Neossos tombstonensis Solecki & Wheeler, 2015

Solecki, Anna M. & Wheeler, Terry A., 2015, A new species of Neossos Malloch (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) from the Yukon Territory, Canada, and a revised key to the Nearctic species, Biodiversity Data Journal 3, pp. 6351-6351 : 6351

Neossos tombstonensis Solecki & Wheeler, 2015 sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: NBP Field Party; sex: male; Taxon: class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Heleomyzidae; genus: Neossos; specificEpithet: tombstonensis; scientificNameAuthorship: Solecki & Wheeler, 2015; Location: continent: North America; country: Canada; stateProvince: Yukon Territory; verbatimLocality: Dempster Hwy nr North Fork Pass; verbatimElevation: 1200 m; decimalLatitude: 64.57942; decimalLongitude: -138.28212; geodeticDatum: WGS84; Event: samplingProtocol: sweeping; year: 2011; month: 6; day: 24; habitat: wet tundra; fieldNumber: wet replicate 3; Record Level: datasetID: LEM0110624; institutionCode: LEMQ Type status: Paratype. Occurrence: recordedBy: TA Wheeler; sex: female; Taxon: class: Insecta; order: Diptera; family: Heleomyzidae; genus: Neossos; specificEpithet: tombstonensis; scientificNameAuthorship: Solecki & Wheeler, 2015; Location: continent: North America; country: Canada; stateProvince: Yukon Territory; verbatimLocality: S Klondike Hwy, 18.2 km S Alaska Hwy, Robinson Road House; decimalLatitude: 60.44839; decimalLongitude: -134.84961; geodeticDatum: WGS84; Event: samplingProtocol: sweeping; year: 2012; month: 7; day: 9; habitat: mesic meadow; Record Level: datasetID: LEM0110625; institutionCode: LEMQ

Description

Generic characters as described by Gilbert and Wheeler (2007). Total length: 1.9 mm (♀) - 2.1 mm (♂). Frons slightly narrowing anteriorly, almost parallel-sided, yellow anteriorly, becoming darker at about 0.3 length of frons, black posteriorly; ocellar triangle microtomentose grey, subshining, shining black lateral to posterior ocelli and anterior to anterior ocellus; orbital plate same colour as ocellar triangle, more heavily microtomentose grey; face yellow, darker underneath antennae; clypeus brown, palpus and proboscis yellow; scape and pedicel yellow; first flagellomere yellow, browned dorsobasally on medial and lateral surface (darker in female); arista black-brown with slightly thicker yellow-brown base; postgena brown; gena dull yellow, more sclerotized, shining and brown at ventral margin (Fig. 1,) with four genal setae in addition to vibrissa and subvibrissal setae; strong seta posteroventrally on ventral margin of gena/postgena; genal height 0.4 times eye height; occiput same colour as ocellar triangle. Scutum same colour as ocellar triangle, uniform in colour and shading, heavily microtomentose; proepisternum, proepimeron, anepisternum, katepisternum, anepimeron, same colour as scutum (Fig. 1), except margins of sclerites paler, yellow-grey, katepimeron paler; scutellum same color as scutum. Wing length: 2.2 mm (♀) - 2.5 mm (♂). Legs yellow, coxae paler, distal tarsal segment, particularly of foreleg, slightly darker; hind tibia not noticeably expanded distally. Abdomen brown, sternites 2-5 same colour as tergites 2-5.

Male genitalia

Epandrium brown, rounded, wider than high; hypandrium pale brown, ventral hypandrial process with 9 setae; surstylus with outer lobe roughly triangular, narrowing distinctly in basal half; postgonite large; distiphallus with fine setulae for most of length except distally; epiphallus clavate (Figs 2, 3).

Etymology

The species is named for the Tombstone Mountains and Tombstone Territorial Park, where the holotype specimen was collected.

Distribution

Known only from the southern and central Yukon Territory, Canada.