Allocladius soemmei, Ferrington Jr & Saether, 2011

Ferrington Jr, Leonard C. & Saether, Ole A., 2011, A revision of the genera Pseudosmittia Edwards, 1932, Allocladius Kieffer, 1913, and Hydrosmittia gen. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) 2849, Zootaxa 2849 (1), pp. 1-314 : 59-63

Allocladius soemmei sp. n.

( Figs. 12 , 13 )

Type material: Holotype male, KENYA: Mount Kenya , Teleki Valley, swarming over Senecia brassicae, 24.ix.1978, L. Sømme ( ZMBN Type No. 431) . – Paratypes: 20 males, 7 females, same data as holotype. ( ZMBN, UMSP, ZSM) .

Diagnostic characters: The male imago differs from other species with more than 2 acrostichals, 1 supraalar seta, superior volsella consisting of a basal swelling, large lobe-like accessory lobe of inferior volsella and virga composed only of a rounded sclerotized plate by having R 4+5 ending slightly proximal of the end of M 3+4 and an antennal ratio of 1.42–1.77. The female imago can be separated from known species with more than 3 acrostichals and 1 supraalar seta by having 33–59 non-marginal setae on the costa proximal to the end of R 4+5, a wing length of 1.63–2.07 µm and gonocoxite IX with an apical triangular projection overreaching tergite IX.

Etymology: Named in honor of Professor Lauritz Sømme, University of Oslo, who collected all the type material.

Male imago (n = 10 except when otherwise stated)

Total length 2.66–3.14, 2.92 mm. Wing length 1.83–2.16, 1.98 mm (21). Total length/wing length 1.37–1.49, 1.46. Wing length/length of profemur 2.84–3.07, 2.93. Coloration brownish black.

Head. AR 1.42–1.77, 1.62 (21). Terminal flagellomere 504–630, 582 µm (21) long. Temporal setae 7–12, 9; consisting of 3–4, 4 inner verticals; 2–5, 3 outer verticals and 0–5, 2 postorbitals. Clypeus with 7–15, 11 setae. Tentorium 146–176, 165 µm long; 34–48, 40 µm wide. Stipes 149–183, 168 µm long; 41–80, 64 µm wide. Palpomere lengths (in µm): 25–37, 31; 46–64, 57; 98–135, 120; 110–142, 129; 171–213, 190. Third palpomere with 2–4, 3 lanceolate sensilla clavata.

Thorax ( Fig. 12 A ). Median antepronotal lobes well developed, antepronotum with 0–1, 1 lateral setae. Dorsocentrals 8–13, 10 (21); acrostichals 6–8, 7 (21); prealars 5–6, 6; supraalar 1. Scutellum with 8–11, 9 setae.

Wing ( Fig. 12 B ). VR 1.28–1.35, 1.32. Anal lobe well developed, projecting. Costal extension 0–34, 14 µm long. R 4+5 ending slightly proximal to apex of M 3+4; Cu 1 sinuate. Brachiolum with 1 (21) seta, R with 2–7, 5 (21); R 1 with 0– 3, 0 (21); R 4+5 with 0–1, 0 (21); costal extension with 0–1, 0 (21) non-marginal setae; other veins bare.

Legs. Spur of front tibia 47–59, 53 µm long, spurs of middle tibia 23–32, 27 µm and 16–22, 21 µm long, of hind tibia 47–59, 54 µm and 21–32, 24 µm long. Width at apex of front tibia 32–39, 35 µm, of middle tibia 32–37, 34 µm of hind tibia 41–48, 46 µm. Comb of 13–15, 13 setae, shortest seta 21–27, 24 µm long, longest seta 37–48, 41 µm long. Pulvilli small but relatively distinct. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 6.

Hypopygium ( Fig. 12 C ). Anal point 32–57, 44 µm long, including 21–39, 29 µm long base and 14–32, 22 µm long free apex without microtrichia in apical half; tergite IX with 9–14, 12 setae; laterosternite IX with 4–7, 5 setae. Phallapodeme 80–105, 92 µm long; transverse sternapodeme straight, 55–71, 62 µm long, oral projections weakly developed. Virga ( Fig. 12 D ) plate-like, triangular, sclerotized, 9–14, 13 µm long median spine, some specimens with traces of additional lateral spine or spinule groups. Gonocoxite 206–226, 219 µm long; superior volsella large, rounded, reaching to 0.42–0.46, 0.44 gonocoxite length; inferior volsella reaching to 0.61–0.65, 0.63 gonocoxite length; with free accessory lobe reaching to 0.73–0.84, 0.81 gonocoxite length. Gonostylus 85–96, 91 µm long; megaseta 9–11, 10 µm long. HR 2.33–2.53, 2.41; HV 3.08–3.33, 3.21.

Female imago (n = 7, except when otherwise stated)

Total length 2.35–3.04, 2.53 mm. Wing length 1.63–2.07, 1.77 mm. Total length/ wing length 1.36–1.50, 1.43. Wing length/length of profemur 3.21–3.33, 3.26. Coloration slightly more pale than in male, but with darker, grayish tinged wings.

Head. AR 0.33–0.42, 0.37 (6). Flagellomeres not flask-shaped. Length (in µm) of flagellomeres: 85–117, 97; 64– 80, 73; 62–75, 70; 69–96, 80; 101–121, 113. Temporal setae 9–15, 12, including 3–7, 4 inner verticals, 3–8, 5 outer verticals and 2–3, 3 postorbitals. Clypeus with 8–12, 10 setae. Tentorium 126–162, 146 µm (6) long, 25–43, 31 µm (6) wide. Stipes 137–155, 143 µm (6) long, 46–62, 56 µm (6) wide. Palpomere lengths (in µm): 30–43, 33; 34–48, 43; 71–94, 83; 89–117, 101 (6); 121–187, 146. Third palpomere with 3–5, 4 (5) apical lanceolate sensilla clavata, fourth palpomere with 0–2, 1 (5) sensilla clavata. Coronal suture absent.

Thorax. Lateral setae of antepronotum 1–3, 2. Dorsocentrals 6–10, 8; acrostichals 6–10, 7 (6); prealars 5–7, 6; supraalar 1. Scutellum with 6–10. 8 setae.

Wing ( Fig. 13 A ). VR 1.30–1.36, 1.34. Anal lobe slightly projecting. Costal extension 32–82, 62 µm long. R 4+5 ending distal to apex of M 3+4; Cu 1 sinuate. Brachiolum with 1–2, 1 seta; costa proximal to FR with 2–7, 5 non-marginal setae, apical of FR to apex of R 4+5 with 31–52, 37 non-marginal setae; costal extension with 2–4, 3 non-marginal setae; R with 8–12, 10; R 1 with 5–7, 6; R 4+5 with 6–12, 9 setae.

Legs. Spur of front tibia 25–43, 37 µm long, spurs of middle tibia 21–27, 24 µm and 18–25, 23 µm long, of hind tibia 46–59, 51 µm and 18–32, 22 µm (6) long. Width at apex of front tibia 31–41, 35 µm, of middle tibia 32–38, 35 µm, of hind tibia 43–48, 46 µm. Comb of 12–14, 13 setae, shortest seta 23–30, 26 µm long, longest seta 34–48, 40 µm long. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 7.

Abdomen. Tergite I with 2–11, 6 setae, T II–VII each with 12–22, 17 setae, T VIII with 20–32, 25 setae. Number of setae on sternites I–VIII are: 0; 0–3, 1;4–12, 8; 8–14, 11 (6); 8–15, 13 (6); 14–20, 18 (6); 14–19, 17 (6); 16–27, 20 including 2 anteromedian setae.

Genitalia ( Fig. 13 B–F ). Gonocoxite with caudal, triangular projection, with 4–7, 5 strong and 4–9, 6 relatively weak setae. Tergite IX weakly divided, with altogether 10–12, 11 (6) setae. Cercus ( Fig. 21 E ) 103–133, 118 µm long. Apodeme between gonocoxite and tergite IX 80–117, 95 µm long. Seminal capsule pale, nearly circular, without microtrichia; 53–66, 57 µm long, excluding 16–25, 20 µm (6) long neck, 48–57, 50 µm wide. Spermathecal ducts without bulbs before common opening. Notum 91–121, 106 µm long.

Pupa and larva

Unknown.

Remarks

Allocladius soemmei is, in the Pseudosmittia complex, second in size only to H. falsicostata and the female clearly larger than any of the other known females. It is close to A. aizaiensis described below as well as to A. salti . However, in A. aizaiensis R 4+5 ends distal to the end of M 3+4, in A. soemmei slightly proximal and in A. salti far proximal. The records of A. niger probably include A. soemmei as well as A. niger and A. salti (see comments under A. salti , later).

Distribution

The species is known with certainty only from the type locality. However , records of A. niger from Uganda and Tanzania need re-examination .

Figures

FIGURE 12. Allocladius soemmei sp. n., male. A—thorax; B—wing; C—hypopygium, left dorsal aspect, right ventral aspect; D—virga;

FIGURE 13. Allocladius soemmei sp. n., female. A—wing; B—dorsomesal lobe; C—ventrolateral lobe; D—genitalia, ventral view; E—cercus; F—dorsal (partly lateral) view.

FIGURE 21. Allocladius conigerus (Freeman) comb. n., male. A—wing; B—head; C—third palpomere; D—cibarial pump and stipes; E—virga; F—hypopygium, left dorsal aspect, right ventral aspect.