Aliasutra australica, Korneyev, 2012

Korneyev, Valery A., 2012, A New Genus and Species of the Subfamily Tachiniscinae (Diptera, Tephritidae) from Australia, Records of the Australian Museum 64 (3), pp. 159-166 : 164-166

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.3853/j.0067-1975.64.2012.1593
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03FCAB79-E825-B802-D16D-F9EE4460F8C1
treatment provided by	Carolina
scientific name	Aliasutra australica
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Aliasutra australica View in CoL n.sp.

Figs 31 View Figs 27–31 –43

Material examined. Holotype ♀. Queensland: “ 3 mi NW Mt. Mowbullan, Bunya Mtns, Qld. 3350' [c. 1020 m], 7–8 Jan. 1970, MV lamp, G.A. Holloway Coll. ” ( AMS K351925 ) . Paratypes. Queensland: 6♂♂, same label data as holotype (1♀ mounted on SEM stub, wings remaining on mount) ( AMS, SIZK) ; 1♂, 2♀♀, Burnett R ., Eidsvold , 230' [c. 70 m] 9 Jan. 1970, MV lamp, G.A. Holloway ( AMS, SIZK); 3♀♀, Pistol Gap, near Byfield , 23°10'S 150°40'E, 10 Jan.1970, MV GoogleMaps lamp, G.A. Holloway ( AMS) . New South Wales: 1♂, Goonoo State Forest , 5 km S of Mendooran, 24 Mar. 1971, D.K. McAlpine ( SIZK) ; 1♂, Binnaway State Forest , 31 Mar.1972, A. & G. Daniels ( AMS) ; 1♀, Wheogo , 13 miles [c. 21 km] E of Dunedoo, 17 Mar. 1963, R . Lossin ( AMS) ; 1♀, Dunedoo , 23 Mar. 1963, R .B. ( MNVM).

Diagnosis. Medium-sized reddish-yellow flies with hyaline wings and brownish-black abdomen (sometimes with brown vertex and dorsal portion of occiput and brownish-yellow abdomen).

Description. Head. Reddish yellow, with ocellar triangle usually black, vertex and dorsal portion of occiput often brown; head ratio (length: height: width) = 1:1.1:1.33. Frons 1.1–1.2× as long as wide, black setulose. Two orbital setae on posterior one-fourth of frons, 0.5× as long as medial vertical seta. Eye ratio (height: length) = 1.4–1.5. Parafacial (maximum): eye length ratio = 0.55; eye: gena height ratio = 0.5. Facial ridge with 2–3 rows of small brown or black setulae on ventral two-thirds.Antenna short, length less than half height of face; pedicel black setulose; 1st flagellomere short, somewhat narrowed to apex, twice as long as wide and 1.7–1.8× as long as pedicel. Palp yellow, black setulose. Proboscis brown.

Thorax orange to dark brown, mostly nonmicrotrichose. Mesonotum 3.15 mm long, scutum as long as wide at presutural supraalar setae. Scutellum setulose dorsally; apical setae crossed, intermediate setae as long as basal and apical setae.Proepisternum with 6–7 long setae as long as postpronotal setae. Katatergite and anatergite short and sparsely microtrichose; subscutellum and mediotergite bare. Setae black.

Legs. Yellow to brown.

Wing. Entirely hyaline, with yellow veins, 3–3.2× as long as wide, with yellowish stigma. Crossvein r-m at distal 0.6 of cell dm; 2nd costal section (cell c) 3.1× as long as 3rd costal section (stigma) and 0.95× as long as 4th section (cell r1); 2nd section of vein M 1.25× as long as 1st and 3rd section and 0.7× as long as 4th section. Cell bcu with posteroapical lobe much shorter than broadest width of cell.

Abdomen 1.1–1.2× as wide as long. Tergites nonmicrotrichose, black setose, normal in width. Female tergite 6 exposed, 0.5× as long as tergite 5.

Setae and setulae. All black.

Male terminalia. As in Figs 27–28 View Figs 27–31 , 32–37 View Figs 32–37 .

Female terminalia. As in Figs 25–26 View Figs 22–26 and 30–31 View Figs 27–31 . Oviscape 0.55 mm long.

Measurements. Body length 7.5–8.0 mm. Wing length 5.0–6.0 mm.

Etymology. The species name is a New Latin adjective — Australian.

Remarks. The new species superficially reminds flies of the family Pyrgotidae in such characters as the frontal setae lacking, the postocular groove well expressed, the proepisternal setae long and numerous, and the wing mostly hyaline, differing from pyrgotids by the structure of the oviscape (aperture apicodorsal rather than apical).

Systematic position. Phylogenetic relationships in the subfamily and its classification were analysed by Korneyev & Norrbom (2006).

Aliasutra n.gen. belongs in the subfamily Tachiniscinae sharing its much specialised structure of female terminalia (oviscape with dorsoapical aperture, ventrally spinulose eversible membrane, and aculeus shape), which are the synapomorphies of the Tachiniscinae and do not occur anywhere else in the superfamily Tephritoidea . Otherwise, it shows very slight similarity to other genera of the subfamily. Its head shape (high gena, receding face) and the absence of anepimeral projection are similar to Cyaforma Wang , Ortalotrypeta Hendel , Neortalotrypeta Norrbom and Agnitrena Korneyev , but polarity of the first two characters is unclear, and the third character is obviously plesiomorphic. As in Neortalotrypeta , Agnitrena and Bibundia , the frontal setae are lacking in Aliasutra . The new genus also shares the additional postpronotal setae with Ortalotrypeta , Bibundia Bischof, Tachinisca Kertész , and Protortalotrypeta Norrbom.

On the other hand, it shares the short vertical plates with Tachinisca and Protortalotrypeta , the incomplete costal vein with Bibundia, Tachinisca , Tachiniscidia Malloch , and Protortalotrypeta , and the elongate spermathecae and phallus glans with Bibundia, Tachinisca and Tachiniscidia (not examined in the fossil Protortalotrypeta ). The last 3 characters are the synapomorphies of the tribe Tachiniscini (Korneyev & Norrbom, 2006) .

When included in the phylogenetic analysis (see Korneyev & Norrbom [2006] for the matrix and tree), Aliasutra takes position of a basal taxon in the tribe Tachiniscini along with the fossil Protortalotrypeta , but the polytomy remain unresolved, as the morphological data remain incomplete for the latter genus.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. This study resulted from the studies of Australian genera of the family Pyrgotidae supported by Geddes Visiting Collection Fellowship at the Australian Museum (Sydney). I greatly appreciate constant attention to this work and generous assistance by David K. McAlpine, who has collected some of the type specimens and recognized it as a new taxon. He kindly read the manuscript and offered valuable comments and corrections. Suzanne Lindsay carried out scanning electron microscopy and assisted with macro images. Most of the type material was collected by the recently deceased Geoffrey A. Holloway, formerly of the Australian Museum.