Meoneura tinkerbellae, Stuke, 2016

Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2016, Carnidae (Diptera) in the Canadian National Collection of Insects (Ottawa), with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 4084 (4) : -

Meoneura tinkerbellae spec. nov.

(figures 22–25)

Holotype ♂: (1) " Canada Alberta / nr. Ft. Assiniboine / ex Splachnum luteum / June16–21, 1985 / P. Marino coll."" ; (2) "CNC / 9117"; (3) "Holotype / Meoneura tinkerbellae / spec. nov. ♂ / det. Stuke, 2015 ".

Holotype is deposited in the CNC. Abdomen dissected, macerated and stored in glycerine in a microvial pinned beneath the specimen. The remaining specimen is glued on a card, the left hind leg and the right middle leg are missing.

Paratypes: 2 ♂ with the same labels as holotype and the CNC numbers 9122 and 9119; 1 ♂, British Columbia, Lakelse Lake bog, S. of Terrace , 2.vi.1960, leg. B. Heming. One paratype is deposited in the CNC and the other two in PJHS .

Description of holotype (male). Length about 1.5 mm. Wing length = 1.3 mm. Head height = 0.4 mm.

Head black, anterior part of the frons slightly lighter dark brown. Antenna black. Arista without pubescence. Eye without ommatrichia. Maximum eye length: maximum eye height = 0.9. Posteroventral margin of gena closest to eye margin: maximum eye height = 0.4. Frons slightly microtomentose to subshining. Frontal triangle indistinct, reaching anteriorly half distance from anterior ocellus to frontal margin. Face slightly microtomentose. Carina narrow. Postcranium slightly microtomentose. Prementum as long as labellum and not significantly wider. Palpus brown, about half as long as the haustellum. 1 pair of distinct ocellar setae. Supralunular setae cruciate. 4 frontoorbital setae, two anterior mesoclinate, two posterior lateroclinate. 2 vertical setae. Postorbital setae parallel. 1 strong vibrissal seta. 2 supravibrissal setae, the ventral one distinctly smaller. 3 strong genal setae.

Scutum completely microtomentose and covered with black setulae. Scutellum slightly microtomentose. Pleura—as far as can be seen in the types—slightly microtomentose. Scutum with 1 long dorsocentral seta, additional dorsocentral setae cannot be picked out from among the scattered black setulae on the scutum. 1 seta on postpronotum; 1 presutural seta; 2 notopleural setae; 1 supraalar seta; 1 postalar seta; 1 prescutellar seta; 1 apical and 1 lateral scutellar seta. 1 seta at posterior margin of anepisternum. 1 dorsal seta and 1 ventral seta on katepisternum. Wing completely covered with microtrichia. Costa without obvious setae beyond radial vein R1. Wing hyaline, veins light brown to white yellow. Knob of haltere whitish yellow, base of haltere not visible in any specimen. Legs black to brown. Fore femur apically with 1 strong posteroventral seta. Hind femur apically with 1 strong anteroventral seta. Coxae without obvious setae.

Tergites without obvious depressions or setulae tufts. Abdominal pleura with scattered setae on segments 4–5. Segments 1–5 narrow, width of tergite 3: length of tergite 3 = 3.3. Tergites 3–4 each with a short lateral seta at the posterior margin, tergite 5 with several longer setae laterally and in addition with two pairs of submedial long setae at the posterior margin. Sternite 5 trapezoid, about as long as broad. Sternite 5 with several characteristically long setae at the posterior margin ( Fig. 21 ). No midventral tergite 7 developed. Protandrium rudimentary, much shorter than epandrium and about 1/15 of length of tergite 5. Epandrium with a few small setae ( Fig. 17 ). Maximum length dorsally in the middle of epandrium: maximum width of epandrium = 0.8. Cercus indistinct, not obviously projecting, and with a few setulae only. Subepandrial sclerites slightly sclerotized, triangular, fused with each other and with the hypoproct to a subepandrial plate. Subepandrial sclerites without any setulae. Hypoproct slightly sclerotized; projecting laterally out of the epandrium between surstylus and cercus; with several small setulae on the laterally projecting parts. A distinct tooth in the middle of the subepandrial plate. Surstylus as figs. 17 + 18 elongated, with a broader base and becoming smaller apically. Surstylus dorsally and apically with single inconspicuous setulae; apically with a medially directed seta. No lamella. Postgonite as Fig. 20 : slightly sclerotized, with a broad base, elongated, pointed, apically bent like a hook. Distiphallus elongated, longer than maximum length of epandrium. Distiphallus with dense brown setulae but no sclerotisation could be found.

Diagnosis. Meoneura tinkerbellae will key out with Sabrosky (1959) to couplet 6 due to the parallel postocellar setae, the white knob of haltere, the microtomentose scutum, and 1 dorsocentral seta. Due to combination of only one long black posteroventral setae on the fore femur but lack of a tuft of long setulae at the postabdomen none of the alternatives at couplet 6 fit. The following combination of characters of the postabdomen easily characterise Meoneura tinkerbellae : protandrium rudimentary; subepandrial plate distinctly sclerotized, in the middle with a distinct small tooth, and hypoproct laterally projecting ( Fig. 19 ); surstylus elongated, not forked apically, with indistinct setulae only (figs. 17 + 18); no lamella; sternite 5 with several long setae at the posterior margin ( Fig. 21 ).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M. Barrie in his play "Peter Pan, or the boy who wouldn´t grow up". Tinker Bell is a long haired and very small fairy as Meoneura tinkerbellae is a very small, hardly visible fly with characteristically long setulae on tergite 5.

Distribution. So far Meoneura tinkerbellae is only known from Alberta and British Colombia ( Canada).

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 21. Meoneura tinkerbellae spec. nov. (drawn from the paratype from Lakelse Lake bog). 17. Lateral view of epandrium and surstylus. 18. Lateral view of surstylus. 19. Dorsal view of of postabdomen excluding phallic complex. 20. Lateral view of postgonite. 21. Ventral view of sternite 4 (left) and sternite 5 (right). hp—hypoproct as part of the subepandrial plate; tsp—tooth of subepandrial plate.