Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) collessiana Theischinger & Billingham, 2019

Theischinger, Günther, Billingham, Zacariah D., Martin, John & Growns, Ivor, 2019, The genus Rhabdomastix Skuse in Australia (Diptera: Tipuloidea: Limoniidae), Zootaxa 4661 (1), pp. 65-100 : 85-88

Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) collessiana Theischinger & Billingham , sp. nov.

( Figs. 39–41 )

Material examined. Holotype ♀: Australia, Queensland, Blackdown Tableland , 23–24–iv–1981, D.H. Colless ( ANIC); specimen dry, pinned, terminalia preserved (glycerol) in microvial on the pin . Paratypes: 2 ♀♀, same data as holotype ( ANIC) ; 1 ♀, Bimberamala Ck , 7–ii–1997, G. Theischinger and L. Müller ( AM) ; 3 ♀♀, New South Wales, Wilson River Reserve , 15 km NW Bellangry, 244 m, 7–xii–1986, G. Theischinger ( AM) .

Description. Female ( Figs. 39–41 ). Head. Largely greyish yellow to greyish brown; rostrum and palpus medium brown. Antenna 1.4–1.7 mm long, largely pale greyish yellow, only terminal 4–6 segments somewhat darker; pedicellus approximately as long as f1 and slightly shorter than f2–f5; f1 conical, f3 twice to three times as long as wide; verticils about as long as flagellomeres.

Thorax. Very pale greyish to brownish yellow with mostly ill-defined dark greyish brown patches as follows: four indistinct stripes on presutural part of scutum; one (or two) indistinct patches on postsutural part; at least one ill-defined patch each covering most of scutellum and mediotergite; small, ill-defined patches on mesopleuron and sternopleuron (rather indistinct along the pleural suture) and all of meron. Legs very pale greyish yellow, increasingly darker from coxa to claws.

Wing. Membrane slightly suffused with pale greyish brown all over and with distinct greyish brown pattern. Cell dm produced along vein M 1+2. Dark patch at origin of Rs small, squarish and not extending into basal radial cell, dark patch between cord and end of R 1 not distinctly fused with patch on cord, dark patch on R 3 rather narrowly rectangular, same as dark patch on end of R 4 which is only vaguely fused with darkening of wing tip. Halters dull yellow to pale yellowish brown.

Abdomen. Largely brownish grey.

Terminalia. Cerci distinctly longer than 0.2 mm.

Dimensions. Wing length 5.2–5.9 mm.

Male unknown.

Distribution. Eastern: Queensland, New South Wales ( Map 2 ).

Etymology. Dedicated to the great Australian dipterist D. H. Colless.

Discussion. R. (R.) collessiana shares only with R. rosae and R. tonoirana a cell dm that is produced along vein M 1+2. It differs from R. rosae and R. tonnoirana by lacking a dark wing patch between level origin of Rs and cord level. R. collessiana and R. tonoirana were found to coexist at Wilson River Reserve, 15 km NW Bellangry, at 244 m asl, in north-eastern New South Wales.

Figures

MAP 2. Distribution of the Australian species of Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) tonnoirana group. R. collesiana sp. nov. R. rosae sp. nov. R. tonnoirana R. wilsoniana

FIGURES 39–41. Rhabdomastix (Ozeomastix) collessiana sp. nov., female. 39: habitus; 40: antennae; 41: terminalia, lateral with insert cerci. Scale bar = 1.0 mm for 39; 0.2 mm for 41.