Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) nivalis Theischinger & Billingham, 2019

Theischinger, Günther, Billingham, Zacariah D., Martin, John & Growns, Ivor, 2019, The genus Rhabdomastix Skuse in Australia (Diptera: Tipuloidea: Limoniidae), Zootaxa 4661 (1), pp. 65-100 : 82-83

Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) nivalis Theischinger & Billingham , sp. nov.

( Figs. 30–32 )

Material examined. Holotype ♂: Australia, New South Wales, Snowy River , 5500 ft, 12–i–1967, D.H. Colless ( ANIC); specimen dry, pinned, terminalia preserved (glycerol) in microvial on the pin . Paratypes: all Australia, Victoria: 1 ♂, Black Charlie Creek at James Reserve , 36.838341°S / 145.5945601°E, 10–xi–2012, Z. Billingham ( ZB) ; 5 ♂ Ƌ, Frenchman Creek off O’Shanassy Aqueduct Trail , 37.742331°S / 145.62751°E, 01–i–2016, Z. Billing- ham ( ZB) ; 1 ♂, Moonee Moonee Creek off Moonee Moonee Track , 36.859871°S / 145.937868°E, 11–xi–2012, Z. Billingham ( ZB) ; 1 ♂, Plenty River at Road 54, 37.45954°S / 145.16346°E, 14–xii–2011, Z. Billingham ( ZB) ; 1 ♂, Plenty Trib 6121 at Road 14, 37.44646°S / 145.13317°E, 15–xii–2011, Z. Billingham ( ZB) .

Description. Male ( Figs. 30–32 ). Head. Largely grey, rostrum pale brown, palpus darker brown. Antenna pale to dark brown, shorter than 1 mm; pedicel markedly longer than flagellomeres; f1 widely ovate/spherical, f3 distinctly less than twice as long as wide; verticils shorter than flagellomeres; some rather short and dense pubescence.

Thorax. Largely greyish brown to grey; two small spots at the frontal face of prescutum and a spot in each humeral pit black. Legs with coxa and trochanter greyish yellow to yellowish brown and remainder pale brownish grey.

Abdomen. Largely dark greyish brown, pale brown between tergites and sternites.

Wing. Veins R 4 and R 5 apically diverging; vein A 2 sinuous, ending from close to, to well beyond, level origin of Rs. Membrane hyaline to slightly suffused with pale greyish brown; distinct darkening in pterostigma area and potential cloud over part of cord.

Terminalia. Gonocoxite more than three times as long as wide. Outer gonostylus almost half as long as gonocoxite, largely straight, slightly expanded basally and apically, apical fifth slightly bowed mesad, no distinct apical beak. Inner gonostylus about ¾ as long and almost twice as wide as outer gonostylus, with posteromesal angle produced into rather long cone. Interbase almost straight, pointed, markedly widened subapically. Aedeagus with apex obtusely subconical, somewhat longer than rather small vesica.

Dimensions. Wing length 5.4–6.7 mm.

Female unknown.

Distribution. South-eastern New South Wales and Victoria ( Map 1 ).

Etymology. Nivalis (=Latin for snowy) refers to the type locality (Snowy River).

Discussion. The male of R. (R.) nivalis can readily be distinguished from all other consubgeneric species known from Australia by very short antennae with pedicel longer than any of the flagellomeres the first of which is broadly ovate/spherical, and by almost straight and petal-shaped interbases.

Figures

MAP 1. Distribution of the Australian species of Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) ostensackeni group. R. borroloola sp. nov. R. dobrotworskyi sp. nov. R. dooragana sp. nov. R. hirsuta sp. nov. R. minima R. nivalis sp. nov. R. ostensackeni R. ponticulus sp. nov.

FIGURES 30–32. Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) nivalis sp. nov., male. 30: wing; 31: antennae; 32: terminalia, dorsal. Scale bar = 2.0 mm for 30; 0.2 mm for 31, 32.