Bradysia falciceps, Heller & Hippa & Vilkamaa, 2015

Heller, Kai, Hippa, Heikki & Vilkamaa, Pekka, 2015, Taxonomy of Bradysia Winnertz (Diptera, Sciaridae) in the Northern Holarctic, with the description of four new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 122, pp. 1-15 : 7-9

Bradysia falciceps sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:60FA7B62-2FFA-43FE-A5A2-5AC02CF29B13

Fig. 4 A–B

Diagnosis

Small-sized Bradysia . Brown. Maxillary palpus with 3 segments, segment 1 with shallow sensory area. Wing length 1.5–1.7 mm, veins indistinct. Gonostylus narrow, mesially impressed, with apical tooth and 5–6 megasetae in one group.

Etymology

The name is derived from the Latin words falx (scythe) and - ceps (of the head), referring to the curved apical tooth of the gonostylus of the species.

Material examined

Holotype

FINLAND: ♂, Lapponia inariensis, Utsjoki, tundra, Malaise trap, 14 Aug. 2000, Fatouros, MZH.

Paratypes

FINLAND: Same data as holotype, 1 ♂, PKHH 3368; Regio aboensis, Turku, Pomponrahka (Grid 6719377:3240217), open bog, Malaise trap, 1 Aug.–28 Sep. 2011, J. Salmela, 1 ♂, MZH.

CANADA: Ontario, Sudbury Co., Chapleau, Superior Forest, mature (99 years old) stand composed of 90% Pinus banksiana and 10% P. mariana with an understory shrub layer of Vaccinium , very wet, with considerable bryophyte coverage, photoeclector on pine log, 23 Jun.–8 Jul. 2013, R. Deady & T. Work, 3 ♂♂, PRDM; same data but 7–22 Jul. 2013, 1 ♂, MZH.

Description (male)

HEAD. Brown, antennal flagellomeres 1–2 yellow, scapus, pedicellus and flagellomeres 3–14 unicolorous pale brown; maxillary palpus very pale brown. Eye bridge 3 facets wide. Face with 15–21 scattered longer and shorter setae. Clypeus with 1–2 setae. Maxillary palpus with 3 segments; segment 3 longer than segment 1, segment 2 shortest; segment 1 with 1–2 setae, with small shallow dorsal sensory area; surface of antennal flagellomeres smooth, body of flagellomere 4 1.85–2.3× as long as wide, neck shorter than broad, longest setae as long as width of flagellomere.

THORAX. Brown, setae pale. Anterior pronotum with 4–7 setae. Episternum 1 with 8–9 setae. Scutum with long dorsocentrals, with some longer and shorter laterals, scutellum with 4 longer and some short setae.

WING. Hyalinous. Length 1.5–1.7 mm. Width/length 0.45–0.50. Veins indistinct. R1/R 0.60–0.65. c/ w 0.75 –0.85. r-m and bM subequal in length. r-m with 1–2 setae, bM non-setose.

LEGS. Yellow. Coxal setae pale. Front tibial organ with pale vestiture forming short row. Front tibial spur longer than tibial width. Claws without teeth.

ABDOMEN. Pale brown, setae pale and fine.

HYPOPYGIUM ( Fig. 4 A–B). Brown, concolorous with abdomen.

GONOCOXA. Narrow, longer than gonostylus, mesial margin with normal setosity.

GONOSTYLUS. Narrow, evenly straight, with shallow lateral notch at apical fourth, with mesial side impressed at all its length; with dense apical setosity, with strong curved apical tooth-like megaseta,

with 5–6 subapical megasetae, megasetae sharp, in single group. Tegmen conical, weakly sclerotized, with area of aedeagal teeth. Aedeagal apodeme long.

Remarks

Bradysia falciceps sp. nov. belongs to the Bradysia praecox group and is most similar to B. nitidicollis (Meigen, 1818) , B. iridipennis (Zetterstedt, 1938) and B. quercina Menzel & Köhler, 2014 by sharing a strong apical tooth at the dorsoapical part of the gonostylus (see Köhler et al. 2014). Bradysia falciceps sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species of the B. praecox group in having pale basal antennal flagellomeres with dark necks.

Figures

Fig. 4. Bradysia falciceps sp. nov. (holotype). A. Part of hypopygium, ventral view. B. Gonostylus, ventral view. Scales = 0.1 mm.