Zygoneura (Pharetratula) minuscula Shah & Huang, 2024

Shah, Bismillah, Shao, Yisa, Du, Hong, Wang, Yang & Huang, Junhao, 2024, Taxonomy and DNA barcoding of the dark-winged fungus gnat genus Zygoneura Meigen (Diptera: Sciaridae) from China, with revision of the type materials, Zootaxa 5496 (3), pp. 377-400 : 389-390

Zygoneura (Pharetratula) minuscula Shah & Huang sp. nov.

( Figs 9A–E )

Measurement. Male: 2.1 mm.

Material examined. Holotype: 1♂, China, Zhejiang Province, Lin’an, Mt. Xijing , 30°23’ N, 119°72’ E, 21.XI.2008, sweep net, leg. Junhao Huang [ SM00015 ].

Description. Male. Head ( Fig. 9A ). Head and antenna dark brown, maxillary palpus pale yellow. Eye bridge three facets wide. Face with 5–6 setae. Maxillary palpus with three segments, basal segment with two setae, with an indistinct sensory fossa; 2nd segment with six setae; 3rd segment long with five setae ( Fig. 9D ). Fourth antennal flagellomere 0.11 mm long, length/width = 1.93, neck much longer 0.05 mm, body with mostly short setae and with a row of distinctly elongated setae near the neck ( Fig. 9C ). Thorax. Mostly brown. Posterior pronotum with one seta, and scutellum with two long bristles. Wing ( Fig. 9A ). Length = 1.68mm. R 1 /R = 0.46. c/w = 0.58. Membrane without macrotrichia. R, R 1, and R 4+5, with macrotrichia. M 1, M 2, CuA 1, CuA 2, r-m with no setae. stM faintly visible in the specimen. Legs ( Fig. 9A ) yellowish. Apex of fore tibia with a dense and irregular comb-like row of setae. Length of spur/width of tibia: foreleg 1.07. Length of metatarsus/length of tibia: foreleg 0.52. Length of hind tibia/ length of thorax 1.01. Tarsal claws three-toothed. Hypopygium ( Fig. 9B ) yellowish brown. The gonocoxae much longer than gonostyli, outer margin with long setae, inner margin bare, ventral medial margin with two groups of weak setae. The gonostylus ( Fig. 9E ) oblong, with two distinctly short megasetae at the apical third region, outer margin with long setae, inner margin slightly concave in the basal half, apical area with dense short setae. Tegmen membranous, higher than wide. Aedeagus dark brownish, long and slendered ( Fig. 9B ).

Etymology. The species name is from the Latin word “ minusculus ”, meaning “small”, referring to the relatively small megasetae of the gonostylus.

Remarks. The new species somewhat resembles Z. (Zygoneura) flavicoxa Johannsen in the morphology of the gonostylus. However, it can easily be distinguished from the latter by the two distinctly short megasetae on the gonostylus ( Fig. 9E ), and the flagellomere with mostly short setae on the body and with a row of distinctly elongated setae near the neck ( Fig. 9C ), and hence, classify this species in the subgenus Pharetratula . Moreover, the holotype (especially the hypopygium) is in poor condition, and the diagnostic characters were carefully examined, and all possible images were added to the figure plate.

Distribution. China: Zhejiang (this study).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Zygoneura (Pharetratula) minuscula Shah & Huang sp. nov. A: habitus, lateral view; B: hypopygium, ventral view; C: fourth antennal flagellomere; D: maxillary palpus, lateral view; E: gonostylus, lateral view.