Howickia dodo (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 : 113

Howickia dodo (Richards)

( Figs. 33.1–33.5 )

Leptocera (Biroina) dodo Richards, 1973: 348 .

Biroina dodo (Richards) , Marshall, 1989: 602; Roháček et al., 2001: 125.

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

Description. Body length: 1.9–2.5 mm, males smaller than females.

Head: Reddish-orange, frontal vitta, bases of interfrontal bristles and orbital plates paler orange, microtrichia on frontal vitta and orbital plates connecting on either side of ocelli (M-shaped); gena orange; antenna yelloworange. Frontal width 1.9x interfrontal height, frontal vitta normal. Two pairs of large interfrontal bristles preceded by a smaller pair; 2 lateroclinate orbital bristles, anterior bristle 0.5x length of posterior bristle. Gena with strong upcurved bristle and 6–7 strong but fine upcurved seta, finely and densely striate, shiny, lower half microtrichose; vibrissal angle with 2 very fine setae. Face with small flattened triangle along ventral margin; palpus clavate with 2 large apical setae. Eye height 2.9x genal height.

Thorax: Reddish-orange; scutum shiny despite dense microtrichia; katatergite dark brown. One pair of dorsocentral bristles; 6–7 rows of long, fine acrostichal setulae. Prosternum broad, anteriorly acute. Scutellum shiny but heavily microtrichose, black, semicircular, its length 0.5x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long, basal pair 1.1x length of apical pair.

Legs: Orange-brown, tibiae distally darkened; tarsi orange-brown. Male mid tibia with a short row of stout apicoventral setae. Basal half of mid tibia with 2 dorsal bristles (1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal), distal half with 2 dorsal bristles (1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal).

Wing/halter: Halter present, normal-sized, reddish-orange.

Male abdomen: Black, heavily sclerotized, shiny, postabdomen slightly reddish. T2–5 and S2–4 uniformly long-setose along entire surface with large posterolateral setae. S5 broad but short (width 4.0x length), asymmetrical (right side 1.5x longer than left), uniformly long-setose along posterior two-thirds with large patch of smaller, stout setae within desclerotized posteromedial area and a small posteromedial row of 12–13 flattened teeth (sometimes hidden beneath other setae). Epandrium large, hemispherical, and long-setose along posterior and anterior faces (anterolateral corners bare); cercus large, microtrichose, slightly protruding, triangular with several large setae and many smaller setae. Hypandrium medially sinuate with an enlarged anterior lobe; ventral lobe stout, anteriorly spotted and triangular; posterodorsal lobe elongate, posteriorly clubbed and strongly sinuate. Surstylus somewhat boot-shaped, with a small, bare, triangular anteroventral lobe and an elongate, long-setulose posterior lobe with a stout apical thorn-like seta. Postgonite elongate, gently sinuate and tapered with an anterobasal pair of setulae and several minute anterior setulae in apical half. Phallapodeme slightly curved with large dorsal fin along anterior half; basiphallus elongate, arms slightly broadened about midlength. Distiphallus divided into two distinct sections: basal half with a large, saddle-like dorsal sclerite connected to a broad, triangular ventral sclerite; distal half with a small V-shaped dorsal sclerite and a large, slightly sinuate, tubular sclerite supporting a large membranous apex bearing many apical spicules.

Female abdomen: Not examined (see below).

Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Hellyer Gorge , 24.1 km N Waratah, 2–4.ii.1967, G. Monteith, T.7128 (♂, QMBA) . Holotype photos provided by Geoff Thompson, QMBA .

Paratypes: same data as holotype (2 ♂, 2 ♀, UQIC & BMNH). Types in UQIC now stored at the QMBA.

Material examined. AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Waratah , 8 km SW, 41˚29’04”S 145˚27’41”E, rainforest, pans, 20–21.xii.2003, S.A. Marshall (1 ♂, DEBU) .

Comments. The redescription here is based on a single male specimen in the University of Guelph Insect Collection, supplemented with examination of type photos. While Richards (1973) listed two female specimens as paratypes, no descriptions of the female abdomen were provided and no female specimens were available for examination during this study.

Figures

FIGURES 33.1–33.5. Howickia dodo (Richards). 33.1, male habitus, lateral; 33.2, male head, anterior; 33.3, male S5–8, ventral; 33.4, male terminalia, lateral; 33.5, aedeagus and associated structures, lateral. Body scale bar indicates 0.25 mm, head bar indicates 0.1 mm. Photo credit: G. Thompson.