distribution map of new records of Tabanidae from Honduras.

With these new records Honduras has now a diversity of 85 species of horseflies (Table 1). This represents an increase of 15.3% compared to the previously known taxa (72 species) but it’s still a low number, and many more species are expected to be discovered in the future. Two additional species, Tabanus femoralis Kröber from Escuela Agricola Panamericana Zamorano, Francisco Morazan, and Stypommisa lerida (Fairchild) from 15 km west of La Ceiba, Atlántida, are recorded in GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/es/occurrence/3048772282 and https://www.gbif.org/es/occurrence/3385753663). Since this material was not examined, it is not included in the list, but the records are probably valid.

Table 1.

Species of Tabanidae from Honduras. Distributions according to Coscarón and Papavero (2009), except were indicated.

Taxon Distribution
CHRYSOPSINAE
CHRYSOPSINI
Chrysops soror Kröber, 1925 Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela
Chrysops auroguttatus Kröber, 1930 Mexico to Colombia
Chrysops latifasciatus Bellardi, 1859 Mexico to Nicaragua
Chrysops melaenus Hine, 1925 Honduras (new record), Nicaragua, Costa Rica to Venezuela
Chrysops mexicanus Kröber, 1926 Mexico to Colombia
Chrysops pachycnemius Hine, 1905 Mexico to Honduras
Chrysops scalaratus Bellardi, 1859 Mexico to Panama
Chrysops variegatus (De Geer, 1776) Mexico to Argentina
Chrysops willistoni Hine, 1925 Mexico to Honduras
Silvius melanopterus (Hine, 1905) Mexico to Honduras
PANGONIINAE
PANGONIINI
Esenbeckia illota (Williston, 1901) Mexico to Honduras
Esenbeckia mejiai Fairchild, 1942 Guatemala to Costa Rica
Esenbeckia prasiniventris (Kröber, 1929) Guatemala to Ecuador and Trinidad, Brazil
Esenbeckia translucens (Macquart, 1846) Mexico to Peru and Brazil
Esenbeckia wiedemanni (Bellardi, 1859) Mexico, Honduras (new record)
SCIONINI
Fidena flavipennis Kröber, 1931 Mexico to Venezuela
Fidena rhinophora (Bellardi, 1859) Mexico to Venezuela and Peru
Scione aurulans (Wiedemann, 1830) Mexico to Costa Rica
Scione maculipennis (Schiner, 1868) Honduras, Costa Rica to Venezuela, Ecuador*
TABANINAE
DIACHLORINI
Bolbodimyia atrata (Hine, 1904) USA, Mexico, Honduras (new record)
Bolbodimyia erythrocephala (Bigot, 1892) Honduras (new record), Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador
Bolbodimyia galindoi Fairchild, 1964 Honduras (new record), Costa Rica to Colombia
Bolbodimyia philipi Stone, 1954 Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras (new record), Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia
Catachlorops baliopterus Gorayeb, L. Bemúdez, E.M. Bermúdez & Villalba, 1989 Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica
Catachlorops fulmineus (Hine, 1920) Honduras to Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
Catachlorops scurrus (Fairchild, 1958) Mexico to Panama
Chlorotabanus inanis (Fabricius, 1787) Mexico to Peru and Brazil
Chlorotabanus mexicanus (Linnaeus, 1758) Mexico to Ecuador, Brazil, Trinidad
Dasychela badia (Kröber, 1931) Honduras (new record), Costa Rica, Panama
Diachlorus ferrugatus (Fabricius, 1805) USA to Costa Rica, Bahamas Islands
Dichelacera costaricana (Fairchild, 1941) Honduras, Costa Rica
Dichelacera grandis Philip, 1943 Guatemala, Belize, Honduras
Dichelacera marginata Macquart, 1847 Honduras (New record), Nicaragua to Brazil and Peru
Dichelacera pulchroides Fairchild & Philip, 1960 Mexico, Honduras
Dichelacera regina Fairchild, 1940 Honduras to Ecuador
Dichelacera scapularis Macquart, 1847 Mexico to Panama
Dichelacera submarginata Lutz, 1915 Honduras (new record), Costa Rica to Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia
Lepiselaga crassipes (Fabricius, 1805) Mexico to Argentina
Leucotabanus exaestuans (Linnaeus, 1758) Mexico to Bolivia, Argentina, and Trinidad
Leucotabanus nigriventris Kröber, 1931 Mexico to Panama
Phaeotabanus longiappendiculatus (Macquart, 1855) Mexico to Panama
Philipotabanus ebrius (Osten Sacken, 1886) Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama*
Philipotabanus elviae (Fairchild, 1943) Honduras (new record), Costa Rica, Panama
Philipotabanus kompi (Fairchild, 1943) Belize, Honduras
Philipotabanus magnificus (Kröber, 1934) Honduras to Venezuela and Ecuador
Philipotabanus nigrinubilus (Fairchild, 1953) Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador
Philipotabanus plenus (Hine, 1907) Guatemala to Colombia
Rhabdotylus venenatum (Osten Sacken, 1886) Guatemala to Ecuador
Selasoma tibiale (Fabricius, 1805) Mexico to Argentina
Stenotabanus fulvistriatus (Hine, 1912) Mexico to Panama
Stenotabanus littoreus (Hine, 1907) Mexico to Panama
Stenotabanus maculifrons (Hine, 1907) Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad, Venezuela.
Stibasoma chionostigma (Osten Sacken, 1886) Mexico to Colombia
Stibasoma flaviventris (Macquart, 1848) Mexico to Brazil
Stibasoma panamense Curran, 1934 Honduras to Ecuador and Venezuela
Stypommisa captiroptera (Kröber, 1930) Mexico to Guyana, Brazil, Paraguay
Stypommisa changena Fairchild, 1986 Honduras (new record), Costa Rica, Panama
Stypommisa u-nigrum Philip, 1977 Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
TABANINI
Poeciloderas quadripunctatus (Fabricius, 1805) Mexico to Argentina
Tabanus abattenuis Philip, 1969 Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
Tabanus bigoti Bellardi, 1859 Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela
Tabanus claripennis (Bigot, 1892) Honduras (new record), West Indies, Costa Rica to Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile
Tabanus colombensis Macquart, 1846 USA to Trinidad, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil
Tabanus commixtus Walker, 1860 Mexico to Venezuela, Hispaniola, Trinidad, Martinique
Tabanus defilippii Bellardi, 1859 Mexico to Panama
Tabanus dorsifer Walker, 1860 USA, Mexico, Honduras
Tabanus erebus Osten Sacken, 1886 Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
Tabanus jilamensis Hine, 1925 Honduras
Tabanus morbosus Stone, 1938 USA, Mexico to Panama
Tabanus nebulosus De Geer, 1776 Belize, Honduras (New record), Costa Rica, Trinidad, Barbados to Brazil and Argentina
Tabanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1758 Mexico to Argentina, Trinidad
Tabanus oculus Walker, 1848 Mexico to Panama
Tabanus picturatus Kröber, 1931 Mexico, Belize, Honduras
Tabanus polyphemus Fairchild, 1958 Mexico to Colombia
Tabanus pruinosus Bigot, 1892 USA to Panama
Tabanus pseudoculus Fairchild, 1942 Guatemala to Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Trinidad
Tabanus pungens Wiedemann, 1828 USA, Neotropics (except West Indies and Chile), Trinidad
Tabanus quinquepunctatus Hine, 1925 Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama
Tabanus secundus Walker, 1848 Guatemala to Peru, Surinam, and Paraguay
Tabanus subruber Bellardi, 1859 Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
Tabanus unipunctatus (Bigot, 1892) Mexico to Colombia
Tabanus unistriatus Hine, 1906 Guatemala to Ecuador
Tabanus vittiger ssp. guatemalanus Hine, 1906 USA, Bahamas, West Indies, Mexico to Surinam, French Guiana, and Brazil
Tabanus xenorhynchus Fairchild, 1947 Guatemala to Panama
Tabanus yucatanus Townsend, 1897 Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua

New Tabanidae from Honduras

CHRYSOPSINAE

CHRYSOPSINI

Chrysops melaenus Hine, 1925

Figure 2A

Distribution

Previously known from Nicaragua to Venezuela (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Figure 2. 

New records of Tabanidae from Honduras A Chrysops melaenus Hine (♀) B, C Esenbeckia wiedemanni (Bellardi) (♀, ♂) D Bolbodimyia atrata (Hine) (♂) E B. erythrocephala (Bigot) (♀). Scale bars: 2 mm.

Material examined

Honduras: 1♂, Atlántida, RVS Cuero y Salado, Salado Barra, 15°46'02"N, 86°59'51"W, 2 m, 25.i.2000, R. Cave, R. Cordero and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ22.445. 1♂, El Paraíso, 5.3 km N Cifuentes, 14°05'48"N, 86°06'57"W, 13.vi.1999, R. Cave and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ69.749. 1♀, El Paraíso, Danlí, Cerro Apaguiz 14°00'27"N, 86°32'26"W, 20.ii.1988, R. Cordero leg.; EAPZ42.723. 1♀, Francisco Morazán, 32 km Tegucigalpa, El Zamorano, 14°01'N, 87°00'W , J. Cabezas leg.; EAPZ42.698.

PANGONIINAE

PANGONIINI

Esenbeckia wiedemanni (Bellardi, 1859)

Figure 2B, C

Distribution

Previously known exclusively from Mexico (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 1♂, 1♀, Francisco Morazán, Masicarán, Uyúca, 14°01'00"N, 87°05'00"W, 10–15.xi.2016, E. van den Berghe leg.; EAPZ42.764.

TABANINAE

DIACHLORINI

Bolbodimyia atrata (Hine, 1904)

Figure 2D

Distribution

Previously known from U.S.A. and Mexico (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 2♂♂, Olancho, El Murmullo, Sierra de Agalta, 15°01'00"N, 85°47'00"W, 28.vi.1997, R. Cave leg.; EAPZ69.815.

Bolbodimyia erythrocephala (Bigot, 1892)

Figure 2E

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador (Coscarón and Papavero 2009), and Colombia (Wolff and Miranda-Esquivel 2016).

Material examined

Honduras: 1♀, Yoro, Par. Nac. Pico Pijol, 15°13'00"N, 87°33'00"W, 22–23.vi.1998, R. Cave leg.; EAPZ42.652.

Bolbodimyia galindoi Fairchild, 1964

Figure 3A, B

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica to Colombia (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Figure 3. 

New records of Tabanidae from Honduras. A, B Bolbodimyia galindoi Fairchild (♀, ♂) C B. philipi Stone (♂) D Dasychela badia (Kröber) (♀) E Dichelacera marginata Macquart (♀). Scale bars: 2 mm.

Material examined

Honduras: 1♂, 1♀, Atlántida, Par. Nac. Pico Bonito, Rio Zacate, 15°41'35"N, 86°55'58"W, 35 m, 5.iii.2000, R. Cave, R. Cordero and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ27.180.

Bolbodimyia philipi Stone, 1954

Figure 3C

Distribution

Previously known from Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 1♂, Atlántida, Cuero y Salado, Salado Barra, 15°46'02"N, 86°59'51"W, 2 m, 25.i.2000, R. Cave, R. Cordero and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ22.452.

Dasychela badia (Kröber, 1931)

Figure 3D

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica and Panama (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 23♀♀, Gracias a Dios, Ciudad Blanca, 15°14'47"N, 84°58'2"W, 250 m, 15–26.ii.2017, E. van den Berghe leg., light trap; EAPZ43.577.

Dichelacera marginata Macquart, 1847

Figure 3E

Distribution

Previously known from Nicaragua to Brazil and Peru (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 1♀, Olancho, El Murmullo, Sierra de Agalta, 15°01'00"N, 85°47'00"W, 28.vi.1997, R. Cave leg.; EAPZ44.214.

Dichelacera submarginata Lutz, 1915

Figure 4A, B

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica to Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Figure 4. 

New records of Tabanidae from Honduras A, B Dichelacera submarginata Lutz (♀, ♂) C Philipotabanus elviae (Fairchild) (♀) D Stypommisa changena Fairchild (♂) E Tabanus claripennis (Bigot) (♀) F T. nebulosus De Geer (♀). Scale bars: 2 mm.

Material examined

Honduras: 1♀, Olancho, La Muralla, 15°04'56"N, 86°45'24"W, 26–30.iii.2013, O. Schlein leg.; EAPZ42.549. 1♂, Lempira, Par. Nac. Celaque, 14°28'46"N, 88°38'35"W, 1400 m, 27.iv.2018, E. van den Berghe leg.; EAPZ69.831. 1♂, Yoro, Par. Nac. Pico Pijol, Linda Vista, 15°10'35"N, 87°35'10"W, 1450 m, 21.iv.1999, R. Cave and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ42.829.

Philipotabanus elviae (Fairchild, 1943)

Figure 4C

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica and Panama (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 12 ♀♀, Atlántida, Par. Nac. Pico Bonito, Rio Zacate, 15°41'35"N, 86°55'58"W, 35 m, 5.v.2000, R. Cave leg.; EAPZ29.665.

Stypommisa changena Fairchild, 1986

Figure 4D

Distribution

Previously known from Costa Rica and Panama (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 1 ♂, Santa Bárbara, El Volcán, Trinidad, 15°08'02"N, 88°18'01"W, 1320 m, 26.vi.2000. R. Cordero and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ35.149.

TABANINI

Tabanus claripennis (Bigot, 1892)

Figure 4E

Distribution

Previously known from the West Indies, Costa Rica to Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile (Coscarón and Papavero 2009).

Material examined

Honduras: 7 ♀♀, Francisco Morazán, El Zamorano, EAP, 14°01'N, 87°00'W, 5–29.vii.2020, H-trap, R. Argueta leg.; EAPZ43.572. 1♂, Choluteca, 6.7 km SE Santa Ana de Yusguare, 13°15'37"N, 87°04'40"W, 8.ix.1999, R. Cave and J. Torres leg.; EAPZ43.570.

Tabanus nebulosus De Geer, 1776

Figure 4F

Distribution

Previously known from Belize (Coscarón and Papavero 2009), Costa Rica (Fairchild 1961), Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Surinam, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Barbados, and Argentina (Coscarón and Papavero 2009; Henriques 2016).

Material examined

Honduras: 2 ♀♀, Francisco Morazán, El Zamorano EAP, 14°01'N, 87°00'W, 850 m, v–vii, Estudiante EAPZ leg.; EAPZ75.022. 1 ♀, Francisco Morazán, El Zamorano EAP, 14°01'N, 87°00'W, 850 m, 31.v.2019, L. Moreno leg.; EAPZ75.023.

Key to the subfamilies, tribes, and genera of Tabanidae from Honduras

Modified from Fairchild (1969) and Burger (2009).

1 Hind tibiae without paired terminal spurs or spines; TABANINAE 6
Hind tibiae with paired terminal spurs or spines, spines rarely absent or difficult to see 2
2 Third antennal segment with 7 or 8 distinct flagellomeres; tergite 9 undivided; PANGONIINAE 3
Third antennal segment with no more than 5 distinct flagellomeres; tergite 9 divided; CHRYSOPSINAE 5
3 Eyes bare; frons with ridge-like callus, which may be bare or tomentose; PANGONIINI Esenbeckia Rondani
Eyes pilose; frons flat, without any sort of callus; SCIONINI 4
4 Cell m3 closed at wing margin Scione Walker
Cell m3 open at wing margin Fidena Walker
5 Wings with dark crossband (Fig. 2A), crossband absent at times; eyes in life with pattern of dots and bars Chrysops Meigen
Wings hyaline or cloudy on cross veins or elsewhere, without distinct crossband; eye pattern in life irregularly speckled Silvius Meigen
6 Basicosta without strong setae, if setae present usually less dense than those on adjoining costa; if setae on basicosta as dense as on costa, then vestiges of ocelli present; DIACHLORINI 7
Basicosta with numerous strong setae, setae equal in size and density to those on adjoining costa, if setae sparse, then without vestiges of ocelli; TABANINI 22
7 Third antennal segment with strong dorso-basal tooth or forward-pointing spine that often reaches to or beyond end of first flagellomere 8
Third antennal segment usually at most with acute dorso-basal angle 12
8 Eyes densely pilose; antennal tooth reaching beyond apex of first flagellomere; proboscis longer than maxillary palpi; maxillary palpi slender, generally exceeding antennae; labella short, membranous; callus club shaped, much narrower than frons; wings with diffuse dark discal marking Dasychela Enderlein
Eyes bare; other characters variable 9
9 Stout species; body sometimes hairy and beelike; foretibiae usually inflated; long hair fringes on at least hind tibiae; maxillary palpi inflated; antennae short, stout, with dorsal tooth extending beyond apex of first flagellomere; labella shiny and sclerotized 10
Slender species; all tibiae slender; rest of characters not as above 11
10 Abdomen green or greenish, sparsely covered with hairs; hind tibial fringe moderate in length; all tibiae slender; wings hyaline, sometimes yellowish; not resembling bees Rhabdotylus Lutz
Abdomen not greenish, densely hirsute; hind tibial fringe long; at least foretibia inflated; wings variable, never entirely hyaline or uniformly tinted, generally with black or contrasting pattern; body often resembling bees (see Turcatel et al. 2010) Stibasoma Schiner
11 Basal callus thin, ridge-like, narrower than frons; eyes unicolored, bright green in life, rarely bicolored or with faint median line; mesoscutum unicolored or weakly striped, not transversely banded Catachlorops Lutz
Basal callus as wide as frons; eyes banded or unicolorous blackish in life; mesoscutum often transversely banded Dichelacera Macquart
12 Subcallus, and usually first antennal segment, greatly inflated and shiny; third antennal segment long and slender, with obtuse dorso-basal angle; tibiae slender or slightly incrassate; wings black or partly so, with apex sharply hyaline, apical half of vein R4 bent sharply forward; maxillary palpi moderately slender, tomentose; clypeus tomentose Bolbodimyia Bigot
Without above combination of characters 13
13 Tibiae, especially first two pairs, greatly inflated; subcallus, clypeus, and gena bare; maxillary palpi shiny and flattened; wings black at base, at least to ends of cells br and bm; labella membranous 14
Tibiae not or but slightly inflated; without above combination of characters 15
14 Large, shiny bluish-black species; wings black from base to middle of cell d Selasoma Macquart
Small species, mesoscutum, and often abdomen, with metallic brassy or greenish scale-like hairs; wings black from base to beyond end of cell d, with hyaline triangle in cells m3 and cua1 Lepiselaga Macquart
15 Mesopleura shiny or pearly tomentose in contrast to rest of pleura; wings usually with dark subapical marking Diachlorus Osten Sacken
Mesopleura not shiny or pearly tomentose, not contrasting with other pleural sclerites; wings without dark subapical marking 16
16 Basal callus absent Chlorotabanus Lutz
Basal callus present, reduced at times 17
17 Labella sclerotized; frons narrow, generally over 5 times as long as its basal width; eyes in life unicolored, unbanded; dorsal angle on third antennal segment strong Phaeotabanus Lutz
Labella membranous; frons generally less than 4 times as long as its basal width; eyes in life usually banded; dorsal angle of third antennal segment variable 18
18 Eyes bare, with at least 2 transverse bands in life; mostly small species with moderately broad frons often with median dark-haired patch; callus rounded or square, generally as wide as frons Stenotabanus Lutz
Eyes pilose or bare, with at most 1 dark median, generally unicolored, rarely bicolored; rest of characters not as above 19
19 Vertex with well-marked tubercle and/or with clear vestiges of ocelli; eyes bare; frons narrow; basal callus club-shaped or ridge-like 20
Vertex without tubercle or clear vestiges of ocelli, slightly raised shiny or discolored tubercle rarely present; if tubercle present, then eyes pilose, or frons broad, or basal callus rounded 22
20 Wings with extensive dark pattern not consisting of spots on cross veins; if wings apparently unmarked, then thorax prominently striped, or frons exceedingly narrow and callus thread-like Philipotabanus Fairchild
Wings hyaline, tinted, or with dark pattern consisting primarily of dark spots around cross veins 21
21 Wings hyaline or evenly tinted, with costal cell often darker, but never with apical clouds or spots on cross veins; frontal callus clavate or ridge-like; abdomen black or brown, nearly always with transverse bands at least on fourth segment, rarely otherwise; appendix on fork of vein R4 absent Leucotabanus Lutz
Wing with clouds on at least discal cross veins, often with apical infuscation, if entirely hyaline or tinted, then abdomen and thorax not as above; frontal callus variable; wings often with appendix on fork of vein R4 Stypommisa Enderlein
22 Vertex with small, rounded, sometimes indistinct, tubercle; eyes of female usually pilose, densely so on males; wings with all cross veins prominently spotted Poeciloderas Lutz
Vertex rarely with tubercle; without above combination of characters Tabanus Lutz

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the reviewers, Daniel Carmo and Mauren Turcatel, as well as the editor, Torsten Dikow, for critically reading the manuscript and contributing to improve the quality of this paper. We thank Milena Agila for taking the photographs and arranging the plates for publication. We also thank Ronel Argueta for his help constructing and maintaining the traps at Zamorano.

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