Austrothaumalea caledonica, Sinclair (MNHN, 2008

Sinclair, Bradley J., 2008, A new species of Austrothaumalea Tonnoir from New Caledonia (Diptera: Thaumaleidae), Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 291-296 : 292-293

Austrothaumalea caledonica n. sp.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype: male, New Caledonia, Parc Rivière Bleue , Haute Pourina Tr., 560 m, 21.VII.1995, creek, B. J. Sinclair, Austrothaumalea caledonica Sinclair (MNHN) . Paratype: 1 female, same data as holotype (MNHN) .

TYPE LOCALITY. — Rivière Bleue.

RECOGNITION. — This species is distinguished from all other species of Austrothaumalea by its distinct short and truncate parameres, bearing a pair of ventrobasal sickle-shaped sclerites.

DESCRIPTION. — Colouration: Head dull, dark brown. Mesonotum reddish-brown, somewhat shiny; pleura upper half dark brown, lower half pale brown; legs pale brown, becoming darker on apical tarsal segments.

Wing (length 2.1 mm) faintly infuscate; R + R 1 + R 1+2 with macrotrichia along entire length, remaining veins bare; R 2 situated towards apex of R 1; bend in R 3 gentle, not strongly defined; R 3 and R 4+5 parallel toward wing margin; CuA 2 with short basal appendage. Halter knob dark brown.

Abdomen dull greyish-brown, including pleural membrane. Male abdominal sternite 1 comprising narrow posterior band with broad notch; sternite 2 reduced to slender median sclerite, lacking posterior apex; sternites 3-6 rectangular, sparsely setose; sternite 7 rectangular, half length of preceding segment; sternite 8 rectangular, half length of sternite 7.

Male terminalia ( Figs 1-2 ): darkly coloured. Epandrium broadly trapezoidal from ventral aspect; posterior margin broadly rounded, lacking pointed posterolateral processes. Hypandrium broad, with shallow median notch; nearly onehalf width of base of gonocoxite. Gonocoxites long, tapered, extending to near apex of epandrium. Gonostylus long, gradually arched, tapered to narrow tip; apical third lacking setulae. Parameres fused to form slender plate, shorter than gonocoxal plate; apex flat; arched in lateral view, with short ventral brace; base with paired ventral sickle-shaped sclerites. Gonocoxal plate narrow, broadened at mid-length, partially tapered apically; darkly sclerotized along lateral margins; secondarily fused to ventral surface of hypandrium; apex arched ventrally from paramere.

REMARKS. — Known only from the type locality. Specimens were swept from large emergent rocks in a small cascading stream at the spot known as the ‘last watering hole’, well above and a tributary of Rivière Bleue.

ETYMOLOGY. — Named in reference to the island region.

Figures

FIGS 1-2. Austrothaumlea caledonica n.sp. 1, terminalia, ventral view. 2, terminalia, lateral view. Abbreviations: epand, epandrium; goncx, gonocoxite; goncx pl, gonocoxal plate; gonst, gonostylus; hypd, hypandrium; pm, paramere.