Helius (Helius) neali, Kopeć, Kania & Krzemiński, 2016

Kopeć, Katarzyna, Kania, Iwona & Krzemiński, Wiesław, 2016, New and little known crane-fly species of the genera Helius, Elephantomyia and Toxorhina (Diptera, Limoniidae) from Dominican and Mexican amber, Palaeontologia Electronica 13 (8), pp. 1-14 : 3-5

Helius (Helius) neali n. sp.

Figures 3 and 4

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Type material. Holotype: No. 10938 (male); Dominican amber ( Lower Miocene ); Smithsonian Institution Entomology Department; Brodzinsky / Lopez-Penha Collection.

Etymology. The name is dedicated to Prof. Neal Evenhuis, the eminent specialist on Diptera , author of the Catalogue of the Fossil Flies of the World ( Insecta: Diptera ).

Diagnosis. Rostrum comparatively elongated, but only a little longer than length of head, approximately 1/5 the length of antenna; vein R 2+3+4 elongated, slightly curved, twice as long as vein Rs; cross-vein m-cu in the middle of d-cell basal part; outer gonostylus narrow; inner gonostylus twice as long as outer gonostylus.

Comparisons. Helius (Helius) neali n. sp. differs from Helius collemus Podenas and Poinar, 2012 and Helius (Helius) oosterbroeki n. sp. described below, especially by the wing venation and the relation between the length of rostrum, palpus, antenna and head. In H. (H.) oosterbroeki n. sp. rostrum is comparatively elongated, but a little shorter than head, 1/3 the length of antenna and is shorter than palpus while in H. (H.) neali n. sp. rostrum is slightly longer than head, 1/5 the length of antenna. In H. collemus rostrum is as long as remainder of head and almost twice as long as palpus, antenna are longer than rostrum. Moreover, in H. (H.) neali n. sp. vein R 2+3+4 is elongated, slightly curved and twice as long as vein Rs while in H. (H.) oosterbroeki n. sp. is short, Rs is very short and R 2+3+4 is only about 1/4 longer than Rs. Cross-vein m-cu in H. (H.) neali n. sp. is situated in the middle of d-cell, in H. (H.) oosterbroeki n. sp. at the bifurcation of Mb, in H. collemus this vein is positioned shortly before the fork of Mb. This new species differs also from H. collemus and H. (H.) oosterbroeki n. sp. by the morphology of male genitalia. In H. (H.) neali n. sp. inner gonostylus is twice as long as outer gonostylus, in H. (H.) oosterbroeki n. sp.

PALAEO- ELECTRONICA.ORG inner gonostylus is 1/4 shorter than outer gonostylus.

Description. The body is pale brown, 4.38 mm long. Head ( Figures 3.1 , 4.2 ): width of head 0.49 mm, rostrum elongated, but only a little longer than length of head, 0.14 mm long, distinctly widened at distal part ( Figure 3.1, 3.2 ); antenna 0.80 mm long, 16-segmented; scapus elongated, cylindrical; pedicel barrel-like; first segment of flagellum oval, 1/3 longer than its width; the other flagellomeres oval, tapered toward the end of antennae, each flagellomere with two elongated setae, a little longer than the length of segments bearing them; palpi not preserved, the probably appearance is given on Figure 4.2 . Thorax ( Figure 4.1 ): the wing approximately 4.0 mm long, 1.2 mm wide, with distinctly visible pterostigma; Sc ending opposite 3/4 the length of Rs; sc-r one its length before the end of Sc, R 1 ending opposite 1/2 the length of R 2+3+4; r- r (R 2) atrophied; R 2+3+4 twice as long as vein Rs; rm very short; d-cell huge, wide at the basal part; the sector of vein M 1+2 from d-cell to the edge of wing twice as long as d-cell; m-cu in the middle of d-cell basal part. Abdomen: male genitalia: hypopygium and gonocoxites narrow, more than twice as long as width in widest area; inner gonostylus twice as long as outer gonostylus, strongly curved at the end ( Figure 3.4 ). Female: unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Helius (Helius) neali n. sp., No. 10938 (male). 1, a drawing of the head (reconstructed) in fronto-dorsal view; 2, a schematic representation of the relation between the length of antenna (a), rostrum (r) and head (h); 3, a drawing of the left antenna in ventral view; 4, a drawing of the left wing venation; and 5, a drawing of the right gonocoxite and gonostyles in ventral view. Abbreviation: gx, gonocoxite; ing, inner gonostylus; oug, outer gonostylus.

FIGURE 4. Helius (Helius) neali n. sp., No. 10938 (male). 1, a photograph of the body in fronto-dorsal view; and 2, a photograph of the head in fronto-dorsal view and the part of thorax in dorsal view.