Rhynchoheterotricha chandleri sp. n.

Material examined

Holotype male: REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, Cape Province, Tsitsikama For. Res. (33.58° S, 23.54° E), moist, tall, indigenous forest with Podocarpus sp., 14–19 Oct. 1994, by Malaise trap, M. Söderlund leg. (NRM) Paratypes: two males and one female with same data as holotype (NRM) .

Description

Male. Almost unicolorous brown, notum with lateral part and narrow submedial stripe indistinctly paler, femora slightly paler than other parts of legs. Setae of body and extremities dark. Head, Fig. 1A. Basal antennal flagellomeres, Fig. 1B. Thorax, Fig. 2A. Femora shorter than tibiae (tibia/femur of fore leg 1.6), basitarsomere 1 as long as tibia 1. Trichia (non­socketed setae) and setae (socketed setae) of tibiae equally long, tibia 1 without stronger and longer spinose setae except for apex, tibia 2 with few, tibia 3 with many spinose setae laterally. Apical part of tibia 1, Fig. 2B. Apical part of tibia 3, Fig. 2C. Wing, Fig. 1D, hyaline brown, wing length 3.8–3.9 mm. Hypopygium, Figs. 3A–D.

Female. Similar to male except for normal sexual dimorphism. Flagellomere 4, Fig. 1C. Wing length 4.5 mm. Terminalia, Figs. 4A and B: setae on sternite 8 concolorous with other body setae.

Etymology The species name is dedicated to Peter Chandler, Melksham, UK, in recognition of his invaluable contribution to the study of the Heterotricha group.

Discussion

Rhynchoheterotricha chandleri is distinguished from R. stuckenbergae by the short proboscis, which is only about half the height of the head, not several times longer, and by having the membrane widely setose on the apical half of the wing. In the male hypopygium, the characters of the appendages on tergite 9 distinguish the two species. In R. stuckenbergae the lateral ones are broader than the medial ones and the latter are widely separated from each other, whereas in R. chandleri the lateral appendages are narrow, similar to the medial ones, and the latter are close to one another so that they have a short common base.

Acknowledgements

We thank Peter Chandler, Melksham, UK, for critical comments on the manuscript. The English language of this paper was checked by Dr. Adrian Pont, UK.

References

Chandler, P. (2002) Heterotricha Loew and allied genera (Diptera: Sciaroidea): offshoots of the stem group of Mycetophilidae and/or Sciaridae? Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (n.s.), 38 (1– 2), 101–144.

Freeman, P. (1951) Diptera of Patagonia and South Chile. Part III—Mycetophilidae. The British Museum (Natural History), London, 138 pp., plates I–XLIX.

Freeman, P. (1960) A new genus and species of Sciaridae (Diptera, Nematocera) from South Africa. Annals of the Natal Museum, 25, 75–77

Hippa, H. & Vilkamaa P. (2005) The genus Sciarotricha gen. n. (Sciaridae) and the phylogeny of recent and fossil Sciaroidea (Diptera). Insect Systematics & Evolution, 36, 121–144.