Megagonoleon radialis ( Banks, 1913 ) Machado & Oswald, 2020

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 : 240-243

Megagonoleon radialis ( Banks, 1913) , new combination

( Figs. 119 , 124–125 )

http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 94ECC4EC-4A32-4A54-B4C1-A03A18C9B0A4

Glenoleon radialis Banks, 1913:224 (OD); Stange 1976:306 (cat); New 1985b:33 (key, rd, ill); New 1996:84 (cat); Stange 2004:106 (cat); Oswald 2018 (cat).

Diagnosis. Body mostly black; clypeus mostly dark; hind wing with some radial crossveins brown margined; tibial spurs present; hind wing rhegmal and stigmal marks about same size; posterior gonapophysis elongate and narrow.

Description. Lengths: forewing: 33–36 mm; hind wing: 30–33 mm.

Head ( Figs. 124 a–b): Labrum black centrally and pale marginally, set with a line of elongate setae. Clypeus pale with central brown marks; set with few elongate black setae. Frons predominantly black, except for ventrolateral margin pale; some specimens with area between antennae pale; beset with short white setae. Gena pale. Vertex raised; in anterior view pale, with a median black line interrupted centrally; in dorsal view mostly black except by some pale areas around central region posteriorly; set with short black or white setae. Ocular setae very short, black or white. Antennae clubbed; elongate,> 2x length of pronotum; distance between width; entirely dark-brown to black; 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 dark brown, with some pale areas externally. Palpi, maxillary and labial dark brown with distal margin of segments generally pale, apical labial palpomere fusiform, palpimacula opening oval-shaped, located medially.

Thorax ( Fig. 124b ): Pronotum about as long as wide; posterior margin as wide as anterior; subapical furrow present in some specimens; generally pale with a broad black longitudinal band on midline (flanked on each side by a thinner pale longitudinal band), margins generally black; set with many short or long black setae, and some long white setae mostly located at margins. Mesonotum generally black, with some small longitudinal yellow bands on each side, scutellum mostly pale with black dorsal marks, but entirely black in some specimens; covered with short black or white setae. Metanotum usually black with some pale areas, mostly at sclerites margins; covered with short white setae. Pterothoracic pleura black with some pale areas generally between sclerites; set with white setae; Miller’s organ present.

Wings ( Fig. 124c ): Fairly broad; anterior and posterior Banksian lines present in both wings; veins mostly brown but intercalated with white spots, set with short black setae. Male pilula axillaris present. Forewing membrane mostly hyaline with brown marks generally concentrated at tip, pterostigma, and around crossveins (mainly radial crossveins); CuA fork located near origin of RP; three presectoral crossveins; subcostal veinlets simple; prefork area slightly wider than posterior area. Hind wing membrane mostly hyaline except by brown marks around crossveins, tip and rhegmal and stigmal areas; MP fork located between RP origin and first fork; subcostal veinlets simple; one presectoral crossvein.

Legs ( Figs. 124 a–b): All pairs of legs, femur elongate (near three times longer than coxa); tibia and femur about same size but longer than tarsi; tibial spurs reaching apex of T1; T2, T3 and T4 about same size, T1 about twice longer T2, T5 about twice longer T1; claws about half of T5 length; coxa, trochanter, and femur set with short white setae; femur, tibia and tarsi set with short black setae, and scattered long black setae; T5 ventrally with two rows of thick, long, black setae. Proleg sense hair as long as femur width; tibia with antennal cleaning setae ventroapically; coxa, trochanter, and femur dark brown, some specimens with a pale area on femur anterior surface; tibia dark brown with three pale rings; tarsi dark brown, except for base of T1, pale. Mesoleg with same colour pattern of proleg. Metaleg with femur, tibia and T1 slightly longer than in other legs; colour pattern similar to anterior legs, except for tibia pale but tip and ventral surface, dark brown.

Abdomen: Usually entirely black or dark brown, but occasionally with irregular pale spots on sclerites posterior margins. Beset with short white setae.

Male Terminalia ( Figs. 125 a–c): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded in lateral view, set with elongate black setae. 9 th sternite posterior margin with medial region acute in ventral view; set with elongate black setae. Genitalia semi triangular in dorsal view. Gonarcus broad and connected to Mediuncus, which is acute apically in lateral view. Paramere weakly sclerotized, thin, and elongate in lateral view.

Female Terminalia ( Figs. 125 d–e): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded, set with thin elongate setae and some long cavisetae ventrally. Lateral gonapophyses rounded, about same size as ectoproct, beset with elongate cavisetae. 8 th and 9 th tergite with few thickened setae on ventral area in lateral view. 7 th sternite distal margin with a small invagination in ventral view; covered with short black setae. Pregenital plate large, with ventral margin curved in lateral view; curved and concave in posterior view. Posterior gonapophyses thin, elongate, covered with short black setae. 9 th tergite with a short membranous digitiform process. Anterior gonapophyses absent. Ventral membrane gonapophyseal plates absent.

Distribution ( Fig. 119 ). Australia: NT, QLD, WA. Widespread across northern Australia.

Adult activity period. Records for March to June; apparently a northern fall emerging species.

Biology. Unknown, larva unknown.

Name-bearing type. Megagonoleon radialis : Holotype (by original designation), female, ANIC, examined. Type locality: Australia, Northern Territory, Darwin (city). From original description: “ Type — ♀. From Port Dar- win, Australia, 12th May (Dodd)”. From New (1985b; 1986): “ Holotype, ♀, Northern Territory, Darwin, 12 May (Dodd) (formerly MCZ, now ANIC) (seen)”. Condition: good; terminalia dissected.

Additional material examined (17♂, 37♀). AUSTRALIA: Northern Territory: ½ mi SE of Batchelor, Camp 9, 12.iv.1966, U.V. light, N. McFarland (5♀, 8♂, SAMA) ; Creswell Downs : 9.iv.1986, J. Howard (3♀, QMBA) ; Daly Watters : iv.1966 (1♀, SAMA) ; Highway Inn : 3.iv.2008, ex woodland, at light, G. Williams and W. Pulawski (1♂, 4♀, AMSA) ; 98 km SW of Katherine , 15.07S– 131.42E, 1.iv.1995, E.D. Edwards & M. Mat- thews (1♀, ANIC) ; Nabarlek Dam : 14 km SSW of Nimbuwah Rock, 12.19S– 133.19E, 2.vi.1973, M.S. Upton (2♀, ANIC) ; Queensland: Georgetown: Newcastle Range , 18.18S - 143.44E, 21.iii.1995, E.D. Edwards & M. Matthews (2♂, ANIC) ; Mica Creek : 16.iii.2001 (1♂, 6♀, QMBA) ; Mornington Island Mission: 11–12.v.1963, at light, P. Aitken & N.B. Tindale (1♂, 6♀, SAMA) ; Normanton : 14.iv.1961, at light, E.N. Marks (1♂, 1♀, ANIC, QMBA) ; Riversleigh Homestead : iv.1986 (1♀, SAMA) ; Western Australia: 70 mi ESE of Kununurra (NT): 17.iv.1966, U.V. light, N. McFarland (2♀, 1♂, SAMA) ; Fitzroy Crossing area : 24.iii.1984, at light, K. & E. Carnaby (2♀, AMSA) ; 24 km NNW of Lissadell , 16.33S– 128.12E, 7.iv.1995, E.D. Edwards & M. Matthews (1♀, 2♂, ANIC) .

Comments. Megagonoleon radialis is closely related to M. stigmatus , with which it forms a species-pair clade within the larger stigmatus species group ( Fig. 4 ). Both species appear to be restricted to the northern parts of Australia. They have dark bodies and many similarities in both the female and male terminalia, but can be easily separated based on wing and clypeal markings.

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 119. Distribution of Megagonoleon species (part).

FIGURE 124. Megagonoleon radialis: a) head, anterior; b) head and thorax, dorsal; c) wings, dorsal.

FIGURE 125. Megagonoleon radialis: male: a) terminalia, lateral; b) genitalia, lateral; c) genitalia, posterior; female: d) terminalia, lateral; e) pregenital plate, posterior. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.