Tomosvaryella neboissi Motamedinia, Skevington & Földvari, 2023

Motamedinia, Behnam, Földvari, Mihaly, Skevington, Jeffrey H. & Kelso, Scott, 2023, Revision of Australian Tomosvaryella Aczél (Diptera: Pipunculidae) with description of 100 new species, Zootaxa 5599 (1), pp. 1-271 : 151-152

Tomosvaryella neboissi Motamedinia, Skevington & Földvari sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B5FCFF17-7FBA-494C-9308-550BFAED6E10

Figs 68A–E , 113 , 152A

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by a Y-shaped spine along the posterior margin of abdominal sternite 4 ( Fig. 152A ); elongated surstyli, constricted in basal fourth, curved to each other, with some short bristles before apex in dorsal view ( Fig. 68A ); gonopods extended towards surstyli, pointed at apex ( Fig. 68B ); phallic guide with 3–4 short dorsolateral spines in ventral view.

Description: MALE: Body length: 2.5 mm. Head. Flagellum brown and tapering; brown pollinose, scape and pedicel dark. Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black; lower part distinctly silver pollinose; eyes touching as long as the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, less so on upper 1/3. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 2–3 short pale bristles. Mesonotum black (viewed obliquely from front), silvery pollinose. Scutellum silvery pollinose with scattered short dark bristles. Halter, knob pale, tip brownish, stem brown. Legs. Mid coxa with 3–4 long dark bristles. Trochanters brown, femora black, silvery pollinose posteriorly; knees and basal 1/6 of tibiae yellow (tibiae otherwise brown), tarsal segments light brown. Hind trochanter without specific feature, grey pollinose with 4–6 short brown bristles ventroapically; ventrobasal spines present (1) on fore and mid femora. Hind femur without ventroapical spines. Subapical (distal) spines on first four tibiae present (short). Hind tarsomeres rather flattened (t1–3), hind metatarsus almost as long as 2–4 combined, dorsally all tarsomeres with erect bristles. Pulvilli shorter than last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 2.4 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one long dark brown bristle. Fourth costal section 3 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m at middle of discal cell. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites black, tergite 1 silvery grey. Dispersed strong dark bristles on all tergites present. Lateral bristles on first tergite present, 3–5 dark bristles up to as long as half of hind femur’s width at base; abdominal sternite 4 with Y shaped spine along posterior margin ( Fig. 152A ). Genitalia without dissection: ST8 large, round, globular in dorsal view, covered by some dark bristles; membranous area is slit-like; epandrium brown, surstyli brown. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium as long as wide (MLE:MWE = 1.0). Surstyli elongated, wide at basal fourth, then strongly constricted, curved to each other at apex, left surstylus is longer, both with some distinct short bristles before apex ( Fig. 68A ). Genital capsule in ventral view: both gonopods extended towards surstyli, pointed at apex; phallic guide with 3–4 short dorso- dorsolateral spines; subepandrial sclerite distinct ( Fig. 68B ); Genital capsule in lateral view: both surstyli curved towards sternite ( Fig. 68D–E ). Ejaculatory apodeme tube-like, bent, with a bulb in its middle ( Fig. 68C ). FEMALE: Unknown.

Etymology: This species is named in honour of Arturs Neboiss, who collected two of the three known specimens of this species as well as eight other species and 33 specimens of Australian Tomosvaryella .

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Prince of Wales Isl [and], Torres Strait, 10°41’S, 142°11’E, 27–30.V.1969, Neboiss , JSS8782 (1♂, MVMA) ; PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait , 10°41’S, 142°11’E, 27–30. V .1969, Neboiss, JSS8779 (1♂, MVMA); Victoria: Dartmouth Survey, Dart-Mitta River Junction, Locality L, 36°31’S, 147°27’E, 4.III.1973, JSS8776 (1♂, MVMA) .

Distribution: Australia (Queensland, Victoria) ( Fig. 113 ).

Notes: There is no variation in diagnostic characters between the specimens, so we are confident that all represent one species despite the strongly disjunct populations. We attempted to sequence the specimens, but they failed to amplify.

Figures

FIGURE 68. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella neboissi sp. nov. (JSS8776, MVMA) A) dorsal view, B) ventral view, C) ejaculatory apodeme, D, E) lateral view.

FIGURE 113. Distribution of Tomosvaryella brachystyla sp. nov., T. brancha sp. nov., T. neboissi sp. nov. in Australia.

FIGURE 152. A) Male habitus of Tomosvaryella species A) T. neboissi sp. nov. holotype (JSS8782, QM) in lateral view, B) T. caesariata sp. nov., holotype (JSS8580, ANIC) in dorsal view, C) T. moffattensis sp. nov. in dorsal view, holotype (JSS8602, ANIC), D) abdomen of T. calcarilonga sp. nov., paratype (JSS10534, USNM) in ventrolateral view, E) abdomen of T. tribula sp. nov., paratype (JSS15580, ANIC) in ventral view, F) wing of T. pterygia sp. nov., holotype (CNCD3560, QM).