Fissuleon brevigonarcus (New, 1985)

Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Oswald, John David, 2020, Morphological phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the former antlion subtribe Periclystina (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Dendroleontinae), Zootaxa 4796 (1), pp. 1-322 : 46-49

Fissuleon brevigonarcus (New, 1985) , new combination

( Figs. 12–14 )

http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ FC0662E9-E1E9-432A-AD60-4A4251592CFA

Glenoleon brevigonarcus New 1985b:43 (OD); New 1996:81 (cat); Stange 2004:103 (cat); Oswald 2018 (cat); Machado et al. 2019 (tree).

Diagnosis. Body mostly pale; forewing subcostal area without dark marks; frons pale with antennae surrounded by brown marks; pronotum with a broad, black, longitudinal line.

Description. Lengths: forewing: 22–26 mm; hind wing: 20–24 mm.

Head ( Figs. 13 a–b): Labrum pale, set with a line of elongate setae. Clypeus pale, with elongate setae. Frons mostly pale, with a black transverse band enclosing antenna (except area between antennae, pale); beset with small white setae. Gena pale. Vertex raised; in anterior view pale, with a weak transverse central dark line, which is generally interrupted by pale marks; in dorsal view mostly pale with an irregular transverse black line and a central black spot on posterior border; set with small black setae. Ocular setae elongate and white. Antennae clubbed; elongate,> 2x length of pronotum; distance between antennae about same size of scape width; in general pale with flagellum slightly darker; torular membrane yellow; flagellomeres almost as long as wide at base, apical ones much wider than long; all segments set with short black setae. Mandibles pale with tip dark brown. Palpi, maxillary and labial pale, apical labial palpomere fusiform, palpimacula opening a small longitudinal slit, located medially.

Thorax ( Fig. 13b ): Pronotum about as long as wide; posterior margin as wide as anterior; subapical furrow present; mostly pale with a broad, black sagittal band, and scattered black spots laterally; covered with small black setae. Mesonotum with the same sagittal band of pronotum and some black lateral lines at the scutum, remaining areas pale; covered with short black setae. Metanotum with the same sagittal band, surrounded by two pale bands, lateral area grey, set with few short black setae. Pterothoracic pleura mostly pale with three longitudinal thin black lines; set with few short black setae. Miller’s organ absent.

Wings ( Fig. 13c ): Rather narrow with tip acute. Banksian lines absent in both wings. Veins mostly dark brown, but some veins intercalated with pale spots, set with short black setae. Male pilula axillaris present. Forewing membrane mostly hyaline; small dark scattered marks as follows: at mediocubital area, inferior margin, subcostal area, gradate crossveins, around the crossveins at the end of prefork area (in some specimens); CuA fork located near the RP origin; three presectoral crossveins; subcostal veinlets simple; posterior area almost twice wider than prefork area. Hind wing membrane hyaline; MP fork located near RP origin; medial area with few crossveins, and about as wide as posterior area; subcostal veinlets simple; one presectoral crossvein.

Legs ( Figs. 13 a–b): All pairs of legs, femur long (> 2x length of coxa), slightly wider than remaining leg segments; femur and tibia about the same size but slightly longer than tarsi; tibial spurs long, surpassing T2 apex; T2, T3 and T4 about the same size, T1 slightly longer than T2, T5> 2x length of T1; claws slightly longer than half of T5 length; all segments covered with many short white setae (except tarsi); some long white setae on femur and tibia, and some long black setae on femur, tibia and tarsi; T5 ventrally with two rows of thick, long, black setae. Proleg sense hair about half of femur length; tibia with antennal cleaning setae ventroapically; coxa mostly pale with dark marks laterally; trochanter pale, femur and tibia pale with small rounded dark spot on base of the setae; tarsi pale with tip of all segments slightly darker. Mesoleg, same colour pattern of proleg. Metaleg, femur, tibia and T1 slightly longer than in other legs; same colour pattern.

Abdomen: Mostly black, with scattered yellow marks generally at sternites and laterally on tergites, in some specimens entirely black; covered with short black setae.

Male Terminalia ( Figs. 14 a–c, e): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded in lateral view; set with elongate black setae. 9 th sternite very long with posterior border curved in ventral view; set with elongate black setae. Gonarcus arched, with constant width. Mediuncus membranous. Paramere broad, curved, with tip sclerotized in lateral view.

Female Terminalia ( Figs. 14d, f ): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded, set with thin elongate setae and some cavisetae ventrally. Lateral gonapophyses rounded, smaller than ectoproct, beset with cavisetae. 7 th sternite elongate with the distal border straight in ventral view; covered with short thickened setae. Pregenital plate very small and triangular. Posterior gonapophyses stout, beset with very long black setae; apex rounded and thinner than base in lateral view. 9 th tergite membranous digitiform process absent. Anterior gonapophyses absent. Ventral membrane, ventromedial plate present.

Distribution ( Fig. 12 ). Australia: NSW*, NT*, QLD*, SA, WA. Widespread across mainland Australia. Existing records suggest that F. brevigonarcus may be allopatrically distributed relative to its sister species F. mouldsorum .

Adult activity period. Records for October to March.

Biology. Unknown, larva unknown.

Name-bearing type. Glenoleon brevigonarcus : Holotype (by original designation), female, ANIC, examined. Type locality: Australia, Western Australia, 66 km NE Warburton (town), 26º03'S, 127º14'E. From original description: “ Holotype, ♀, Western Australia, 26 o 03'S., 127 o 14'E., 66 km E. by N. of Warburton, 15.xi.1977, M.S. Upton ( ANIC)”. Condition: good; terminalia dissected.

Additional material examined (18♂, 17♀). AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 80mi W of Bourke , 31.x.1967, R. McInnes (1♂, ANIC) ; Talyealye Hsd : 29 o 05’28’’S– 144 o 27’59’’E, 17.i.1999, M.S. & B.J. Moulds (1♀, AMSA) ; 32 km E of Wanaaring , 9.xi.1971, R.C. Lewis (1♂, ANIC) ; Northern Territory: Alice Spring : 4mi SW, 18.ii.1966, Britton, Upton & McInnes (1♂, 1♀, ANIC) ; xi.1965 (1♂, 1♀, FSCA) ; Reedy Rockhole: near Kings Canyon, George Gill Rg , 31.i.1984, M.S. & B.J. Moulds (1♂, AMSA) ; Stuart Highway : 296 km S of Tennant Creek, 29.xi.1972, D.H. Colless (1♀, ANIC) ; 6mi N of Tennant Creek , 9.xi.1966, A. & R. Mesa (1♀, ANIC) ; 10mi NW of Yuendumi , 20.ii.1968, at light in creek bed (1♂, 1♀, SAMA) ; Queensland: Barakula State Forest: 28.5 air km NNW Chinchilla , 26.49661°S 150.52354°E, R Machado, MV light, 19.xii.2015, AustRM#04 (1♂, TAMU) ; 80 km NNE of St George , 21.xi.1986, M.S. & B.J. Moulds (1♂, AMSA) ; South Hedge Mareeba : xi.1978 (1♀, QMBA) ; South Australia: Finke River : 1933 (2♂, SAMA) ; Mount Freeling Station : xi.1998 (1♀, SAMA) ; Wilpena : ii.1956 (1♂, SAMA) ; Western Australia: Comet Vale : 130 km N of Kalgoorlie, MV light, A. Sundholmi & J. Bugeja (5♂, 5♀, AMSA) ; Dedari Pump Station : 14.i.1992, J. Bugeja (1♀, 1♂, ANIC) ; Gill Pinnacle: Kathleen Ra. , 31.x.1963, P. Atken & N.B. Tindale (1♀, SAMA) ; xi.1963 (1♀, SAMA) ; 160 km E of Kalgoorlie , Trans Australia Railway, 21.i.1991, M.S. & B.J. Moulds (1♂, AMSA) ; Wave Rock : 32.27S– 118.53E, 1.ii.1993, E.D. Edwards & E.S. Nielsen (1♀, ANIC) .

Comments. In general appearance Fissuleon brevigonarcus is more similar to F. mouldsorum than it is to F. nigristriatus , primarily because of the body colour and wings pattern shared by the first two species. However, the sagittal black stripe of the pronotum and the brown cranial marks surrounding the base of the antennae will distinguish F. brevigonarcus from the other two species. For phylogenetic relationships see Fig. 4 .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Strict consensus tree of morphology-based parsimony analysis of species belonging to the former subtribe Periclystina (ingroup, names in black), and outgroups (names in red). Former Glenoleon species are shown on blue branches, former Austrogymnocnemia species on green branches. Numbers above branches are Bremer support values; numbers below branches are bootstrap values (shown where>50%).

FIGURE 12. Distribution of Fissuleon species.

FIGURE 13. Fissuleon brevigonarcus: a) head, anterior; b) head and thorax, dorsal; c) wings, dorsal.

FIGURE 14. Fissuleon brevigonarcus: male: a) terminalia, lateral; b) genitalia, lateral; c) genitalia, posterior; e) genitalia, posteroventral; female: d) terminalia, lateral; f) terminalia, ventral. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.