Nocticanace affinis, Munari, Lorenzo, 2008

Munari, Lorenzo, 2008, Beach and Surge Flies (Diptera: Canacidae) from the Arabian Peninsula, with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 1848, pp. 37-46 : 38-40

Nocticanace affinis sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–7 )

Type material. Holotype ɗ: [printed white label] “ Oman: Muscat, / Haramel. 13.iii.1995 / S.P. Dance / NMW.Z. 1995-010” // [printed red label] “ HOLOTYPUS / Nocticanace / affinis sp. nov. ɗ / L. Munari des.”. The specimen is greasy, with right wing wrinkled. Left postpedicel and left mid leg are missing. The holotype is deposited in NMWC, and is double mounted (glued on the tip of a triangular card label); abdomen dissected, stored in glycerol in a small plastic tube, and pinned below the specimen. Paratypes 1 ɗ, same data as holotype, 1 Ψ, same data as holotype except for date (28.iii.1995), 1 Ψ Oman, Dhofar, beach near Mirbar, 7.ix.1989, M.J. Ebejer (specimen classified by both W.N. Mathis and J.C. Deeming as Nocticanace sp. Ψ). The paratypes are deposited in NMWC and in the author’s collection (property of MCNV).

Description. Size. Body length 1.75–2.80 mm, wing length 1.51–2.10 mm. Habitus. Small fly with body and legs blackish brown. Setal vestiture black. Wings infuscated. Head. Blackish; face, parafacialia, and gena covered with whitish microtomentum; postocellar setae absent; medial vertical seta inwardly curved, strong, about as long as lateral vertical seta; postocular and postgenal areas bare; ocellar triangle bearing pair of moderately long, strong, lateroclinate, ocellar setae; a few short, thin setulae sometimes present between ocellars and occipital margin; 3 strong, lateroclinate, orbital setae intermixed with single, thin, short setulae; 1 strong, interfrontal seta arising approximately laterad to anterior ocellus; antenna blackish; postpedicel bearing dark, short-haired arista; eye glabrous, moderately large, slightly oblong to roughly roundish, its longest diameter about 3.7 times as long as genal height; 3 upcurved, genal setae, mid one distinctly weaker; vibrissa strong and long; clypeus and sclerotized parts of mouth of the same colour as face and gena. Thorax. Entire mesonotum dark brown, pleura of the same colour but covered with feeble, whitish microtomentum reaching upwards the postpronotal lobe; notopleuron mostly bare, not covered with microtomentum; mesonotum poorly setulose, only main setae present; 1+3 dorsocentral setae; acrostichal setulae absent; 1 long postpronotal; 1 presutural as long and strong as anterior dorsocentral seta; 1 posterior, notopleural seta, anterior one absent; 1 supra-alar; 1 external postalar, sometimes with a few minute setulae toward basis of scutellum; scutellum with 4 long, marginal setae; anepisternum with more or less distinct, vertical row of short setae, also bearing 2 long, backwardly oriented, posteromarginal setae, and 1 short, erect seta at posterodorsal margin; katepisternum with at most 1 thin setula in the middle, bearing long and strong, erect, posterodorsal seta; anepimeron, katatergite, and meron without setae and setulae. Legs. Evenly setulose, bearing short blackish setulae, except for forefemur having posterodorsal and posterior rows of spaced, long setae; forefemur without ctenidium; all legs, including coxae, blackish; tarsomeres increasingly broader from basitarsomere to 5th article. Wing. Veins dark brown, membrane distinctly infuscated; alula with fringe formed by moderately long, pale setae; costal vein reaching end of M1; R2+3 very slightly bent, R2+3, R4+5 and M1 subparallel; crossvein r-m ending just before middle of cell dm; crossvein dm-cu distinctly shorter than half of last section of CuA1; halter pale yellow. Abdomen. Blackish, with setal vestiture formed by sparse, thin, short, postero-marginal setae; tergite 6 of male as long as or slightly longer than tergites 4 and 5 together. Male terminalia (figs. 1–4). Epandrium poorly setose, only bearing few long setae on its caudal surface; surstylus strongly sinuous in lateral view, considerably tapered apically, apex being claw shaped (figs. 2–3); convex, caudal margin with tuft of long setae intermixed with 3 stout, thick setae (figs. 3–4); surstylus, in caudal view, slender and gradually tapered apically (fig. 1).

Female. Similar to male except for usual, slight dimorphism. Abdomen with tergite 7 markedly shorter dorsally than laterally (fig. 6). Cercus microscopically setulose, with a few long setae dorsally and subapically, bearing two blunt, stout spinulae apically (figs. 5–6); sternite 7 (fig. 7) with two lateral, long setae and two much shorter median setae on posterior margin; sternite 8 (figs. 6–7) with two apical rows of stout setae, each row formed by 4 elements backwardly oriented, and two ventral rows, each formed by three stout setae downwardly oriented.

Distribution. Oman.

Remarks. This new species is closely related to both N. mahensis (Lamb, 1912) and N. sinensis Delfinado, 1971 , although it consistently differs from them in particular by the shape of the surstylus, which is strongly sinuous and with long, tapered, claw shaped apex (lateral view).

N. affinis sp. nov. is particularly allied to Delfinado’s species because of the similar shape of the surstylus as well as for having the same chaetotactic pattern on the posterior margin of it, that is with a few stout setae intermixed with long, slender setae. Despite this similarity the surstylus of the new species is well typified by a peculiar shape that does not match the figures given by both Delfinado (1971) and Mathis (1982). Furthermore, slight but consistent differences are also found in the shape and chaetotaxy (stout setae) of the female sternites 7–8.

Etymology. The species epithet, affinis , is a Latin adjective meaning “allied, similar” and refers to the morphological similarity with N. sinensis Delfinado.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Nocticanace affinis sp. nov. 1. Male terminalia caudal view; 2. Ditto, lateral view; 3. Ditto, left surstylus lateral view; 4. Ditto, detail of the chaetotactic pattern of the left surstylus. Arrows indicate progressive magnifications. Figures 1 – 2: scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 5 – 7. Nocticanace affinis sp. nov. 5. Female postabdomen dorsal view; 6. Ditto, lateral view; 7. Sternites 7 and 8 ventral view. Legend: ce = cercus, epiprct = epiproct, hyprct = hypoproct, st = sternite, tg = tergite. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.