Molophilus (Molophilus) rohaceki, Stary, Jaroslav & Obona, Jozef, 2019

Stary, Jaroslav & Obona, Jozef, 2019, Two new species of Molophilus Curtis from the Mediterranean and Transcaucasia (Diptera, Limoniidae), ZooKeys 871, pp. 49-53 : 50-51

Molophilus (Molophilus) rohaceki sp. nov. Figs 1 , 2

Diagnosis.

Medium-sized (wing length 4-5 mm) species within Molophilus . Body deep dark brown, almost black, mostly shiny, locally suffused with slight greyish pruinosity, restrictedly patterned with yellow. Male terminalia with outer (dorsal) gonostylus pale, inner (ventral) gonostylus darkly pigmented, latter longer than former. Aedeagus exceedingly swollen for most of its length, except for slender terminal portion. Aedeagal plate long, rectangular in ventral aspect, without microsetae, level with base of terminal portion of aedeagus.

Description.

Male. Head. Antenna slightly lengthened, compared to most other west Palaearctic species, extending beyond wing base, dark brown throughout. Flagellomeres long-ovoid, with longest verticils subequal to length of their respective segments.

Thorax in general deep dark brown to black, mostly shiny. Prescutum and scutum mostly black, shiny, with slight greyish pruinosity and slightly paler laterally, yellowed lateral to prescutal pit and around wing base, pale yellow on paratergite anteriorly. Scutellum and postscutellum shiny black, paler laterally. Pleuron shiny black throughout. Wing length 5.0 mm. Wing membrane slightly infuscate; venation as for genus. Halter yellowish brown. Legs yellowish brown, with tips of femora and tarsi darkened.

Abdomen deep dark brown to black. Male terminalia ( Figs 1 , 2 ) black. Dorsal portion of gonocoxite rather short and broad, broadly rounded in lateral aspect. Lateral excision deep and moderately wide, compared to similar species. Ventral lobe of gonocoxite broad and rather short, its rounded tip not reaching apex of dorsal portion. Both gonostyli slightly arched medially. Outer gonostylus pale, generally slender, slightly upturned, narrowly obtuse at apex, extending to ca. three fourths length of inner gonostylus. Inner gonostylus darkly pigmented, powerful, reaching beyond ventral lobe by ca. one third its length or more, gradually broadened in lateral aspect, then abruptly tapered into slender, slightly upturned and obliquely truncate apical part. Aedeagus moderate in length, exceedingly swollen for most of its length, abruptly tapered into slender terminal portion, subacute at tip. Aedeagal plate smooth, without microsetae, rectangular in ventral aspect, when preserved under natural configuration of other structures of aedeagal complex, level with base of terminal portion of aedeagus ( Fig. 2 ).

Female. Unknown.

Material examined.

Holotype ♂: Greece, SW Peloponnese, Taygetos Mts, Alagonia 2.4 km NW (1335 m), 37°06'55"N, 22°16'07"E, brook, springs, 9.10.2017 (J. Roháček leg.) (SMOC).

Etymology.

The new species is named in honour of its collector, Dr. Jindřich Roháček (Silesian Museum, Opava, Czech Republic), a world-famous specialist of Anthomyzidae and Sphaeroceridae ( Diptera ). A noun in genitive singular.

Discussion.

The new species differs from its similar congeners by details in the structure of the male terminalia, especially its swollen aedeagus and very long aedeagal plate. Molophilus (M.) brevihamatus Bangerter, 1947 has a similarly swollen aedeagus, but is distinctive by various other features, including body colouration (brown in M. (M.) brevihamatus , shiny black in the new species) and shape of gonostyli and aedeagal plate.

Figures

Figures 1 - 4. Male terminalia. 1 - 2 M. (M.) rohaceki sp. nov. (holotype) 1 general view, lateral 2 aedeagal complex, lateral 3 - 4 M. (M.) soldani sp. nov. (holotype) 3 general view, lateral 4 aedeagal complex, lateral. Scale bar: 0.25 mm. Abbreviations: aed - aedeagus; aedpl - aedeagal plate; dp - dorsal portion of gonocoxite; ig - inner gonostylus; le - lateral excision; og - outer gonostylus; vl - ventral lobe of gonocoxite.