Howickia brevior (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 : 30-33

Howickia brevior (Richards)

( Figs. 3.3 , 6.1–6.6 )

Leptocera (Biroina) brevior Richards, 1973: 339 .

Biroina brevior (Richards) , Marshall, 1989: 602; Roháček et al., 2001: 124.

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

Description. Body length: Male 1.5 mm, female 1.6 mm.

Head: Dark brown, lower half of frons orange extending upwards beside interfrontal plates to level of ocellar triangle; lower half of frontal vitta yellowish, upper half and ocellar triangle dark brown; frontal vitta, interfrontal plates and orbital plates with pale microtrichia; gena brown; antenna brown. Frontal width 2.0x interfrontal height. Two pairs of large interfrontal bristles preceded by a smaller pair 0.5x length of posterior pairs; 2 lateroclinate orbital bristles plus 2 minute setulae, anterior bristle 0.6x length of posterior bristle. Gena with strong upcurved bristle and 3–4 smaller setae, finely and densely striate, shiny, lower half microtrichose; vibrissal angle with 2 subvibrissal setae. Face normal, palpus clavate with 1 large apical and 1 large subapical setae. Eye height 2.8x genal height.

Thorax: Dark brown; scutum dull with brown microtrichose, edges narrowly lighter and with pale spots on posterior notopleural lobes; anepimeron with lighter posteroventral spot. Two pairs of dorsocentral bristles (anterior pair 0.4x length of posterior pair, not much larger than acrostichals); 6–7 rows of long, fine acrostichal setulae. Prosternum narrow, linear, posteriorly expanded. Scutellum large, microtrichose, semicircular, its length 0.7x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long, apical pair 1.5x length of basal pair.

Legs: Dark brown, tibiae proximally paler; tarsi brown (first 2 hind tarsomeres dark brown), basitarsus darkest. Male mid tibia with stout apicoventral seta and 2 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 0.5x length of CS3. R 2+3 strongly sinuate, curves roughly symmetrical rounded right angles, sometimes with a short appendage on distal curve; R 4+5 slightly upcurved, meeting costa just before wing tip; costa extending slightly past R 4+5 (3x costal width). Halter pale brown.

Male abdomen: Dark brown, shiny with microtrichose bands along T2–4 (according to Richards). T2–5 and S2–4 heavily sclerotized, uniformly long-setose along posterior half of sclerites. S5 concealed and undescribed by Richards; S6+7 small and constricting before epandrium. Epandrium (as can be seen from holotype photos) rather flattened, sparsely long-setose. Further details of postabdomen unavailable.

Female abdomen: Dark brown, heavily sclerotized. T2–5 uniformly long-setose in posterior two-thirds with large posterolateral setae, S2–5 uniformly long-setose along entire surface with large posterolateral setae; pleural membrane with sparse setae. Preabdomen subequal to length of thorax. Postabdomen retracted into preabdomen and hardened, making most of the postabdomen impossible to examine. Cercus subtriangular with 4 long sinuate setae (1 apical, 1 preapical, 1 basolateral and 1 ventral) and several smaller setulae. Hypoproct rounded, microtrichose with a preapical row of 4 stout setae. Spermathecae stout, ovoid, lightly grooved with a basal ring of small bumps; stem subequal in length to spermatheca and cylindrical.

Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Otford , swept close to surface of rocks and water, 31.xii.1962, D.H. Colless (♂, ANIC) . Holotype photos provided by James Lumbers, ANIC .

Material examined. AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Upper Allyn River , 22.iv.1970, D.H. Colless (1 ♀, ANIC) .

Comments. The description of male characters is based on holotype photos. The only specimen available to us was a female with a collapsed abdomen. Features described above were visible through the preabdominal sclerites.

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 6.1–6.2. Howickia brevior (Richards). 6.1, female habitus, lateral; 6.2, female head, anterolateral.Scale bars indicate 0.5 mm.