Tomosvaryella atraspina Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia, 2023

Motamedinia, Behnam, Földvari, Mihaly, Skevington, Jeffrey H. & Kelso, Scott, 2023, Revision of Australian Tomosvaryella Aczél (Diptera: Pipunculidae) with description of 100 new species, Zootaxa 5599 (1), pp. 1-271 : 28-30

Tomosvaryella atraspina Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AC350DEE-4579-4985-9F49-4D7E19A4A7FA

Figs 9A–D , 109 , 146A

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by a patch of dark spines on hind trochanter ( Fig. 146A ); a pair of spines along the posterior margin of sternite 5; elongated surstyli bent in apical third, both surstyli with a small projection at base along inner margin in dorsal view ( Fig. 9A ); left surstylus bent towards sternite in apical third in lateral view ( Fig. 9C ); three spines on phallic guide ( Fig. 9A ); elongated gonopods in ventral view ( Fig. 9B ).

Description: MALE: Body length: 2.6–3.0 mm. Head. Flagellum acuminate, brown. Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black, lower part distinctly silver pollinose with golden tinge; eyes touching for distance equal to 2–2.5 times the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, more black on upper half. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 3–5 distinct brown bristles. Mesonotum (viewed obliquely from front) subshining black, anterior part silver pollinose, slightly grayish also from the side. Scutellum subshining black and with 6–7 distinct dark bristles along the distal edge. Dorsocentral bristles firmly developed, dark, longer on frontal part and numerous dark bristles around postpronotum. Halter, knob pale with a brownish tinge distally, stem dark brown. Legs. Mid coxa with 2–3 bristles. Trochanters and base of femora brown, femora brown, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees, basal 1/6 of tibiae yellow (otherwise brown), tarsal segments yellow ventrally, brown dorsally, last segment dorsally darker. Fore femur with two distinct ventrobasal bristles, without ventroapical row of spines, 8–10 short, black spines on mid femur; no spines on hind femur, only 7–9 pale bristles posteriorly equally distributed on distal 1/3 (twice as long as width of hind tibia at the distal end). Subapical (distal) spines on first four tibiae present (short). Hind trochanter without a keel, but with a group of short dark spines basally “echidna” style ( Fig. 146A ). Hind metatarsus not flattened, first tarsomere as long as 2–4 combined; ventral bristles less pronounced, but scrub-like, yellow, dorsal bristles on all metatarsi semi-erect and dark. Pulvilli as long as 2/3 of last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 2.5–3.0 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one long distinct bristle. Fourth costal section 2–2.5 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m at middle of discal cell. 2–3 dark setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites dark brownish pollinose, tergite 1 silvery grey, sides silvery pollinose on tergites 4 and 5 (the latter with somewhat larger spots). Dispersed short dark bristles on tergites present, the longest on tergite 5 and up to as long as width of hind tibia at base. Lateral bristles on first tergite present, 5–6 brown bristles up to 1.5 as long as width of hind femur at distal tip. Sternite 5 with a pair of spines along posterior margin. Postabdomen in dorsal view: T6, S7 invisible; T5 as long as 1.5 times the length of ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 medium sized, subshiny black; membranous area broad slit-like, in the shape of a sunflower seed; epandrium paler brown, narrow; yellow surstyli with curly shape discernible. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium wider than long (MLE:MWE = 0.8). Surstyli light brown, rather symmetrical, elongated, left surstylus longer and broader than right one, its tip bent toward right one in apical third ( Fig. 9A ), both surstyli with a small projection ventrobasally. Genital capsule in ventral view: subepandrial sclerite wide, extended beneath gonopods, covered with transverse streaks; gonopods elongated close to apex of subepandrial sclerite, with a small inward projection ( Fig. 9B ), phallic guide with three different-sized spines dorsally (longer one closer to apex); genital capsule in lateral view: left surstylus straight in basal two thirds, bent towards sternite in apical third, right surstylus smoothly curved towards sternite ( Fig. 9D ); phallus with three ejaculatory ducts.

FEMALE: Unknown.

Etymology: The name is derived from the Latin words atra, black, and spina, spine, in reference to the patch of dark spines on the trochanter.

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Barakula State Forest No. 302, Summit Round Mountain, 26°22’S, 150°58’E, 8.i.2000, J.&A. Skevington & M. Mathieson, JSS7555 (1♂, QM); PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Australian Capital Territory: Black Mountain, Canberra, 35°16’S, 149°6’E, 18–23.ii.1985, W.W. Middlekauff, flight interception trap, JSS8448 (1♂, CAS); Queensland: Barakula State Forest No. 302, Summit Round Mountain, 26°22’S, 150°58’E, 8.i.2000, J.&A. Skevington & M. Mathieson, JSS7554 (1♂, QM); Bribie Island, QDPI Fisheries Site, 27°3’S, 153°11’E, Heathland- Acacia regrowth, 17–24.x.1997, S. Winterton, N. Power & D. White, Malaise trap, JSS8434 (1♀, QM); Brisbane, Mount Coot-tha, 27°29’S, 152°57’E, 170m, [hilltop], 1.xi.1997, C. Lambkin, hand collected, JSS3804 (1♂, QM); 170m, hilltop, 15.v.1999, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS5781 (1♂, QM); 16.ix.1997, J. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3799 (1♂, QM); ~ 170m, hilltop, 27.i.1998, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS3050–1, JSS3088 (3♂, CNC, USNM); Brisbane, Mt. Coot-tha, 27°29’S, 152°57’E, ~ 170m, hilltop, 7.xii.1997, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS2328, JSS2331, JSS2334, JSS2337–8, JSS2342, JSS2344–9, JSS2353–7 (17♂, QM); Carnarvon National Park, Hilltop north of Tombs, 25°5’S, 147°52’E, hilltop, 26.xi.1997, J. Skevington & C. Lambkin, hand collected, JSS2203, JSS2211 (2♂, QM); Tasmania: Freycinet National Park, 42°8’S, 148°19’E, in heath with scattered eucalypts, 26.xii.1998 – 10.i.1999, J.&A. Skevington, Malaise trap, JSS4671 (1♂, QM); Western Australia: Lake Muir Nature Reserve, Lake Muir Road, 34°26’S, 116°38’E, 202m, Jarrah woodland with Macrozamia & grasstrees, 3–14.xi.2003, C. Lambkin, Malaise trap, JSS15954 (1♂, ANIC).

Distribution: Australia (Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia) ( Fig. 109 ).

Notes: This species is found in eucalypt dominated habitats and is regularly encountered hilltopping. It is genetically most similar to T. trispina sp. nov. (5.1–6.1% pairwise divergence) and intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.0% to 3.3 % (Supplementary file 3). The specimens JSS15954 and JSS7555 collected from Western Australia and Queensland, show a greater pairwise distance (2.9% and 3.3%, respectively) compared to the others, although their morphological features are consistent with those of the other specimens. This suggests that they might be part of a cryptic species complex. Additional fresh specimens and molecular work are needed to support this hypothesis.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Male genitalia of Tomosvaryella atraspina sp. nov. A) dorsal view (JSS2328, QM), B) ventral view (JSS7555, QM), C, D) lateral view (JSS7555, QM).

FIGURE 109. Distribution of Tomosvaryella angustistyla sp. nov., T. arnhemensis sp. nov., T. atraspina sp. nov. in Australia.

FIGURE 146. Hind legs of Tomosvaryella species in lateral view A) T. atraspina sp. nov., paratype (JSS8448, CAS), B) T. trispina sp. nov., holotype (JSS2352, QM), C) T. spinivaria sp. nov., paratype (JSS7390, QM), D) T. biflocca sp. nov., holotype (JSS8594, ANIC), E) T. planca sp. nov., paratype (JSS8585, QM), F) T. tetraloba sp. nov., holotype (JSS16037, ANIC).