Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera Alexander, 1961

Starkevich, Pavel, Podėnas, Sigitas & Sivell, Duncan, 2022, Tipula (Vestiplex) levisoni sp. nov., a new cranefly (Diptera, Tipulidae) from the Western Himalayas, Zootaxa 5115 (1), pp. 131-145 : 141-144

Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera Alexander

( Figs 38–56 )

Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera Alexander, 1961: 140–142 .

Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera: Alexander and Alexander, 1973: 65 .

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂, labelled: Salf-ul-Maluk , Northwest Frontier Province [ Pakistan], 11,000 ft. [3350 m], along lake margin, 1953.vii.2, Schmid ( USNM) . PARATYPES: same data as holotype (4 ♂, 1 ♀, USNM) [among them 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ (female labeled as allotype) pinned together on same pin, both dissected for present study, male genitalia number No. PS 0377m, female genitalia number No. PS 0378f and other male with antenna, wing and genitalia on slide mounted by C.P. Alexander]; Kalarian Baihk Northwest Frontier Province , 11,270 ft. [3435 m], along lake delta, 1953.vii.13, Schmid (5 ♂, USNM) [among them one ♂ with antenna, leg, wing and genitalia on slide mounted by C.P. Alexander] .

Redescription. Male. Body length 17.3–20.0 mm, wing length 19.4–21.0 mm. General body colouration brownish yellow ( Fig. 38 ).

Head. Vertex and occiput yellowish grey pruinescent with brown median line. Rostrum brown, dorsally thinly dusted with grey pruinescence. Nasus short and distinct. Antenna 13-segmented, when bent backwards extends beyond wing base. Scape and pedicel yellow, flagellum brown. Each flagellomere, except first, with weak basal enlargement and incision, and additional apical incision; shape of segments slightly sinuous. Apical flagellomere small. Longest verticils shorter than corresponding segments. Palpus with first segment yellowish, second brownish yellow, other brownish black.

Thorax. Whole thorax brown, dusted with grey pruinescence ( Fig. 39 ). Pronotum brown, with median brown line. Prescutum and presutural scutum with four brown, grey dusted stripes, bordered by brown. Medial stripes fused in basal half. Interspaces grey. Postsutural scutum grey, each lobe with two brown spots, bordered by brown. Scutellum and mediotergite brown, dusted with grey, with brown median line. Pleura brown. Coxae yellow, dusted with grey, trochanters yellow, femora and tibiae yellow, darkened at tip; first two tarsal segments yellow, distally brown, rest of segments brown. Tarsal claw without tooth. Wing patterned with brown ( Fig. 40 ). Halter yellowish brown with brown knob.

Abdomen. Brownish yellow, with brown dorsal and lateral stripes, terminal segments brown.

Hypopygium ( Figs 41–50 ). Brown, broader than rest of abdomen. Epandrium forming large concave, sclerotized, crescent in outline saucer-shaped plate ( Figs 41–43 ). Main body of plate brownish yellow with blackened rim. Posterior margin of plate broadly emarginated, medially with shallow U-shaped emargination, laterally bordered with obtuse projections or denticles ( Alexander 1961, pl. 4, fig. 33; Starkevich 2012, fig. 142) and additional small denticles on either side. Lateral angle of plate broad and obtuse. Anterior and lateral portions of plate raised into sclerotised rim, posterolaterally terminating in black obtuse teeth. Gonocoxite unarmed ( Fig. 44 ). Outer gonostylus flattened, nearly oval ( Fig. 45 ). Inner gonostylus large, claw-shaped curved plate with single, large mid-dorsal tooth ( Fig. 46 ); beak extends into blackened rostrum. Aedeagal guide in shape of narrow, elongated tube, base with dorsal flange handle-shaped, membranous at base, ventral flange flattened; distal margin bent inward forming two microscopic hooks ( Fig. 47 ). Gonocoxal fragment large with lateral and medial sclerites well-developed ( Fig. 48 ). Medial sclerites fused, anterior apodeme distinct, slightly flattened, posterior part broadly flattened and expanded at base and arched distally. Lateral sclerites nearly V-shaped. Sperm pump with small and flattened central vesicle ( Fig. 49 ). Compressor apodeme with median shallow emargination. Posterior immovable apodeme longer than compressor apodeme, large and extended laterally into broad plate, medially with darker ridge, anterior margin bent inwards. Anterior immovable apodeme nearly rounded, narrowed at lateral margin. Aedeagus with distal part ventrally membranous ( Fig. 50 ).

Female. Body length 23.4 mm, wing length 19.4 mm. Generally similar to male in body colour ( Fig. 38 ).

Female terminalia ( Figs 51–56 ). Tergite 10 shiny brown. Cercus brownish yellow, about as long as tergite 10, slender, narrowing towards upcurved tip ( Fig. 51 ). Ventral margin distally with distinct serrations. Hypovalva in shape of pale, elongated slender filament, with short trichia at tip ( Fig. 52 ). Median incision between hypovalvae deeper than posterior margin of sternite 8. Lateral incision relatively deep and broad, about 1.5 times as deep as maximal width. Posterolateral angle of sternite 8 rounded. Sternite 9 with posterior part shovel-shaped, margin rounded, medially forming groove; anterior parts flattened at base ( Fig. 53 ). Furca anteriorly narrow but posteriorly broad ( Fig. 54 ). Bursa copulatrix with spermathecal ducts sclerotised at base, in shape of slightly curved, slender, dark brown sticks ( Fig. 55 ). Cul-de-sac of bursa copulatrix curved. Spermatheca nearly spherical ( Fig. 56 ).

Distribution. Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [= North-West Frontier Province]) ( Alexander 1961).

Remarks. The species is known only from the type series collected near Salf ul Maluk Lake, a mountainous lake located at the northern end of the Kaghan Valley, in Saiful Muluk National Park, northern Pakistan.

Figures

FIGURES 38–40. Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera. 38, male and female, paratypes; 39, male, thorax, dorsal view; 40, wing. Scale of 38, 40 = 0.5 mm; 39 = 1 mm.

FIGURES 41–50. Male terminalia of Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera. 41, hypopygium, dorsal view; 42, hypopygium, lateral view; 43, epandrium, dorsal view; 44, left gonocoxite, lateral view; 45, left outer gonostylus; 46, left inner gonostylus, lateral view; 47, aedeagal guide, lateral view; 48, gonocoxal fragment, dorsal view; 49, sperm pump, dorsal view; 50, distal part of intromittent organ, lateral view. Abbreviations: mt, mid-dorsal tooth of inner gonostylus; pt, posterolateral tooth of epandrium. Scale a: 41, 42 = 0.5 mm; b: 43–49 = 0.5 mm; c: 50 = 0.25 mm.

FIGURES 51–56. Female terminalia of Tipula (Vestiplex) tanycera. 51, ovipositor, left lateral view; 52, sternite 8 with hypovalvae, ventral view; 53, sternite 9, dorsal view; 54, furca, dorsal view; 55, bursa copulatrix, dorsal view; 56, spermatheca. Abbreviation: cds, cul-de-sac of bursa copulatrix. Scale a: 50 = 1 mm; b: 51–54 = 0.5 mm.