Palaeognoriste affine Meunier, 1912

Blagoderov, Vladimir, Hippa, Heikki & Nel, Andre, 2010, Parisognoriste, a new genus of Lygistorrhinidae (Diptera: Sciaroidea) from the Oise amber with redescription of Palaeognoriste Meunier, ZooKeys 50, pp. 79-90 : 85-88

Palaeognoriste affine Meunier, 1912

Palaeognoriste affine Meunier 1912: 89

Material examined.

Lectotype: male, Baltic amber, G1848 (BST.03.382), deposited in the Geowissenschaftlisches Zentrum der Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany; here designated.

Paralectotype: female, Baltic amber, G1848 (BST.03.382), deposited in the Geowissenschaftlisches Zentrum der Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany; here designated.

Other material: female, Baltic amber, Z5125 (syntype of Palaeognoriste sciariforme ), deposited in the Geowissenschaftlisches Zentrum der Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany (currently on loan in the Laboratory of Entomology, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris).

Notes. Meunier (1912) described Palaeognoriste affine from a male and a female in copula. We here designate the male as lectotype and the female as paralectotype.

Morphology.

Male. Measurements, mm: length total 3.8; wing 2.5; antenna 0.75; labellum 0.95; palpus 0.5.

Head rounded, dichoptic. Ommatidia densely set, almost hexagonal, becoming slightly smaller dorsally. Interommatidial setae inconspicuous. Three ocelli present, diameterer of medial one 0.6x of the lateral ones, lateral ocelli touching eye margin. Antennae 2+14 segmented; flagellomeres as wide as long, with one or two short dorsal setae and two short ventral spines each. Scape small, as long as wide, trapezoidal. Pedicel globular, slightly wider than flagellum. Clypeus triangular, pointed. Palpus one-segmented, 0.56x length of labellum, with a row of dorsal setae. Labellum lanceolate at apex. Hypopharynx wide and strongly sclerotized.

Thorax. Scutum uniformly setose with supraalar setae slightly longer than others. Antepronotum and proepisternum with 7-8 short setae each. Suture between anepisternum and katepisternum distinct. Pleural pit inconspicuous. Laterotergite produced strongly lateroventrally, with a row of five long setae postero-ventrally. Metepisternum trapezoidal, separated from metepimeron with a strong ridge.

Legs. Procoxa and mesocoxa with a few anteroapical setae. Metacoxa with deep lateral depression and 2 long posterolateral setae on apical 1/3. Tibial spurs 1:2:2, length 0.08: (0.17, 0.11): (0.25, 0.12), outer spur shorter. Protibia without tibial organ. Tibial and tarsal vestiture in rows. Metatibia gradually expanding apically, with a row of 10 long dorso-lateral setae and 7-8 light apical inner setae not arranged in dense brush. First tarsomere of metatarsus inflated, with nine short setae in lateral row and 14 in ventral. Claws of fore leg blunt, of mid and hind legs pointed.

Wing. Costa extends beyond R5 on 0.5x distance between R5 and M1. Sc short, joins Costa. Rs, r-m, M stem inconspicuous. Base of M1 and M2 fork traceable. M1 slightly arched, M2 almost straight apically. Ratio of distances between R1, R5, M1, M2, M3+4 and CuA 2.0:1.5:0.8:1.6:1.0.

Abdomen. Tergite 9 with a dense patch of short setae apically, without longer light setae. Dorsal margin of gonocoxites in lateral view evenly curved. Gonocoxites and gonostyli covered with long setae laterally; dorsal edge evenly curved (Fig. 5).

Female 1 (paralectotype). Measurements, mm: length total 3.8, wing 2.5, antenna 0.75, proboscis 0.95, palpus 0.5. As male, except: Compound eye smaller, not reaching lateral ocelli. All ommatidia equal in size to dorsal ommatidia of male. Interommatidia setae slightly longer than diameter of ommatidia. Ocelli in wide triangle, diameter of lateral ocellus 2x the medial ocellus, distance from lateral ocellus to eye slightly longer than to medial ocellus. Scape a little smaller than pedicel, trapezoidal. Pedicel wide, trapezoidal, 2x the width of flagellum; flagellomeres slightly shorter than wide, with numerous irregularly placed setae. Palpus 0.53x the labellum. Labellum widely rounded apically. Hypopharynx weak. Scutellum with 4 pairs of long subapical marginal setae. Antepronotum and proepisternum with 3-4 long setae each. Procoxa with long anterior setae, mesocoxa and metacoxa with long lateral setae on apical half. All claws pointed. Setae on fore basitarsomere shorter and less numerous than in male. Hind tibia with a 13-15 thin dorsal setae. Tibial spur lengths 0.11: (0.22, 0.12): (0.27, 0.13). Cercus two-segmented, basal segment globular, apical obovate, length 2x the basal one, with a few short setae laterally and ventrally.

Female 2 (syntype of Palaeognoriste sciariforme , Z5125, see under Palaeognoriste sciariforme ). Measurements, mm: length total 2.9; wing 2.0; antenna 0.55; proboscis 0.75; palpi 0.4. Lateral ocelli almost touching compound eye. Flagellomeres shorter than wide. Pedicel large, round. Hind tibia with an anteriodosral row of seven thin dark setae. Hind basitarsomere with a few weak dark setae. Laterotergite with four long setae. M1 arched, M2 almost straight apically. Base of M1 and M2 fork apparent, slightly proximad of level of R1 tip. Antepronotum with 4-5 short setae, proepisternum with seven setae. All claws pointed. Cercus two-segmented, length of apical segment 2x the basal one, basal segment trapezoidal, apical elliptic with numerous long setae at apex.

Discussion.

Palaeognoriste affine differs from Palaeognoriste sciariforme in having the male mid tarsal claws pointed, not blunt, base of M fork weak but distinguishable, M2 straight, not curved, at apex, weaker and fewer ventral setae on hind tarsomeres 1 and 2 (11 and four pairs contra 16 and six), dorsal margin of gonocoxites evenly curved, gonocoxites setose dorsally as well as ventrally, tergite 9 without longer apical setae. It is possible that the female specimen Z5125 is not conspecific with the paralectotype of Palaeognoriste affine . However, we consider the differences rather small, and they may be a result of post-embedding distortion, and until new material become available we prefer to refer the specimen to Palaeognoriste affine .