Newleon Miller and Stange, 2012

Miller, Robert B. & Stange, Lionel A., 2012, The cave mouth antlions of Australia (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (250), pp. 1-65 : 15-17

Newleon Miller and Stange , new genus

Type species: Newleon fragilis Miller and Stange , by present designation.

Diagnosis. Adult: femoral sense hair not distinguishable; pretarsal claws modified to move against ventral patch of modified setae on distal tarsomere.

Description. Adult: body about 20 mm; forewing about 20 mm, hindwing about 20 mm. Structure: antenna long, slender, with moderately developed club; antennal fossae separated by about diameter of fossa; vertex weakly raised; distal palpomere of labium weakly swollen, oval palpimacula near center, about as long as penultimate palpomere; pronotum longer than greatest width, with elongate bristles except laterally; mesonotum with long bristles on prescutum and posterior margin of scutellum; metanotum without bristles except on posterior margin of scutellum; Miller’s organ absent on sternite I; legs very long and all legs about equal in length; forecoxa over twice as long as greatest diameter, with several long, white bristles posteriorly; femora very slender, slightly swollen basally, with outstanding black bristles on closing face; femoral sense hairs not distinguishable from surrounding setae; tibia long and slender, shorter than femur, small black bristle subbasally on exterior face, several black bristles subapically; tibial spurs long, very slender, slightly curved apically, about one-half length of basitarsus; tarsi very elongate, about equal in length to tibia; basitarsus over six times longer its than greatest diameter, about equal in length to next three tarsomeres together; tarsomere II over five times longer than diameter, tarsomere III about four times longer than diameter, tarsomere IV about three times longer than diameter; distal tarsomere about five times longer than wide, arched apically, with ventral setae occupying most of length, thickened and bent apically; pretarsal claws about as long as distal tarsomere and slightly shorter than tibial spurs, modified to move against ventral patch of modified setae; forewing about the same length as hindwing but broader in width; anterior Banksian line present in both wings; forewing costal area simple, without interconnected crossveins; forewing vein CuP originates at level of basal crossveins; hind margin of forewing weakly emarginate near base ( Figure 12); radial sector originates before cubital (forewing) or medial (hindwing) fork; posterior area of both wings about equal; male pilula axillaris present; abdomen of male and female about equal in length and about two thirds the length of wing; male ectoproct simple; male sternite IX lobe-like, not divided; male paramere plate-like, gonarcus strongly arched; female terminalia without digging setae; female posterior gonapophysis swollen, incurved toward middle ( Figure 13); female anterior gonapophysis swollen lobe-like; gonapophyseal plate large; pregenital plate membranous.

Distribution. Only Australia.

Biology. Miller discovered the larvae living in guano powder in the wall of a cave which corresponds to Zone 4C according to our ideas. The Slaty Creek area is volcanic with a sandy stream bed between the hills. The larvae anchored themselves to the bedrock on the cave walls in small crevices up to one and one-half meters high and covered themselves with guano powder if available. Although their larval niche is similar to that of many Froggattisca . Froggattisca larvae in the cave were found only in Zone 2D, covered with inorganic matter blown in from outside the cave. Unfortunately none of the larvae of N. fragilis were preserved. The adult may be adapted to living on spider webs since one adult was found in the unlighted rear of the cave hanging from a thread in a spider web by its front tarsi. The primary food of the larvae in the cave are dermestid larvae.

Discussion. Although the adult structure agrees with the definition of the Dendroleontini , larval structure does not since the mesoscutal lure is absent. The type species may be related to some of the species that New (1985) has placed in the genus Mossega and also probably related to species of Froggattisca . New has confused the concept of Mossega by misidentifying the type species, M. reticulata Navás , which actually lacks the opposable tarsal claws and consequently is more similar to Dendroleon Brauer. Also , M. rosea New lacks the opposable tarsal claws and is probably related to Dendroleon reticulata . On the other hand, Dendroleon amabilis (Gerstaecker) has opposable claws and probably should be transferred to Mossega sensu New. Stange (1976) dealt with the problem by transferring the “ Mossega ” species to Bullanga Navás and synonymizing Mossega with Dendroleon . Studies of the Oriental Bullanga are needed to clarify this action. It is clear that Newleon is not closely related to Dendroleon (based on larval structure) and should be recognized as a distinct taxon. Whether some of the “ Mossega ” sensu New also belong to this genus needs to be studied further. Certainly the finding of the larvae of the various species of “ Mossega ” will help to clarify the taxonomic problem now existing. Newleon probably is closely related to Froggattisca since the adult structure is comparable. The elongate tibial spurs, emargination of the base of the forewing, membranous pregenital plate, and larval differences would indicate that Newleon is a distinct genus. Larvae were found living in caves and occupy similar habitats as the larvae of Froggattisca . Unfortunately no preserved larvae of N. fragilis exist but Miller remembers that the larvae are similar to those of Froggattisca , differing in the shape of the head capsule and the length of the thoracic scoli.

Etymology. The genus is name in honor of Dr. Timothy New who has provided a comprehensive taxonomic treatise on the Australian antlions, and is masculine in gender.

Newleon fragilis Miller and Stange , new species

( Figures 10, 11, 12, 13)

Holotype male, Queensland, Australia, 13 km. west Cloncurry , 23 km. south of Barkley Highway, 8.XII.1989, R. B. Miller collector ( ANIC).

Diagnosis. Adult: tibial spurs at least two-thirds length of basitarsus; pretarsal claws can close against ventral setae of distal tarsomere.

Description. Holotype male: length from head to tip of abdomen about 20 mm,; length of wings about 20 mm. Coloration: body color pale brown; head with shiny, dark brown epicranial band; antennal club brown; vertex scars brown; pronotum pale brown with double brown stripe in middle, laterally with lateral and sublateral brown band; pterothorax nearly all pale brown; forecoxa pale brown except for light brown areas on lateral face; femora pale brown with dark brown apical ring, forefemur with brown streaking on exterior face; tibiae pale brown with brown subbasal marking, foretibia with brown streaking on exterior face; tarsi all pale brown except darker brown apices; spurs and claws reddish brown; abdomen pale brown with dark brown on tergum II, posterior half of tergum III, and most of abdomen from tergum IV to apex brown. Chaetotaxy: head with about 10 dark, long bristles on clypeus; short appressed setae on vertex, short setae on flagellomeres and labrum; postlabium with two very long, pale setae in addition to several shorter ones; pronotum with many long, dark bristles on most areas except laterally; mesonotum with long, dark erect bristles on prescutum and posterior margin of scutellum, shorter setae on scutum; metanotum with bristles only on posterior margin of scutellum; forecoxa with 3 white bristles on posterior margin; forefemur with single row of black bristles on closing face, midfemur and hindfemur with double rows on closing face; femoral sense hairs not distinguishable from other setae; tibiae with several dark brown setae not much longer than tibial diameter on exterior face; distal tarsomere with distinctive setal patch ventrally covering most of tarsomere and consisting of a double group submedially; setae are longer than tarsomere diameter, thickened and hooked apically; abdomen with first segment nearly glabrous, rest of abdomen with rather uniform pattern of short setae; longest setae on ectoproct. Structure: head with vertex slightly raised; interantennal distance about equal to transverse width of fossa; antenna long, about 38 flagellomeres, basal flagellomere about twice as long as diameter, next 17 longer than wide, decreasing in length apically, from about flagellomere 18 to club about as long as wide, club about twice as wide as rest of flagellum; palps moderately long, distal palpomere of labium about three times longer than greatest diameter, weakly swollen with oval palpimaculum about in middle, penultimate palpomere longer; pronotum longer than greatest width; scutellum not much bulged; forecoxa about twice as long as wide as viewed laterally; all legs about equal in length; femora and tarsi slender, forefemur over 14 times longer than middle diameter, somewhat swollen basally; tibial spurs long and slender but reaching only to about midpoint of basitarsus which is about seven times longer than middle diameter; tarsomere II about equal in length to basitarsus but somewhat narrower; tarsomere III about five time longer than middle diameter; tarsomere IV about three times longer than middle diameter; distal tarsomere arched apically, about five times longer than wide; pretarsal claws shorter than tibial spurs, about as long as distal tarsomere; wings about equal in length, forewing broader than hindwing ( Figure 12); ectoproct without lobes.

Female: as described for male except for lack of pilula axillaris and terminalia.

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA. Queensland: 13 km. west Cloncurry, 23 km. south Barkley Highway , 8.XII.1989, R. B. Miller collector, in cave with dead kangaroo (1m, 1f, ANIC; FSCA) ; Slaty Creek, 21 km. south. Flinders, Queensland , 9. IX. 2005, R. Miller & L. Stange , reared (1 larva, 1f, FSCA) .

Discussion. The paratype female was reared and broke off the tips of her tarsi while in the rearing container. This species has conspicuous opposable pretarsal claws which can move upon the specialized setal brush on the ventral side of the distal tarsomere. The tarsi are so fragile that the food source of the adults must be some soft bodied insect. In Australia, there are three genera of Dendroleontini with this type of pretarsal claws. Parvoleon New (l described species) and Froggattisca Esben-Petersen (7 described species) lack the tibial spurs or they are vestigial (less than apical diameter of tibia). Mossega (sensu New) has the tibial spurs as long or longer than the basitarsus. In our opinion Mossega (sensu New) is a probable synonym of Dendroleon since the type species does not have opposable pretarsal claws. When the larvae of “ Mossega ” indecisa (Banks) and other species are known, it will become clearer whether they should be referred to Newleon . Newleon fragilis differs from all known “ Mossega ” by the very long tarsus with the tibial spurs reaching only midway the length of the basitarsus. Newleon fragilis might be referred in the future to Froggattisca since that genus has at least one species with short spurs, F. rieki New. The two localities listed for this species actually refer to the same locality.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the very fragile tarsi of this species.