Microphorella iota Colless, 1964

Brooks, Scott E. & Cumming, Jeffrey M., 2022, New Australasian Parathalassiinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae sensu lato), Zootaxa 5188 (6), pp. 521-543 : 539-541

Microphorella iota Colless

( Figs 1 , 47, 48 )

Microphorella iota Colless, 1964: 320 . Type locality: Mt. Majura , ACT, Australia.

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE ♂ labelled: “[ AUSTRALIA] Mt. Majura [ca 35.2372°S 149.1822°E], A.C. T. [Australian Capital Territory]/ 2 Apr. 1963 / D.H. Colless. ”; “ ANIC 5873 / HOLOTYPE / Microphorella / iota. Colless. [red label]”; “ ANIC Database No./ 29 029403” ( ANIC) . ALLOTYPE ♀, same locality and date data as holotype ( ANIC) . PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: A.C. T ., Canberra , Mt. Majura, 29.ix.1960, D.H. Colless (1♂, ANIC); A.C . T. Ginninderra Falls [ca 35.1968°S 148.9617°E], 28.ii.1962, D.H. Colless (2♀, ANIC) .

Other material examined. AUSTRALIA: New South Wales, Colo Vale [ca 34.4017°S 150.4886°E], 17.i.1957, W.W, Wirth (5♀, USNM) .

Diagnosis. Males of M. iota are distinguished from the other known Australasian Microphorella by the following combination of features: body and legs blackish brown or blackish grey with black setation; palpus dark and narrowly ovate, dorsal surface with club-tipped processes ( Colless 1964, fig. 1d); hypopygium ( Figs 47, 48 ) with phallus relatively short, swollen along midlength, with tip bent back and brush-like; hypandrium large, distinctly wider than epandrial lamellae in lateral view.

Distribution. In addition to the two localities in the Australian Capital Territory listed above, Colless (1964) recorded two female paratypes (in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia) from Sassafras Gully [ca 33.6992°S 150.5711°E], Springwood, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales collected by D.K. McAlpine on 10.i.1956. We have also seen additional specimens from Colo Vale in New South Wales ( Fig. 1 ).

Remarks. Until this study, M. iota was the the only described species of Microphorella known from Australia. In their phylogenetic analysis of the Parathalassiinae, Cumming & Brooks (2019) , determined that M. iota was not closely related to M. papuana from New Guinea or the two new Australian species of Microphorella described in this paper. Males of M. iota have club-tipped processes on the dorsal surface of the palpus, possess a unique phallus with a modified brush-like apex and have a large hypandrium. Colless (1964) states that specimens of M. iota were all collected by sweeping near streams. The females from Colo Vale differ slightly from the other known specimens by their blackish grey coloration.

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Known geographical distribution and collection localities of Microphorella and Chimerothalassius from Australia and New Zealand. 1. Distribution of M. bungle sp. nov., M. iota Colless and M. viticula sp. nov. 2. Govetts Leap,Australia, type locality of M. viticula sp. nov. (photo by Brad Sinclair). 3. Distribution of C. ismayi Shamshev & Grootaert, C. marshalli sp. nov., Chimerothalassius sp. 1 (female from Takapuna Beach) and “Chimerothalassius” sp. 2 (female from Three Kings Is.). 4. Birdlings Flat, New Zealand, type locality of C. ismayi Shamshev & Grootaert (photo by Rebecca Le Grice).

FIGURES 47–48. Hypopygium of Microphorella iota Colless, paratype (ANIC Database No. 29 029402). 47. Hypopygium, left lateral view. 48. Hypopygium, right lateral view. Abbreviations: cerc—cercus; d sur—dorsal lobe of surstylus; epand— epandrium; hypd—hypandrium; (L)—left; pgt lb—postgonite lobe; ph—phallus; v epand proc—ventral epandrial process; v sur—ventral lobe of surstylus.