Pseudosmittia topei Lehmann

Ferrington Jr, Leonard C. & Saether, Ole A., 2011, A revision of the genera Pseudosmittia Edwards, 1932, Allocladius Kieffer, 1913, and Hydrosmittia gen. n. (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) 2849, Zootaxa 2849 (1), pp. 1-314 : 173-175

Pseudosmittia topei Lehmann

( Fig. 63 )

Pseudosmittia topei Lehmann, 1979: 46 ; Saether 2006: 46.

Pseudosmittia ikemaensis Sasa et Hasegawa, 1987: 244 ; Yamamoto 2004: 87.

Pseudosmittia amamiagina Sasa et Suzuki, 1993: 116 ; Yamamoto 2004: 87.

Material examined: D.R. CONGO: Kivu, Kalengo , 2 males, paratypes, 9.v.1972 & 27.vi.1972, J. Lehmann ( ZSM) . TANZANIA: Tanga, West Usambara Mountains, Mazumbai , Malaise Trap & sweep nets, 24 males, xi. & xii.1990, ZMBN's Tanzania Exp. ( ZMBN) . GHANA: Central Region, Accra, Legon, Botanical Garden , Malaise , 16 males, 3– 6.ii.1993, 14 males, 8–14.ii.1993, T. Andersen ; Volta Region, Wli, Agumatsu waterfalls, Malaise , 6 males, 19– 20.xi.1993, T. Andersen et al .; Western Region, Ankasa game prod. Reservation, Malaise , 5 males, 6–12.xii.1993, J. Kjaerandsen ( BMN, UMSP) . JAPAN: Ryukyus , Okinawa Pref., Miyako, Ikema Island , holotype male, 3.ii.1982, M. Sasa & H. Hasegawa (NMST A 65:12); paratypes 16 males, as holotype (NMST A 56: 9, A 65: 10,11, 14, 27, 29), paratype male of P. nishiharaensis (misidentified), as holotype (NMST A 65: 13); Nansei Archipelago , Kagoshima Pref., Amami-Oshima Island, Agina , holotype male of P. amaiagina , 31.viii.1991, S. Hattori et al. (NMST A 226: 61), paratype male, as holotype (NMST A 226: 62) .

Diagnostic characters: The male imago is separable from other members of the group by having antepronotum only moderately narrowed medially, costal extension about 50–90 µm long, anal point narrowly triangular with conspicuous microtrichia to apex, and bluntly triangular inferior volsella.

Male imago (n = 10, except when otherwise stated)

Total length 1.58–1.73, 1.67 mm. Wing length 0.74–1.27, 0.87 mm (32). Total length/wing length 1.61–1.76, 1.69. Wing length/length of profemur 2.60–2.82, 2.73. Coloration brown.

Head ( Fig. 63 B ). AR 0.52–1.31, 0.75 (38). Terminal flagellomere 169–379, 238 µm (38) long. Temporal setae

5–8, 7; consisting of 2–3, 3 inner verticals, and 3–5, 4 outer verticals. Clypeus with 6–10, 8 setae. Tentorium 94–107, 101 µm long, 21–25, 23 µm wide. Stipes 75–94, 86 µm long, 23–39, 28 µm wide. Palpomere lengths (in µm): 18–25, 23; 25–32, 30; 48–57, 52; 57–80, 74; 96–119, 109. Third palpomere with 2–4, 3 spatulate sensilla clavata.

Thorax ( Fig. 63 C ). Median antepronotal lobes slightly reduced, antepronotum with 1–3, 2 lateral setae. Dorsocentrals 10–20, 14; acrostichals 2; prealars 3–4, 4; no supraalar seta. Scutellum with 6–9, 8 setae.

Wing ( Fig. 63 A ; Lehmann 1979, fig. 133). VR 1.66–1.84, 1.79. Anal lobe weak. Costal extension 50–91, 63 µm long. R 4+5 ending proximal to apex of M 3+4; Cu 1 slightly sinuate. Brachiolum with 1 seta, other veins bare.

Legs. Spur of front tibia 32–48, 38 µm long; spurs of middle tibia 25–39, 33 µm and 14–25, 19 µm long, of hind tibia 37–45, 41 µm and 21–34, 25 µm long. Width at apex of front tibia 18–23, 20 µm, of middle tibia 21–24, 23 µm, of hind tibia 30–38, 34 µm. Comb of 11–13, 12 setae, shortest setae 21–25, 24 µm long, longest setae 30–41, 38 µm long. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 38.

Hypopygium ( Fig. 63 E–F ; Lehmann 1979, fig. 132). Anal point 21–41, 30 µm long; tergite IX with 6–10, 8 setae; laterosternite IX with 2–3, 3 setae. Phallapodeme 50–62, 57 µm long; transverse sternapodeme 46–59, 80 µm long, no oral projections. Virga 18–27, 22 µm long. Gonocoxite 117–130, 124 µm long; inferior volsella bluntly triangular, reaching to 0.63–0.67, 0.65 gonocoxite length. Gonostylus 48–57, 52 µm long; megaseta 7–9, 8 µm long. HR 2.22–2.59, 2.37; HV 2.86–3.56, 3.22.

Female, pupa and larva

Unknown.

Remarks

The variation within the species is very large. The paratypes from D. R. Congo have an LR 1 of 0.53–0.54, while specimens from Tanzania have an LR 1 of 0.58–0.62.

The wing length of P. ikemaensis is 1.10–1.27 mm, the antennal ratio 0.95–1.31, and LR 3 0.65–0.68, while in P. amamiagina the wing length is 0.84–0.86 mm, the AR 1.04 and LR 3 0.60–0.63. However, in the same sample from Ankasa in Ghana one specimen has an AR of 0.53 and a wing length of 0.76 mm, while another has an AR of 1.09 and a wing length of 0.96 mm showing a large variation even within the same population.

Distribution

The species is known from D. R. Congo, Tanzania, Ghana, Crete, Turkey and the islands of Ikema in Okinawa and Amami in the Nansei Archipelago, Japan.

Figures

FIGURE 63. Pseudosmittia topei Lehmann, male. A—wing; B—head; C—thorax; D—virga; E—hypopygium, lateral view; F—hypopygium, left dorsal aspect, right ventral aspect.