Howickia wilsoni (Richards)

Kuwahara, Gregory K. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2022, A revision of the Australian species of Howickia Richards (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae), Zootaxa 5192 (1), pp. 1-152 : 90-92

Howickia wilsoni (Richards)

( Figs. 3.21 , 24.1–24.3 )

Leptocera (Biroina) wilsoni Richards, 1973: 343 .

Biroina wilsoni (Richards) , Marshall, 1989: 602; Roháček et al., 2001: 126.

Howickia wilsoni (Richards) , Marshall et al., 2014.

Description. Body length: Females 1.8–2.0 mm (based on holotype photo and Richards’ description).

Head: Black, lower third of frons orange, orbital plates, interfrontal plates and upper half of frontal vitta black; frontal vitta, interfrontal plates, and orbital plates with pale microtrichia; gena black; antenna brown. Frontal width 2.2x interfrontal height. Three pairs of moderate interfrontal bristles; 2 lateroclinate orbital bristles, anterior bristle 0.7x length of posterior bristle. Gena with strong upcurved bristle and 4–5 smaller setae, finely striate, shiny, lower half microtrichose; vibrissal angle with 2 subvibrissal setae. Face normal; palpus triangular with 2 large apical setae. Eye height 2.9x genal height.

Thorax: Black; scutum shiny despite brown microtrichia, posterolateral edge brownish and with pale spot on posterior notopleural lobe; anepimeron with lighter posteroventral spot. Two pairs of dorsocentral bristles (anterior pair 0.5x length of posterior pair); 7–8 rows of short, stout acrostichal setulae. Prosternum narrow, linear, posteriorly expanded. Scutellum microtrichose, subtriangular, its length 0.7x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long, apical pair 2.0x length of basal pair.

Legs: Dark brown, tibiae lighter than femora, proximally and distally pale; tarsi brownish. Male mid tibia with a stout apicoventral bristle and 2 short rows of stout ventral setae, mid femur with 2 corresponding rows of strong proximoventral setae. Basal half of mid tibia with 4 dorsal bristles (2 anterodorsal and 2 posterodorsal), distal half with 3 dorsal bristles (2 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal).

Wing/halter: Strongly infuscate. CS2 subequal to CS3. R 2+3 strongly sinuate, distal curve stronger than basal curve, meeting costa at an angle of 80˚; R 4+5 upcurved, meeting costa well before wing tip; costa extending far past R 4+5 (6x costal width). Halter pale; knob white; stem pale brown.

Male abdomen: Male abdomen unknown (male type only a leg and wing).

Female abdomen: Black, shiny despite brown microtrichia. T2–5 and S2–5 heavily sclerotized, uniformly long-setose with longer setae along posterolateral corners; pleural membrane with sparse setae. Cercus black, subtriangular with 1 long sinuate apical seta and 3–4 shorter setae. Other details of the female terminalia are not visible on the holotype, which is the only known female.

Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Blue Mountains, Mount Wilson , 3.vii.1961, D.K. McAlpine (♀, AMSA) . Holotype photos provided by Natalie Tees, AMSA .

Paratype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Blue Mountains, Mount Wilson , 2.viii.1958, D.K. McAlpine (1 ♂ fragment, AMSA) . Paratype photos provided by Natalie Tees, AMSA .

Material examined. Holotype and paratype photos only.

Comments. The redescription here is based on Richards’ (1973) description supplemented with examination of type photos. Only a wing and two legs remain of the male paratype. According to Richards (1973), this species is externally similar to H. percostata but R 2+3 is more strongly sinuate, R 4+5 is more strongly upcurved and meets the costa well before the wing tip, and M 1+2 (M 1) and M 3+4 (CuA) are more widely separated from the wing margin.

Figures

FIGURES 3.1–3.22. Mid tibial chaetotaxy of macropterous Australian species of Howickia. 3.1, H. acicula sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.2, H. biantenna sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.3, H. brevior (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.4, H. capitalis (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.5, H. erythrocephala sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral female; 3.6, H. flaviterga (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.7, H. fuscalis (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.8, H. grandisterna sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.9, H. hardyina (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.10, H. kurandensis (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.11, H. myrmecophila (Knab & Malloch), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.12, H. nitidipleura (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.13, H. percostata (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.14, H. pertusa sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.15, H. pseudovittata sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.16, H. subsinuata (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.17, H. symmetrica (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male; 3.18, H. trivittata (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.19, H. vernalis (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.20, H. wamini sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.21, H. wilsoni (Richards), a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female; 3.22, H. xanthocephala sp. nov., a) dorsal, male, b) lateral male, c) lateral, female. Scale bars indicate 0.25 mm.

FIGURES 24.1–24.3. Howickia wilsoni (Richards). 24.1, female habitus, lateral; 24.2, female head, anterolateral, 24.3, left wing. Scale bars indicate 0.5 mm. Photo credit: R. Cox.