Saetheria tamanipparai ( Sasa, 1983 )

Orel, Oksana V., 2014, To systematics of the genus Saetheria Jackson (Diptera, Chironomidae) from the Russian Far East, Zootaxa 3802 (1), pp. 65-74 : 70-71

Saetheria tamanipparai ( Sasa, 1983)

( Figs 14–15 )

Paracladopelma tamanipparai Sasa, 1983: 5 , fig. 1 (G–L); Ashe & Cranston 1990: 297; Yan et al. 2008: 24 , figs 44–46.

Parachironomus tamanipparai ( Sasa), Sasa & Kikuchi 1995 : 102, fig. 21F; Sasa 1998: 30.

Saetheria tamanipparai (Sasa) , Makarchenko et al. 2005: 413; Zorina 2006: 426, fig. 292, 13–14.

Material examined. KHABAROVSK TERRITORY: 10 males, Jewish Autonomous Region, Bira River at about 4 km above of Zheltyi Yar Village, 12– 15.08.2004, Tiunova T.M.

Diagnostic characters. The male S. tamanipparai (Sasa) can be separated from other species of this genus by the following combination of characters: wing length 2.0 mm; AR 2.0; small frontal tubercles present; anal point drop-shaped; superior volsella consist of bare dorsal lobe with a finger-shaped sclerotized projection and footshaped ventral lobe covered with microtrichia and bearing 1 strong apical seta and 1 weaker seta in apical third; gonostylus widest in the proximal third and gradually narrowed toward apex.

Male (n=1). Total length 3.3 mm. Wing length 2.0 mm. Total length / wing length 1.65.

Colouration. Pedicel of antenna, mesonotal stripes and postnotum yellowish brown, ground colour and scutellum pale yellowish. Abdomen yellowish gradually darkened toward end. Fore legs yellowish with brown distal end of femora, proximal third and distal end of tibia, ta1–5 gradually darkened toward ends. Mid and hind legs yellowish, ta1–5 gradually darkened toward ends.

Head. Frontal tubercles small (6.8 µm long, 5.1 µm wide). Antenna 960 µm long; ultimate flagellomere 640 µm long; AR 2.0. Verticals 17. Clypeus with 15 setae. Maxillary palp 575 µm long; length of palpomeres 2–5 (in µm): 48, 146, 143, 238. Antenna length / palp length 1.67.

Thorax chaetotaxy. Antepronotals 3–5, acrostichals 11, dorsocentrals 10, supraalar 1, prealars 4–5. Scutellum with 18 setae.

Wing 0.54 mm wide. Veins R with 9–10 setae, R4+5 with 2 setae. Squama with 10 setae; brachiolum with 1 setae. VR 1.12.

Legs. Spurs of middle tibia 30 µm, of hind tibia 27 and 34 µm long. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 3 .

Hypopygium ( Figs 14–15 ). Laterosternite IX with 1 strong seta. Anal point spoon-shaped (length 68 µm, width 17 µm) in the base with 7 strong median and 5–6 weak lateral setae. Gonocoxite 129 µm long, with 3 setae on inner margin. Transverse sternapodeme 75 µm wide. Phallapodeme 102 µm long. Superior volsella foot-shaped (75 µm long and 20 µm wide in the base) composed of dorsal and ventral lobes. Dorsal lobe bare with a finger-shaped sclerotized projection (17 µm long), ventral lobe covered with microtrichia and bearing 1 strong apical seta (27 µm long) and 1 weaker seta (14 µm long) in the apical third. Inferior volsella with rounded apical part and covered with microtrichia. Gonostylus (170 µm long, 31 µm wide) widest in proximal third and gradually narrowed toward apex. HR 0.79.

Pupa unknown.

Larva unknown.

Remarks. Far eastern male of S. tamanipparai differ from the Japanese smaller body size (TL 3.3 mm), AR (2.0) and colour of fore femora (brown on distal end). Whereas, Japanese male has total length 3.75 mm, AR 1.67, and femora yellow ( Sasa 1983).

Saetheria tamanipparai ( Sasa, 1983) was described as Paracladopelma tamanipparai based on adult male from Japan, Tama River. Then this species was transferred to Parachironomus by Sasa & Kikuchi (1995). Yan et al. (2008) re-examined the holotype and decided that species belongs to the genus Paracladopelma . We believe that the combination of such features as: tergite IX Y-type, superior volsella consist of bare dorsal lobe with a finger-shaped sclerotized projection and ventral lobe covered with microtrichia and bearing 2 setae, clearly shows that the species should be placed in genus Saetheria ( Makarchenko et al. 2005; Zorina 2006).

Distribution. Saetheria tamanipparai (Sasa) is recorded from Japan and Russian Far East ( Sasa 1983; Makarchenko et al. 2005; Zorina 2006).

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 17. Adult males of Saetheria tamanipparai (Sasa) (14 – 15) and Saetheria tylus (Townes) (16 – 17). 14, 16 — hypopygium, dorsal view; 15, 17 — superior volsella, ventral view. Scale bar 50 µm.