Styringomyia aterrima THEISCHINGER & BILLINGHAM, 2018

Theischinger, Günther, D, Zacariah & Martin, John, 2018, The genus Styringomyia LOEW in Australia (Diptera: Tipuloidea: Limoniidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (2), pp. 1587-1633 : 1595-1596

Styringomyia aterrima THEISCHINGER & BILLINGHAM nov.sp. ( Figs 30-32 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l. Holotype ♂: Australia, Queensland, 15.30°S / 145.15°E, 1 km SE of Mt Cook , 13-x-1980, at light, D.H. Colless ( ANIC) . Paratypes: 1♀, same data as holotype ( ANIC) ; 1♀, 15.04°S / 145.07°E, Mt Webb Nat. Park , 29-iv-1981, malaise trap, D.H. Colless ( ANIC) .

D e s c r i p t i o n

Male ( Figs 30, 31 )

Head. Including rostrum, palps and antennae blackish brown to black; anterior portion of prescutum broadly brownish grey along midline.

Thorax. Blackish brown to black. Legs with coxae and trochanters blackish brown to black as are femur and tibia of mid-leg, remainder of legs missing.

Wings. Cell R2+3 and distal half of cell between R, Rs and R2+3 strongly infumed remainder markedly less so, except for proximal half of cell between R, Rs and R2+3 which appears hyaline.

Abdomen. Blackish brown to black.

Hypopygium. Tergite 9/10 trapezoidal, apically narrower with tip narrowly rounded. Apical half of sternite 9 trapezoidal, ending bilobed by shallow posteromedian excision. Gonocoxites long, slender with gonostyli originating at about one third their length from base; a moderately long and thick spine at about half length and a short, thick apical spine. Gonostyli including three elements, one short, strongly bowed and bifid, one short, sausage-shaped and hairy and one long, whip-like with basal half triangularly expanded and setose and apical half very thin, parallel sided, with long slightly curved subapical seta. What can be detected in ventral view of the aedeagus appears narrow with apex conical.

Dimensions. Wing length 3.8 mm.

Female ( Fig. 32 )

Head, Thorax and Abdomen. Coloration much as in male; legs brown to black, very base of tibiae somewhat lighter than remainder.

Terminalia. Cerci apparently two-segmented with the basal segment very large, reaching backward well beyond the tips of the slim, very slightly sinuously curved hypogynial valves.

Dimensions. Wing length 3.9-4.1 mm.

D i s t r i b u t i o n. North-eastern; known only from tropical Queensland ( Map 2 ).

E t y m o l o g y. Aterrima (= Latin, superlative of ater) meaning darkest referring to body including legs being dark.

D i s c u s s i o n. The male of Styringomyia aterrima nov.sp. appears most similar to S. terraereginae ALEXANDER. Diagnostic for S. aterrima are the uniformly black metafemora and the normal shape of the apical spine on the gonocoxites versus metafemora white-banded and apical spine of the gonocoxites basally distinctly expanded, apically very thin in S. terraereginae .

Figures

Map 2: Distribution of the species of the Styringomyia terraereginae group: S. terraereginae, S. aterrima.

Figs 30-32: Styringomyia aterrima nov.sp., terminalia: (30, 31) male: (30) ventral; (31) dorsal; (32) female, lateral.