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Curtonotum helvum (Loew) (Diptera: Curtonotidae): A New State Record for Delaware and Observations of Habitat Type

of 2015–2019, we collected specimens of Curtonotum helvum (Loew, 1862) in Lewes, Delaware (specific locality and geographic coordinates provided below). In their taxonomic treatment of New World Curtonotum, Klymko and Marshall (2011) do not include records from Delaware, however, it is within the reported distribution in North America: from Alberta to Ontario and from Colorado and New Mexico to the Atlantic Coast as far south as Georgia. Curtonotum helvum is one of only two known Nearctic species in Curtonotidae, the other being C. floridense Klymko and Marshall (2011). Curtonotids (“quasimodo flies,” after their appearance) resemble very hunchbacked Lauxaniidae or Drosophilidae until they are examined under a stereoscope. The biology and behavior of curtonotids is poorly known. Klymko and Marshall (2011) noted: “The two Nearctic species in the family occur in open, sandy habitats, with the relatively widespread C. helvum occurring only in sand dunes...” The habitat in which we found the specimens included ornamental ferns planted in sandy soil on the eastern and western sides of a flat residential yard. The fern plantings (Fig. 1) measure approximately 2 m x 6 m. The ferns on the eastern side of the home experience intense sunshine from morning into the afternoon while the ferns on the western side are in the shade of an adjacent forest all day. Temperature range and sun exposure did not seem to affect the numbers of individuals we collected. This coastal Delaware residential lot is likely somewhat similar to the Florida “scrub habitat” in which C. floridense has been found. This note, therefore, expands the recorded habitat of C. helvum. Klymko and Marshall (2011) also note that C. helvum is “crepuscular or nocturnal.” We collected by use of a sweep net from late morning to late afternoon, sweeping the fern fronds gently so as not to damage them. We also have collected numbers of specimens on clusters of grasses near the adjacent oak/pine forest on the eastern border of the property. We did not try collecting after dark. The identity of these specimens was confirmed by dissection of the male and female genitalia, which matched the internal and external postabdominal morphology in figures 28–31 (males) and figures 32–37 (females) in Klymko and Marshall (2011). Individuals we collected ranged in size from about 3.5 mm to 8 mm. The expected size range for this species according to Klymko and Marshall (2011) is 4 mm to 8 mm. Material Examined.— DELAWARE: SUSSEX Co.: Angola Neck Park, sandy residential lawn/sparse grasses/and decorative ferns, (38°40'18.30"N 75°09'07.46"W), 20, 22–25 Jun 2015 (4 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀), 14 Sep 2015 (1 ♀), 02–08 Jul 2016 (3 ♀♀), 22 Aug 2016 (1 ♀), 01 Jul 2017 (3 ♀♀), 14–24 Jun 2018 (1 ♂), 13–16 Jul 2018 (4 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀), 01–07 Jul 2019 (2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀), all G. A. and A. M. Foster, coll. All specimens reported above have been deposited in the entomological PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 123(3), 2021, pp. 681–682