Tomosvaryella dissidens Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia, 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 : 81-83

Tomosvaryella dissidens Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:163896F5-19AB-4F62-8138-8855C3EC93AC

Figs 34A–E , 122 , 147F

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by having two differently shaped spur-like projections on the hind trochanter ( Fig. 147F ); surstyli quadratic-shaped at base with rather straight apical margin in dorsal view ( Fig. 34A ); gonopods unequal in ventral view ( Fig. 34B ); phallic guide with 5–6 different-sized lateral spines ( Fig. 34D–E ).

Description: MALE: Body length: 2.7–2.9 mm. Head. Flagellum acuminate; yellow. Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black, lower part distinctly silver pollinose; eyes touching for distance equal to 2–2.5 times the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, less so on upper 1/3. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 3–4 short, pale bristles. Mesonotum (viewed obliquely from front) brownish pollinose, anterior part more grey, grayish also from the side. Scutellum brownish pollinose and with 8–10 weak bristles along the distal edge. Dorsocentral bristles distinct, short and dark, somewhat longer along frontal edge, numerous pale bristles around postpronotum. Halter, knob pale, stem brown. Legs. Mid coxa with 2–3 long dark bristles. Trochanters and femora black, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees yellow (tibiae otherwise black), tarsal segments yellow-brown, ventrally somewhat paler, last segment same dark brown. Hind trochanter with double spurs (pegs), anterior is thick, bent medially, posterior one is thin, very pointy ( Fig. 147F ). Ventroapical row of spines on fore femur absent; 4–5 small, black spines on mid femur; hind femur without ventroapical spines, except 22–24 equally space bristles posteroventrally, longest up to 2/3 the width of hind tibia at distal end. Subapical (distal) spines (2–3) on first four tibiae present (on mid femur longer). Hind metatarsus and second tarsomere flattened, metatarsus as long as 2–3 combined. Pulvilli as long as last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 3.0– 3.1 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one dark bristle. Fourth costal section 2–3 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m at middle of discal cell. 2–3 distinct brown setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites subshining black, tergite 1 silvery grey, sides silvery pollinose on tergites 4 and 5 (larger on tergite 5). Dispersed strong dark bristles on all tergites present, longest on tergite 5 up to 1.5 times the width of hind tibia at distal end. Lateral spines on first tergite present, 5–6 dark bristles up to 1.5 times as long as hind femur’s width at base. Postabdomen in dorsal view: T6, S7 invisible; T5 1–1.2 times as long as ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 medium sized triangle shaped in dorsal view, brown and with the occasional indistinct bristles, otherwise velvet-like coverage; membranous area elongated, widening dorsally; epandrium brownish at tip, surstyli yellow and bent towards abdomen, appear to be a yellow triangle in lateral view (the corner is rounded). Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium longer than wide (MLE:MWE = 1.1). Surstyli rather symmetrical, quadratic-shaped in basal third and rather straight in apical two thirds, its medial margin covered by dense bristles, pointing towards each other at apex; left surstylus wider than left one ( Fig. 34A ). Genital capsule in ventral view: gonopods unequal in height, left is slightly longer than right one, subepandrial sclerite long ( Fig. 34B ). Genital capsule in lateral view: both surstyli broadened in middle and curved towards sternite, right surstylus constricted in dorsomedial margin; phallic guide pointed at apex, with 5–6 lateral spines (the longest one twice as length as others), with three distinct short ejaculatory ducts ( Figs 34D–E ). Ejaculatory apodeme tube-like, bent, with a bulb in its middle ( Fig. 34C ).

FEMALE: Unknown.

Etymology: From the Latin dissidens, differing or disagreeing, in reference to the two differently shaped spur-like projections on the hind trochanter.

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: South Australia: Kangaroo Is[land], Flinders Chase N[ational] P[ark], 36°1’S, 136°44’E, 28.x.1993, D.K. Yeates, Malaise trap, JSS8661 (1♂, ANIC); PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Mount Boppy near Cobar, 31°33’S, 146°17’E, hilltop, 16.i.1999, C. Lambkin, N. Power & P. Bouchard, 10:00 AM, JSS8903 (1♂, QM); Queensland: Brisbane, Mount Coot-tha, 27°29’S, 152°57’E, 170m, hilltop, 15.v.1999, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS5779; JSS15387 (2♂, QM, CNC); 17.vii.1999, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, 12:45 to 2:00 pm, JSS6469–70 (2♂, QM); 19.iv.1998, J. Skevington, hand collected, 11:45–12:15 pm, JSS3871, JSS3876 (2♂, QM); 19.vi.1999, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, 11:15 am to 1:00 pm, JSS6474 (1♂, QM); 7.iv.1997, C. Lambkin, JSS8305 (1♂, QM); Carnarvon National Park, hilltop north of Tombs, 25°5’S, 147°52’E, 26.xi.1997, J. Skevington & C. Lambkin, hand collected, JSS2197–8, JSS2206–10, JSS2213– 4, JSS2216, JSS2218, JSS2221–2 (13♂, QM); Cooloola National Park, East Mullen hilltop, 26°0’S, 152°59’E, dry sclerophyll forest, 15.xi.2014, J.H., A.M. and A.W. Skevington, CNC374120 (1♂, CNC); Culgoa Floodplain National Park, 7km Northwest of Toulby Gate (TOLB7M), 28°57’S, 146°53’E, 138m, reedy swamp, 20.i–19.iii.2010, C. Kelly, A. Coward, Malaise trap, 19269, CNC575361, CNC575367, CNC575377 (3♂, QM); Kroombit Tops National Park, hilltop, 24°27’N, 150°56’E, 21.xii.2014, J.H., A.M. & A.W. Skevington, CNC384417 (1♂, CNC); Mount Moffatt National Park, Mount Moffatt Section, Summit of Fly Hill, 24°58’S, 147°60’E, 17.xi.2014, J.H., A.M. & A.W. Skevington, CNC374169–72, CNC374780–2 (7♂, CNC); South Australia: Flinder’s Ranges National Park, Brachina Gorge, Heysen Hilltop , 31°20’S, 138°33’E, 9.x.1997, J.&A. Skevington & C. Lambkin, JSS8375, JSS8377, JSS8382 (3♂, QM); Victoria: Wyperfeld NP, East Lookout, 35°36’S, 142°7’E, 22.x.2014, J.H., A.W., & A.M. Skevington, A.D. Young, A. Wyatt, & S. Namek, CNC373404, CNC373408, CNC373439, CNC373457 (4♂, CNC); Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Warepil Lookout, 34°43’S, 142°18’E, 18.x.2014, J.H., A.W., & A.M. Skevington, A.D. Young, A. Wyatt, & S. Namek, CNC373060, CNC373171, CNC373178 (3♂, CNC); Western Australia: Karijini National Park, Weano Gorge Road, 22°22’S, 118°15’E; 22°24’S, 118°15’E, 775m, 718m, on hilltop, in open Eucalyptus , 25.iv–14.v.2003, C. Lambkin & T. Weir, Malaise trap, JSS16141, JSS16146, JSS16230–1 (4♂, ANIC); Yanchep National Park, 31°35’S, 115°42’E, 18–29.xii.1999, J.&A. Skevington, C. Lambkin & P. Bouchard, Malaise trap, JSS7700 (1♂, QM); ~ 3 km north of Denham, 25°55’S, 113°32’E, hilltop, 12.xii.1999, J. Skevington, JSS7337, JSS7345, JSS7353, JSS7371, JSS7381 (5♂, QM).

Distribution: Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria) ( Fig. 122 ).

Notes: This species is widespread throughout the southern half of Australia and is easily surveyed by searching on hilltops. Intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.2% to 1.5%. This species is genetically closest to T. boomerang sp. nov. (0–1.3% pairwise divergence) (Supplementary file 3). As these two species differ only by the shape of surstyli in lateral view and having two differently shaped spur-like projections on the hind trochanter in T. dissidens sp. nov., it is likely that these two species are recently-diverged.

Figures

FIGURE 34. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella dissidens sp. nov. (JSS16146, ANIC) A) dorsal view, B) ventral view, C) ejaculatory apodeme, D, E) lateral view.

FIGURE 122. Distribution of Tomosvaryella dissidens sp. nov., T. gidgee sp. nov., T. hardyi sp. nov. in Australia.

FIGURE 147. Hind legs of Tomosvaryella species in lateral view A) T. lambkinae sp. nov., holotype (JSS15593, QM), B) T. paxilla sp. nov., holotype (JSS13932, QM), C) T. ansa sp. nov., holotype (CNC591870, QM), D) T. quadrata sp. nov., paratype (JSS374994, CNC), E) T. scapania sp. nov., paratype (JSS8614, ANIC), F) T. dissidens sp. nov., paratype (JSS16231, ANIC).