Tomosvaryella trispina 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 : 216-218

Tomosvaryella trispina Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5EDC2955-8597-4154-A351-F72437A6CCF7

Figs 98A–E , 141 , 146B

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by the hind trochanter having some dense short bristles ventrally ( Fig. 146B ); elongated surstyli in dorsal view ( Fig. 98A ); distinct hypandrial apodeme in lateral view ( Fig. 98D–E ); three spines on phallic guide and two short spines on one of ejaculatory ducts in lateral view.

Description: MALE: Body length: 2.6–3.0 mm. Head. Flagellum acuminate, brown. 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, more brownish on upper half. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 4–5 distinct pale bristles. Mesonotum (viewed obliquely from front) subshining black, anterior part silver pollinose, slightly grayish from the side. Scutellum silvery pollinose with 12 distinct brown bristles along the distal edge. Dorsocentral bristles developed, dark, longer on frontal part and numerous dark bristles around postpronotum. Halter; knob pale with a brownish tinge distally, stem dark brown. Legs. Mid coxa with 2–3 bristles. Trochanters and base of femora black, femora black, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees, basal 1/5 of tibiae yellow (otherwise brown), tarsal segments yellow ventrally, yellow-brown dorsally, last segment dorsally darker. Hind trochanter gray pollinose, without keel, some short dark spines (7–9) at the base, otherwise covered with dense short bristles ventrally ( Fig. 146B ). Ventroapical row of spines on fore femur missing, one ventrobasal spine present on fore and absent on mid femur; 4–6 very short, black spines on mid femur; no spines on hind femur, 20–22 pale bristles posteriorly, equally distributed, and longer on distal 1/3 (as long as 2/3 the width of hind tibia at the distal end). Subapical spines on first four tibiae present, distal and medium-sized. Hind metatarsus not flattened, first tarsomere slightly longer than 2–4 combined, with short and dense bristles ventrally, yellow, dorsal bristles on all tarsi semi-erect and dark. Pulvilli as long as last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 2.7–2.8 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one long distinct bristle. Fourth costal section 2–2.5 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m slightly proximal to middle of discal cell. 6–8 dark setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites subshining black, tergite 1 silvery grey, sides silvery pollinose on tergites 4 and 5 (the latter with larger spots). Dispersed short dark bristles on tergites present, the longest on tergite 5 and up to half as long as width of hind tibia at base. Lateral bristles on first tergite present, 3–4 brown bristles up to as long as width of hind femur. Postabdomen in dorsal view; T6, S7 invisible; T5 1.5 times as long as ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 medium sized, subshiny black as tergite 5; membranous area roundish, cone-shaped; epandrium paler, narrow; yellow surstyli long and flat. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium longer than wide (MLE:MWE = 1.07). Surstyli light brown, rather symmetrical, elongated, left surstylus longer than right one, its tip curved toward right one in apical third ( Fig. 98A ). Genital capsule in ventral view: subepandrial sclerite wide, extended beneath gonopods, covered with transverse streaks; gonopods elongated, with a small upward projection ( Fig. 98B ), phallic guide with 3–4 different-sized spines dorsally (longer one closer to apex). Genital capsule in lateral view: left surstylus smoothly curved towards sternite, broader than right one; right surstylus smoothly curved towards sternite ( Fig. 98D–E ); phallus with three ejaculatory ducts, one with two small spines; hypandrial apodeme distinct and long ( Fig. 98D–E ); ejaculatory apodeme flat, sperm pump elongated, linear ( Fig. 98C ).

FEMALE: Unknown.

Etymology: From the Latin tres, three and spina, spine, in reference to the three spines found on the phallic guide.

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Brisbane, Mt. Coot-tha , 27°29’S, 152°57’E, 170m, hilltop, 7.xii.1997, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS2352 (1♂, QM) ; PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA :

Queensland: 14.6 km east of Lakeland Downs , 15°46’S, 144°57’E , 270m, hilltop in open, dry savanna (rangeland for cattle), 8.vi.1997, J.&A. Skevington, JSS8853–4 (2♂, QM); Barakula State Forest No. 302, Summit Round Mountain, 26°22’S, 150°58’E, 8.i.2000, J.&A. Skevington & M. Mathieson, JSS7556 (1♂, QM); Brisbane , Mount Coot-tha , 27°29’S, 152°57’E , 170m, hilltop, 16.ix.1997, J. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3800 (1♂, CNC) ; ~ 170m, hilltop, 25.ix.1997, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3793–4 (2♂, QM); 26.x.1997, J. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3795 , JSS3797 (2♂, QM); 27.i.1998, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3083 (1♂, QM); Brisbane, Mt. Coot-tha , 27°29’S, 152°57’E , ~ 170m, hilltop, 7.xii.1997, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS2333 , JSS2335–6 , JSS2339–40 , JSS2351 (1♂, ANIC, 5♂, QM); 8.xi.1997, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, 9:45 am – 10:15 am, 10:15 am – 10:45 am, 9:15 am – 9:45 am, JSS978 , JSS987 , JSS990 , JSS997–8 (5♂, QM) ; 250m, hilltop, 21. VIII .2004, J. Skevington, hand collected, JSM780, JSM809, JSS15358 , JSS15386 (2♂, CNC); Carnarvon National Park, Mount Moffatt Summit , 25°4’S, 148°3’E , 1097m, hilltop, 29.xi.1997, J. Skevington & C. Lambkin, hand collected, JSS1608 (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, JSS8855 (1♂, QM) ; New South Wales: Honeysuckle Creek , 35°35’S, 149°0’E, 11–22.IV.1985, I. Naumann & J. Cardale, Malaise trap, JSS9237 (1♂, ANIC) ; Western Australia: Karijini National Park, Weano Gorge Road , 22°24’S, 118°15’E, ANIC Bulk Sample 2042, 718m, in open Eucalyptus , 25.IV–14. V .2003, C. Lambkin & T . Weir, Malaise trap, ANIC Bulk Sample 2042, JSS16229 (1♂, ANIC) .

Distribution: Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia).

Notes: This species can be differentiated from T. atraspina sp. nov. by having bristles (not spines) on the hind trochanter; having one ventrobasal bristle on the fore femur (two bristles on T. atraspina sp. nov.); and a different shape of the left surstylus – in T. atraspina sp. nov. the left surstylus is bent towards the sternite in the apical third ( Fig. 9C ). All but three of the known specimens of this species have been collected on hilltops. Intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.0% to 4.2%. Tomosvaryella trispina sp. nov. is genetically closest to T. quadrata sp. nov. (6.5% pairwise divergence) (Supplementary file 3). The large intraspecific variation suggests that this may be a species complex and more investigation is required.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella atraspina sp. nov. A) dorsal view (JSS2328, QM), B) ventral view (JSS7555, QM), C, D) lateral view (JSS7555, QM).

FIGURE 98. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella trispina sp. nov. (JSS1608, QM) A) dorsal view, B) ventral view, C) ejaculatory apodeme, D, E) lateral view.

FIGURE 141. Distribution of Tomosvaryella spinifex sp. nov., T. tesca sp. nov., T. trispina sp. nov. in Australia.

FIGURE 146. Hind legs of Tomosvaryella species in lateral view A) T. atraspina sp. nov., paratype (JSS8448, CAS), B) T. trispina sp. nov., holotype (JSS2352, QM), C) T. spinivaria sp. nov., paratype (JSS7390, QM), D) T. biflocca sp. nov., holotype (JSS8594, ANIC), E) T. planca sp. nov., paratype (JSS8585, QM), F) T. tetraloba sp. nov., holotype (JSS16037, ANIC).