Cairnsimyia collessi, Mcalpine, David K., 2013

Mcalpine, David K., 2013, Supplementary descriptions of Australian Rhinotorini (Diptera: Heteromyzidae), Zootaxa 3680 (1), pp. 130-138 : 134-135

Cairnsimyia collessi n. sp.

Figs 6–8

Type material. Holotype 3. Queensland: Annan River, 3 km SW of Black Mountain, Cooktown district [c. 15°41ʹS 145°11ʹE], 26.iv.1981, D.H. Colless ( ANIC). Double mounted on micro-pin through polyporus. I have a note that there are additional specimens of this species collected by Colless in ANIC, but these cannot be found at present.

Description (male). Coloration. Head predominantly ashy-grey pruinescent; postfrons with large M-shaped tawny, slightly grey-dusted mark anteriorly, small darker spots at bases of vertical and fronto-orbital bristles, and much smaller ocellar dark spot than in other species; summit of parafacial with small brown mark; face with tawny brown central area, otherwise unmarked; cheek with small brown posterior mark and another near lowest point of orbital margin. Antenna tawny-yellow to greyish; arista predominantly dark brown, yellow basally. Prelabrum and palpus dark brown. Thorax more extensively pale grey-pruinescent than in other species; mesoscutum mostly with separate tawny-brown spots, except for almost continuous sublateral tawny-brown zone, more yellowishpruinescent between this zone and pteropleural-humeral margin; thoracic pleura pale yellowish pruinescent on upper part, including propleuron, most of mesopleuron and of pteropleuron, on lower part, including sternopleuron and lower part of pteropleuron, dark reddish brown with very little pale pruinescence; scutellum pale grey, with pair of slightly nebulous tawny-brown spots. Coxae and femora reddish brown; tibiae yellow, with distal one quarter to one third dark brown; tarsi yellow, becoming brownish apically. Wing hyaline, with numerous brown spots as in Fig. 6 . Halter pale yellow. Abdominal tergites pale grey, variegated with tawny-brown; sternites greybrown.

Head. Vertical excavation deep; postfrons 0.44 as wide as head; lateral extension of face below cheek little developed; cephalic bristles generally as given for C. englishae ; postvertical small but distinct; cheek bristles not differentiated from numerous setulae. Antennal segment 3 at least as deep as long; arista with segment 5 short, segment 6 with very short, not dense pubescence on full length. Prelabrum rather short and rounded; palpus small; proboscis of moderate length.

Thorax. Scutellum shorter than in C. englishae , slightly longer and less broadly flattened than in C. uniseta ; prescutellar acrostichal bristle large; mesopleural setulae restricted to upper half of mesopleuron, one or two of posterior ones larger than others. Fore femur with short posteroventral keel near distal end, bearing short bristles, dorsal surface of femur with numerous larger bristles; mid femur with a series of numerous rather slender posteroventral bristles; hind femur without differentiated bristles; fore tibia with small preapical dorsal bristle; mid tibia with one stout apical ventral spur and several smaller ones; tibiae otherwise unarmed. Costa of wing slightly less thickened and less coarsely setulose on proximal side of subcostal break than in C. englishae ; vein 2 not curved forward apically.

Abdomen (not viewed under higher magnification). Epandrium ( Fig. 8 ) rather compact, sparsely setulose; surstylus narrowly elongate, apically narrowly rounded, setulose, with several stouter black apical setulae; cerci apparently separate, small, compact, setulose.

Dimensions. Total length, 3.7 mm; length of thorax, 1.9 mm; length of wing, 3.1mm.

Distribution. North-eastern Queensland—Cooktown district.

Notes. Cairnsimyia collessi is readily identified by the sharply two-tone coloration of the thoracic pleurasilver-grey above and dark red-brown below. The surstylus is much narrower than in the related C. uniseta .

The specific epithet refers to my late friend and colleague Donald H. Colless, who collected type material, and was born in the same town as my father—Uralla, New South Wales.

Figures

FIGURE 6 – 8. Cairnsimyia collessi, male. 6, whole insect. 7, head. 8, genital segment, posterior view (scale = 0.2 mm).