Epidapus (Epidapus) excelsus Mohrig & Kauschke, 2017

Mohrig, Werner, Kauschke, Ellen & Broadley, Adam, 2017, Black fungus gnats (Diptera: Sciaridae) of Queensland, Australia. Part I. Genera Chaetosciara Frey, Corynoptera Winnertz, Cratyna Winnertz, Epidapus Haliday, Keilbachia Mohrig, Lobosciara Steffan, Phytosciara Frey and Scatopsciara Edwards, Zootaxa 4303 (4), pp. 451-481 : 465

Epidapus (Epidapus) excelsus Mohrig & Kauschke sp. n.

( Fig. 11 A–E)

Type locality: Australia, Queensland, Atherton Tablelands, Millaa Millaa Falls .

Holotype: Male, 8.7.2000, wet forest, caught by net, leg. W. Mohrig (PWMP).

Description. Male. Head. Brown, globular. Eye bridge 3 facets wide. Antenna brown; flagellomeres long and thin, brownish, with bristle-like hairs and rather long necks; 4th flagellomere with a l/w index of 3.2, hairs longer than the diameter of the basal node, neck 1/3 of the length of the basal node. Palpus one-segmented, with 3–4 bristles and a large area of rather long sensillae.

Thorax. Brown. Scutum with short and sparse hairs; scutellum with 2 longer marginal bristles. Postpronotum bare; thoracic anepisternite with one bristle; katepisternum flat and backwardly directed. Wing pale, with narrow base, R1 = 2/3 R; R5 without ventral macrotrichia; y shorter than x, without macrotrichia; posterior veins without macrotrichia; M-fork rather broad. Haltere very long, brownish. Legs long and thin, brownish; fore tibia with a Bradysia -like comb of 5 bristles at the inner apex; spurs of middle and hind tibia equal, as long as the diameter of the apex. Claws toothless. Abdomen. Brownish. Hypopygium brownish; gonocoxite with a long, strong bristle on ventral apex, ventral base of hypopygium and inner ventral margin of gonocoxite with sparse but rather long hairs; gonostylus narrow, with a strong apical tooth and 4 somewhat shorter spines, one near the base of the tooth. Tegmen large, apically rounded, with a few fine teeth. Aedeagus rather long. Body length: 1.5 mm.

Comments. The species is characteriZed by long flagellomeres, long halteres, a 1-segmented palpus, flat katepisternum, long and thin legs, a comb-like row of bristles on the apex of the fore tibia, and an elongate gonostylus with a strong apical tooth and 4 subapical spines. It belongs to the subgenus Epidapus s. str. It is similar to E. ctenosciaroides Mohrig from New Zealand (Mohrig & Jaschhof 1999), which also has a Bradysia -like comb of bristles at the tip of the fore tibia.

Distribution. Australia, Queensland.

Genus Keilbachia MOHRIG, 1987

Type species: Keilbachia nepalensis Mohrig, 1987 – Courier Forsch. – Inst. Senckenberg 93: 483–484; figs. 1–6; monotypy. Literature: Mohrig & Martens (1987): 483–484; Menzel & Martens (1995): 97–129; Mohrig et al. (1999): 197–201; Mohrig (2004): 165–166; Hippa & Vilkamaa (2007): 31–50; Rudzinski (2008); Vilkamaa et al. (2006): 39–55; Vilkamaa et al. (2009): 1–20; Zhang et al. (2010): 47–56.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Epidapus excelsus Mohrig & Kauschke sp. n. A. Hypopygium; B. Flagellomeres 4 – 5; C. Palpus; D. Head and thoraX; E. ApeX of fore tibia.