Tomosvaryella brachystyla 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 : 43-44

Tomosvaryella brachystyla Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:4C864A71-E108-4406-AD47-67D82F8E7968

Figs 16A–E , 113 , 155A

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by shortened surstyli, the left surstylus constricted in middle at outer margin in dorsal view ( Fig. 16A ); extended hypandrium, small gonopods, shortened subepandrial sclerite in ventral view ( Fig. 16B ); phallic guide widened; phallus with three strong ejaculatory ducts, one covered by small spines in basal half in lateral view ( Fig. 16D–E ).

Description: MALE: Body length: 3.1–3.2 mm. Head. Flagellum short acuminate; brown. Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black; lower part distinctly silver pollinose; eyes touching for distance equal to 1.5–2 times the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, less so on upper 1/3. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 2–3 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 weakly developed, indistinct, dark, somewhat more visible along frontal edge, a few pale bristles around postpronotum present. Halter, knob pale with brownish tinge, stem brown. Legs. Mid coxa with three short dark bristles in a row along the edge. Trochanters brown and femora dark brown, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees and basal 1/4 of tibiae yellow (tibiae otherwise brown), tarsal segments yellow ventrally brown dorsally, last segment darker. Hind trochanter with a half circle, no distinct bristles; ventrobasal spines absent on fore and mid femora. Ventroapical row of spines on fore femur absent; 4–6 small, black spines on mid femur; hind femur without ventroapical spines, except 8–10 equally spaced bristles posteroventrally, on distal half more like strong bristles, longest up to 1/2 the width of hind tibia at distal end. Subapical (distal) spines on first four tibiae absent. Hind tibia slightly bent in posterior view. Metatarsi moderately flattened, hind metatarsus almost as long as 2–5 combined. Pulvilli shorter than last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 3.6–3.7 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with two short dark bristles. Fourth costal section 2 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m slightly distal to middle of discal cell. 1–2 distinct brown setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites subshiny black, tergite 1 silvery grey, silvery pollinose spots on tergites 4 and 5 (larger on tergite 5). Dispersed short dark bristles on all tergites present, very small, indistinct. Lateral bristles on first tergite absent. Postabdomen in dorsal view: T6, S7 invisible; T5 1.5–2.2 times as long as ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 medium sized, broad, rounded triangle in dorsal view, dark brown and with some distinct bristles, otherwise velvet-like coverage; membranous area drop-like, directed posteriorly; epandrium dark brown, surstyli brown, inconspicuous. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium wider than long (MLE:MWE = 0.7). Surstyli rather asymmetrical, shorter than epandrium, both surstyli broader basally and distally, left one constricted in middle at outer margin ( Fig. 16A ). Genital capsule in ventral view: gonopods small, semicircular in lateral margin; subepandrial sclerite small; hypandrium more extended; phallus with three strong ejaculatory ducts, one covered with small spines in basal half ( Fig. 16B ); Genital capsule in lateral view: both surstyli curved towards sternite; phallic guide widened and short, pointed at apex ( Fig. 16D–E ). Ejaculatory apodeme rather long, tube-like, with a bulb in its middle ( Fig. 16C ).

FEMALE: Body length: 3.1–3.2 mm. As male except for the following characters. Frons, eyes separated, as wide as 1.2–1.3 times the width at antennae; completely silver-grey pollinose until up to 1/2 of the lower frons, shiny black in front of ocellar triangle, sudden change in transition zone. Enlarged ommatidia silvery shining. Pulvilli and claws about 1–2 times as long as last tarsal segment, smaller on metatarsi. Female abdomen with silver spots on sides of tergites 4–6 (sometimes T3). Ovipositor. Straight in ventral view, curved towards sternite and short in lateral view, reaching distal edge of 4th segment; base brownish pollinose with occasional bristles; very flat, in level with rest of abdomen. LP:LB = 2.6. LDP:LPP = 1.7. ( Fig. 155A ).

Etymology: Brachy is Greek for short and refers to the short surstyli of the males.

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Carnarvon National Park, Mount Moffatt Section, Top Shelter Shed , 24°55’S, 148°3’E, 1100m, 22.XI.1995, D.K. Yeates, JSS8311 (1♂, QM) ; PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Bogantungan , 13.5km North, 23°32’S, 147°18’E, 880m, open forest, 18. XII .2000– 27.III.2001, Cook & Monteith, flight interception trap, 10007, CNC575165 (1♂, CNC) ; Cudmore National Park ( CM3 M), 22°58’S, 146°23’E, 351m, Melaleuca heath near drying creek, 28.X.2010 – 2. VIII .2011, Lambkin , Starick & Bailey, Malaise trap, CNC575000 , CNC575003 (2♂, QM) ; Cudmore National Park ( CM3 M), 22°58’S, 146°23’E, 351m, Melaleuca heath near drying creek, 28.X.2010 – 2. VIII .2011, Lambkin , Starick & Bailey, Malaise trap, CNC574704 (1♂, CNC) ; 3.5 km SW by S Mount Baird , 15°10’S, 145°7’E, 4. V .1981, D.H. Colless, Malaise trap, JSS8578 (1♂, ANIC) ; Brisbane Forest Park , 27°25’S, 152°51’E, sclerophyll Eucalyptus forest, 8.XI.1995, Irwin & Gaimari, JSS8835 (1♀, INHS) ; Carnarvon National Park, Mount Moffatt Section Headquarters , 25°1’S, 147°57’E, 740m, 21.XI.1995, M.E. Irwin & S.D. Gaimari, JSS8899 (1♂, INHS) ; Carnarvon National Park, Mount Moffatt Section, Top Shelter Shed , 24°55’S, 148°3’E, 1100m, 22.XI.1995, D.K. Yeates, JSS8308 , JSS8313 , JSS8317 (3♀, QM) ; Carnarvon National Park, Mount Moffatt section, 25°3’S, 147°53’E, [dry sclerophyll, savanna opening], 27.XI.1997, J. Skevington & C. Lambkin, Malaise trap, JSS2278 (1♂, QM) ; Scrub Road, Brisbane Forest Park, 27°25’S, 152°50’E, 3–10.X.1997, S. Winterton, N. Power & D. White, Malaise trap, JSS8857 (1♂, QM) ; Northern Territory: Darwin, Fannie Bay , 12°30’S, 130°50’E, Park near beach, 4.IX.2004, J. Forrest & T . Wheeler , sweeping, LEM _ 0016202 (1♂, LEM) ; New South Wales: 20 mi. Glen Innes to Grafton Highway, 29°43’S, 151°45’E, 20.IV.1970, D.H. Colless, Coordinates for Glen Innes , JSS8504 (1♂, ANIC) .

Distribution: Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland) ( Fig. 113 ).

Notes: This species has been found in dry sclerophyll forest and heathlands in eastern NSW, Queensland and coastal Northern Territory. Intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.0% to 0.3%. This species is genetically similar to T. biloba sp. nov. (2.6% pairwise divergence) (Supplementary file 3).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella brachystyla sp. nov. (JSS8311, QM) 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 155. Ovipositor of Tomosvaryella species in lateral view A) T. brachystyla sp. nov., paratype (JSS8835, INHS), B) T. seticosta sp. nov., paratype (JSS8299, QM), C) T. parkeri sp. nov., paratype (JSS15704, QM), D) T. patula sp. nov., paratype (JSS6068, QM), E) T. deltastyla sp. nov., paratype (JSS16101, ANIC), F) T. biloba sp. nov., paratype (JSS15888, CNC).