Howickia truncata (Papp) Kuwahara & Marshall, 2022

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 : 150

Howickia truncata (Papp) comb. nov.

Apterobiroina truncata Papp, 2021: 107 .

Description. Body length: Females 2.1–2.2 mm.

Head: Yellow; gena yellow; antenna yellow. Three pairs of medium-large interfrontal bristles; 2 lateroclinate orbital bristles, anterior bristle 0.6x length of posterior bristle. Gena broad and strongly broadened posteriorly; palpus clavate with a small apical seta.

Thorax: Black. One pair of dorsocentral bristles. Scutellum black, semicircular, its length 0.5x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long.

Legs: Black. Female mid tibia with a minute apicoventral bristle. 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 absent.

Male abdomen: Male unknown.

Female abdomen: Black, heavily sclerotized, heavily microtrichose. Preabdomen subequal in length to head + thorax. Epiproct pentagonal dorsomedially bearing a pair of setae. Cercus long, subtriangular with several long sinuate setae and several smaller setulae. Hypoproct (as can be seen in Papp’s illustration) broad, moderately sclerotized, posteriorly microtrichose with a row of setae. Spermathecae stout, spherical and finely grooved; single spermathecal stem short (0.3x length of spermatheca), paired spermathecal stem shorter (0.2x length of spermatheca) and closely associated, both with an enlarged “bulb” just below the stem.

Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Mount Wilson , pitfall traps, No.1179, 24.vii.1978, G. Hangay (♀, HNHM).

Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: same data as holotype (1 ♀, HNHM) .

Comments. The generic placement of H. truncata is tentative in the absence of male specimens but Papp’s (2021) description and illustrations of female terminalia show apparent synapomorphies with other species of Howickia , such as telescopic genitalia, a pentagonal epiproct bearing two dorsal setae, and stout spermathecae similar in structure to those of H. truemani . The above brief description of H. truncata is based entirely on Papp (2021).