Helius (Helius) nipponensis (Alexander, 1913)

Xu, Yuanyuan, Zhang, Shenglin, Wang, Guoquan, Yang, Ding & Zhang, Xiao, 2023, First records of the crane fly genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville (Diptera, Limoniidae) in Guangxi, China with description of one new species, ZooKeys 1168, pp. 131-149 : 131

Helius (Helius) nipponensis (Alexander, 1913)

Figs 5 , 6

Rhamphidia nipponensis Alexander, 1913: 207. Type locality: Japan, Tokyo.

Rhamphidia nipponensis : Alexander 1920: 8.

Helius nipponensis : Alexander 1929b: 532.

Helius (Helius) nipponensis : Podenas et al. 2015: 78.

Specimens examined.

China • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jinxiuyao Autonomous County, Mount Dayaoshan , Silver Fir Park ; 1170 m a.s.l.; 21 July 2015; Yan Li leg.; light trap; CAU .

Diagnosis.

Antenna with basal flagellomeres cylindrical. Rostrum about equal in length to remainder of head. Prescutum and presutural scutum brownish yellow with three broad brown stripes; median stripe longest, broadest, darker in front; lateral stripes extending onto lobes of postsutural scutum. Femora of legs brownish yellow to brown. Wing with stigma very indistinct; Sc ending near fork of Rs; m-cu beyond fork of M. Outer gonostylus curved with subtip slightly expanded; outer spine small, inner spine large and bent outwards. Interbase horn-like. Aedeagus straight.

Description.

Male (Fig. 5a ). Body length 6.7 mm (excluding rostrum), wing length 7.0 mm, rostrum length 0.5 mm.

Head (Fig. 5b ). Dark brown. Setae on head brownish black. Antenna brown. Scape long cylindrical, twice as long as wide; pedicel oval; flagellomeres cylindrical, verticils brownish black, not exceeding flagellomere in length. Rostrum about equal in length to remainder of head, brown with brownish black setae. Palpus pale brown with dark brown setae.

Thorax (Fig. 5c ). Pronotum dark brown with two sides brownish yellow. Prescutum and presutural scutum brownish yellow with three broad brown stripes; median stripe longest, broadest, darker in front; lateral stripes extending onto lobes of postsutural scutum. Postsutural scutum dark brown, middle area pale brownish yellow, each lobe with a yellow spot. Scutellum brown with margins paler. Mediotergite dark brown. Pleuron (Fig. 5a ) brownish yellow with anepisternum brown. Setae on thorax dark brown. Fore and mid coxae pale brownish yellow, hind coxa yellow; trochanters pale brownish yellow, tips narrowly black; femora brownish yellow to brown; tibiae and tarsi brown. Setae on legs dark brown. Wing (Fig. 5d ) tinged with yellow. Stigma very indistinct. Veins pale brown. Venation: Sc long, ending opposite fork of Rs; sc-r close to tip of Sc; distance between tips of R4 and R5 about 2.5 times as long as distance between tips of R1 and R4; cell dm about twice as long as wide; m-cu more than 1/3 its length beyond fork of M, near 1/4 of cell dm. Halter pale yellow with knob darker.

Abdomen (Fig. 5a ). Tergites dark brownish yellow. Sternites brownish yellow with sternite 1 paler. Setae on abdomen brown.

Hypopygium (Fig. 6 ). Yellow. Posterior margin of tergite 9 with a V-shaped emargination (Fig. 6a ). Gonocoxite conical, outer side with long brown setae (Fig. 6a, b ). Outer gonostylus curved with subtip slightly expanded; tip blackened and bispinous, outer spine small, inner spine large and bent outwards (Fig. 6a, b, e ). Inner gonostylus curved, broad at basal half (Fig. 6a, b, e ). Aedeagal complex with semen pump spherical (Fig. 6c, d ), ejaculatory apodeme short and flattened (Fig. 6c, d ); aedeagus straight, rod-shaped (Fig. 6a-d ). Parameres medially fused and expanded, basal parts short, apical elongated with tip bent outwards. Interbase horn-like (Fig. 6c, d, f ).

Female. Body length 7.3 mm (excluding rostrum), wing length 6.5 mm, rostrum length 0.4 mm. Generally similar to male by body coloration. Ovipositor (Fig. 5e ) with tergite 10 pale brownish yellow. Cercus pale brownish yellow with dorsal area darker, distal part curved dorsally, tip acute. Sternite 8 yellow. Hypogynial valve pale brownish yellow with middle area yellow, tip reaching approximately 1/3 of cercus.

Distribution.

China (Guangxi, Zhejiang); South Korea; Japan.

Remarks.

Helius (H.) nipponensis is distributed in China, South Korea and Japan ( Oosterbroek 2023). In China, this species was previously known in Zhejiang ( Podenas et al. 2015) and is now recorded in Guangxi for the first time. For descriptions and illustrations of this species, also see Alexander (1913, 1920, 1929b) and Podenas et al. (2015).

Figures

Figure 5. Helius (Helius) nipponensis (Alexander, 1913) a habitus of male, lateral view b male head, lateral view c male thorax, dorsal view d male wing e female ovipositor, lateral view. Scale bars: 2.0 mm (a); 0.5 mm (b, c); 1.0 mm (d); 0.4 mm (e).

Figure 6. Helius (Helius) nipponensis (Alexander, 1913) a male hypopygium, dorsal view b male hypopygium, ventral view c aedeagal complex, dorsal view d aedeagal complex, ventral view e gonostyli, dorsal view f interbase, dorsal view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (a, b); 0.1 mm (c, d, e); 0.05 mm (f).