Austrothaumalea bicornis, Sinclair, 2008

Sinclair, Bradley J., 2008, New Species of Austrothaumalea Tonnoir from Australia (Diptera: Thaumaleidae), Records of the Australian Museum 60 (1), pp. 1-12 : 4

Austrothaumalea bicornis n.sp.

Figs 1–2

Type material. HOLOTYPE? “AUST: N.QLD: Mt. /Elliot N.P., 600 m /above Alligator Ck. /Falls, 9.iv.1994; seep / B.J. Sinclair ”; “ HOLOTYPE / Austrothaumalea /bicornis /Sinclair” ( AMS) . PARATYPES: Queensland: 1?, same data as holotype ( AMS) .

Recognition. This species is distinguished by the strongly bent gonostyli and pair of long, slender apical epandrial processes.

Description. Wing length 1.5 mm. Coloration: Head dull, dark brown. Mesonotum and pleura dark brown and dull; coxae, femora and tibiae pale brown, tarsi darker; halter knob pale on inner margin; abdomen dull greyish-brown, including pleural membrane; terminalia dark brown. Wing faintly infuscate; R+R 1 +R 1+2 with macrotrichia along entire length, remaining veins bare; R 2 situated in middle of R 1+2; bend in R 3 strong; R 3 and R 4+5 somewhat divergent toward wing margin; CuA nearly straight, lacking appendage. Male abdominal sternites 2–7 rectangular, sparsely setose; sternite 8 membranous. Male terminalia ( Figs 1–2 ): Epandrium broadly triangular from ventral aspect; posterior margin narrow, straight; pair of long, slender processes projecting from posterolateral margin. Hypandrium broad, less than width of base of gonostylus. Gonocoxite long, slightly tapered apically. Gonostylus bent at right angle near midlength; apex flattened, spatula-shaped from posterior view; lacking setulae beyond bend. Parameres fused to form laterally flattened process, with hooked tip; not extending beyond gonocoxites. Gonocoxal plate broad, extending to mid-length of gonocoxites; apical margin convex, with short posterolateral processes; not fused to hypandrium.

Distribution. This species is know only from its type locality (just south of Townsville, Queensland), collected from a seepage flowing over a large open rock bald next to the falls of Alligator Creek. Mount Elliot is a granite massif, arising more than 1000 m. Its eastern slopes bear numerous small creeks and waterfalls.A small remnant rainforest is confined to areas above 600 m.

Remarks. This species appears most closely related to A. minnamurrae and the undescribed species from Woombye referred to in Theischinger (1986).

Etymology. The specific name is from the Latin cornis (horned), in reference to the pair of long slender projections from the posterior margin of the epandrium.

Figures

Figs 1–4. Male terminalia of Austrothaumalea: (1) A. bicornis, lateral view; (2) A. bicornis, ventral view; (3) A. bifida, ventral view (holotype), tip of paramere from paratype; (4) A. concava, ventral view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: epand, epandrium; gcx, gonocoxite; gcx pl, gonocoxal plate; gst, gonostylus; hypd, hypandrium; pm, paramere.