Eighty-five years awaiting for description: a new species of Tabanus Linnaeus (Diptera: Tabanidae) from the Paraná State, in Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT The largest genus within the family Tabanidae (Diptera: Brachycera), Tabanus Linnaeus, has a worldwide distribution and includes medium to large conspicuous flies. Although the species are difficult to identify and a large number have already been described, several new Neotropical species have been reported for science in the past few years. Taxonomy, the science that describes and catalogs biodiversity, depends on collections, as these preserve specimens for later purposes, allowing examination and checking by specialists. In this paper we describe a new species, Tabanus argentistrigatus sp. n. based on two specimens stored in the collection of the Museum of Zoology of the São Paulo University since 1938. The new species is only known from one location in the state of Paraná, which is now highly anthropized.

Keywords

• Horse flies
• Atlantic Forest
• Ombrophilous mixed forest
• Taxonomy