Anatella metae, Kurina, 2021

Kurina, Olavi, 2021, A contribution towards checklist of fungus gnats (Diptera, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Bolitophilidae, Keroplatidae, Mycetophilidae) in Georgia, Transcaucasia, ZooKeys 1026, pp. 69-142 : 69

Anatella metae sp. nov. Figs 3B , 7A-G

Type material.

Holotype. Male, Georgia, Mtskhetha-Mthianethi, Saguramo north of Tbilisi, 41°53.07'N, 44°46.78'E, 920 m a.s.l., 15.v.2013, sweeping, leg. O. Kurina [see Table 1 : MM-12] (mounted from alcohol, IZBE). Paratype. Male, same as holotype (mounted from alcohol, IZBE) .

Diagnosis.

Anatella metae sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of a strong posteroventral fringe on mid femora with a row of strong setae, absence of anterior spur on mid tibia, absence of setae on hind coxa basally. The new species is closest to A. atlanticiliata Chandler and Ribeiro but differs in characters of the male terminalia: ventral branch of the gonostylus about twice as long as the dorsal branch, dorsal branch of the gonostylus with long and slender medial prong, medial branch of the gonostylus slender and apically hooked.

Description.

Male. Body length 2.7-2.9 mm (n = 2). Coloration. Head with vertex, frons, face and clypeus brown, mouthparts including palpus pale yellow. Scape, pedicel and base of first flagellomere yellow, rest of flagellum light brown. Thorax with scutum and lateral parts light brown. Thoracic setae yellowish to brown, with thicker setae darker than finer ones. Wing hyaline, unmarked with yellowish tinge. Halter with stem and knob pale yellow. Legs yellow, tarsi yellow but seem darker because of dense brown setae. All setae on legs brown, tibial spurs yellowish. Abdomen mainly brown with first two segments somewhat lighter. Abdominal vestiture brown. Terminalia light brown. Head. Ocelli two, very close to eye margins, with dark brown patches at anterior margin. Frontal furrow complete. Clypeus rectangular. Fourth flagellar segment about 2.5 times as long as wide, apical flagellar segment 2.5 times as long as wide basally. Flagellar segments with dense whitish setae about one third of segments’ width. Thorax. Scutum covered with setae, with marginal and prescutellar setae stronger. Antepronotum with 2 strong and 10-15 weaker setae. Proepisternum with two strong and 2-3 weaker setae. Anepisternum, katepisternum and anepimeron non-setose. Laterotergite with about 10 setae on upper half. Mediotergite non-setose. Scutellum with about 10 setae on upper surface. Wing. Length 2.39-2.70 mm, length to width 2.75-2.90. C, R, R 1, R 4+5 setose, all other veins non-setose. C produced halfway between R 4+5 and M1. r-m about as long as m-stem. Posterior fork at the level of anterior fork or slightly before. CuA slightly sinuous. Legs. Ratio of femur to tibia for fore, mid and hind legs: 1.08-1.17; 0.97-1.00; 0.65-0.90. Ratio of tibia to basitarsus for fore, mid and hind legs: 0.96-1.00; 1.21-1.28; 1.41-1.77. Fore tibia with a spur 2.00 times of tibial maximum width. Mid tibia with anterior spur absent and posterior spur 2.27-2.40 times of tibial maximum width. Hind tibia with anterior spur 2.71-3.33 times and posterior spur 3.93-4.66 times of tibial maximum width. Strong posteroventral fringe of mid femora with row of strong setae. Hind coxa without basal setae. Terminalia (Fig. 7A-G ). Gonocoxite ventrally with (1) V-shaped wide incision anteriorly, (2) posteromedial non-setose tapering projection with deep slit, and (3) posterolateral large apically setose lobes. Gonostylus divided into four branches (Fig. 7F-G ). The ventral branch of the gonostylus elongated digitate, apical half setose and with one strong seta apically deviating from other setosity. Dorsal branch of the gonostylus about half length of the ventral branch, divided into two prongs: medial finger like bare prong and lateral large apically and basally setose prong. Medial branch of the gonostylus slightly shorter than dorsal branch, slender, apically hooked. Internal branch of the gonostylus membranous, convolute with anterior lamellae.

Etymology.

The species is named after my daughter Liisa-Meta (born 9 October 2004), a keen naturalist who also participated in a trip to Georgia in 2017.

Remarks.

There are about 50 Anatella Winnertz species known in the Holarctic region (cf. Fungus Gnats Online Authors 2021), the vast majority of which are adequately described and figured. In having posteroventral fringe of mid femora with strong setae and absence of anterior spur of mid tibia, A. metae sp. nov. resembles A. atlanticiliata Chandler & Ribeiro, 1995 known only from Madeira Island. Also, the male terminalia of both species share the general outline (cf. Chandler and Ribeiro 1995: fig. 27). However, A. metae differs in the structure of the gonostylus as follows: (1) ventral branch of the gonostylus twice as long as dorsal branch (only somewhat longer in A. atlanticiliata ), (2) dorsal branch of the gonostylus with medial prong long, anchored to lateral prong basally (medial prong short, anchored to lateral prong subapically in A. atlanticiliata ), and (3) medial branch of gonostylus slender, apically hooked (medial branch stout, slightly curved in A. atlanticiliata ).

Figures

Figure 3. Habitus photos of new species A Sciophila georgei sp. nov., paratype B Anatella metae sp. nov., paratype C Leia katae sp. nov., holotype, terminalia detached. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figure 7. Anatella metae sp. nov. male terminalia A dorsal view B ventral view C dorsal view, cerci and tergite IX removed D lateral view E cerci and tergite IX, dorsal view F, G gonostylus, internal views from different angles. Abbreviations: aed complex - aedeagal complex, cer = cercus, gc = gonocoxite, gc ap = gonocoxal apodeme, gst dbr = dorsal branch of gonostylus, gst ibr = internal branch of gonostylus, gst mbr = medial branch of gonostylus, gst vbr = ventral branch of gonostylus, tg 9 = tergite IX. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.