Brachypremna tchooratippa, Theischinger, 2016

Theischinger, Günther, 2016, A second species of Brachypremna OSTEN-SACKEN (Insecta: Diptera: Tipuloidea: Tipulidae) from Australia, Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (1), pp. 655-661 : 656-657

Brachypremna tchooratippa nov.sp. ( Figs 1-7 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: Australia, Queensland, Palmerston N. P., Tchooratippa Ck , 17 o 37’S / 145 o 45’E, 9-xii-2015, G. Theischinger ( AM).

A d d i t i o n a l m o a t e r i a o l: Paratypes: 333, 2♀♀, Australia, Queensland, Palmerston N. P., Tchooratippa Ck, 17 37’S / 145 45’E, 9-xii-2015, G. Theischinger (AM).

D e s c r i p t i o n

Male ( Figs 1-5 )

H e a d ( Fig. 1 ). Yellowish grey to greyish brown, yellowish along the eye margins; rostrum greyish to brownish yellow; nasus long and slender, dark greyish brown, tipped with long black bristles; palps long, yellowish grey, much longer than the 10-segmented greyish brown antennae.

T h o r a x. Prescutum, scutum, scutellum and mediotergite largely variously dark greyish brown merging into greyish yellow along latero-ventral margins; pleura largely greyish brown but anepimeron, meron and laterotergite yellowish white. Legs with spurs only on hind tibia; coxae and trochanters brownish yellow and greyish brown, outer face of hind coxa largely very pale; femora and tibiae dark greyish brown, with apex of femora and base of tibiae narrowly yellowish white and tibiae merging into yellowish white apically in foreleg, from about 9/10 length in mid-leg and from about 2/3 length in hind-leg; tarsi yellowish white with only basal ¼ grey in foreleg; claws comparatively large, almost double-curved with large base and distinct subapical tooth ( Fig. 2 ).

W i n g s ( Figs 3, 4 ). Strongly petiolate and narrow. A brownish tinge all over; stigma oval, dark greyish brown; subcostal cell a little darker than the remainder of the wing; cord and longitudinal veins beyond it indistinctly clouded and seamed with brown; whitish- to yellowish-subhyaline areas before and beyond the stigma; veins brown, veins M2, M3 and CuA1 pale at the wing-margin. Venation as illustrated: Sc long, Sc1 ending almost opposite 2/5 to 1/2 the length of R2+3; Sc2 a little removed from the tip of Sc1; Rs moderately long, gently arcuated near origin, originating level with origin of CuA2 or slightly proximal of it, similar in length to R2+3 or CuA1; R2 nearly at right angle to R2+3 at the fork, r joining near its base; r-m very short or mostly absent; petiole of cell m1 about as long as m; m-cu obliterated by fusion of M3 and CuA1; vein A2 running very close to and parallel with basal portion of anal wing margin, cell a2 consequently very linear and of uniform width for its entire length. Cell r2 as wide as cells r3 and r4 together or as cell m3; cells r3 and r4 very similar in width; cell d hexagonal, its proximal and posterior side similar in length, slightly shorter than costal side and slightly longer than distal side; cell cua1 almost rhomboidal; cell cua2 almost parallel sided throughout. Halteres with stem brownish yellow, knob pale greyish yellow to greyish brown.

A b d o m e n. Pale brownish yellow, brown and almost black. Tergite 1 largely greyish to brownish yellow or all brown; tergites 2-8 basally greyish to brownish yellow or brown, apical portion brown merging into black apical ring; sternites largely pale brownish yellow, apically brown to black, only sternite 2 with well defined, almost black midbasal patch; segments 8 and 9 almost all black.

T e r m i n a l i a ( Fig. 6 ). Segment 8 twisted at an angle of up to more than 90°, segment 9 twisted again to make the distinctly bilobed tergite appear almost to approximately ventral; gonocoxites largely greyish yellow, basally almost black; gonostyli greyish yellow to orange, the inner about as long as gonocoxite with basal half up to a triangular tooth straight, moderately wide and apically setose, apical half about half as wide, smooth and gently curved up to apical 1/10 which is angled from the remainder and tapered to a rounded apex; outer gonostylus originating at half length of inner, finger-shaped, largely spinose and about half as long as inner.

D i m e n s i o n s. Total length 12.5-13.5 mm; wing 16.0- 17.5 mm.

Female ( Figs 6 , 7 )

H e a d (includingantennae),t h o r a x, w i n g s a n d a b d o m e n.Muchas described for the male. Legs much as described above for the male but spurs present on mid and hind tibia and claws smaller and without secondary tooth ( Fig. 6 ).

T e r m i n a l i a ( Fig. 7 ). Ovipositor brown with cerci longer than tergites 9+10, almost straight without ventral bulge; hypogynial valves very little shorter than cerci, the tips acute.

D i m e n s i o n s. Total length 14.0-15.0 mm; wing 16.0-17.0 mm.

E t y m o l o g y. Named after Tchooratippa Creek, the name used as a noun in apposition to the generic name.

H a b i t a t a n d b e h a v i o u r.

The specimens were collected along Tchooratippa Creek, a small rainforest stream in Palmerston National Park near Innisfail, Queensland, Australia. After searching the creek for dragonflies, my attention was drawn to the completely dark-shaded space between the lower face of a large approximately 45 o tilted rock surface and the wet ground bedrock. There I detected an intense tangle of fast moving bright thin lines, and the dancing insects producing this image were netted. Four males and two females of Brachypremna tchooratippa were collected and probably at least as many individuals escaped.

The Central American Brachypremna dispellens (WALKER) is known as the "king of the dancing tipulids" as it hovers up and down in densely shaded areas with a distinctive vertical dance over a height of 3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) ( Johnson 1909). On the basis of my observation at Tchooratippa Creek, Brachypremna tchooratippa could certainly qualify as the Australian "Dancing Queen". Based on the same observations there is a definite connection of the adults to the aquatic habitat. This is strengthened by the larval habitat of the species of Brachypremna being described as damp humus soil along streams, seepage areas, and low grassy areas (GELHAUS & YOUNG 1991). According to WHITE & SALSBURY (2000), it occurs near small streams in wooded areas, it hangs from its long front legs on vegetation in small clearings.

Figures

Figs 1-6: Brachypremna tchooratippa. (1-5) Male: (1) head, lateral; (2) tarsal claw; (3) wing; (4) wing detail; (5) terminalia, ventral. (6) Female, tarsal claw.

Figs 7-9: Brachypremna spp., females. (7) B. tchooratippa, terminalia, lateral. (8, 9) B. tigriventris, holotype: (8) wing; (9) terminalia, lateral.