Molophilus (Molophilus) chichester, Billingham & Theischinger, 2022

Billingham, Zacariah D. & Theischinger, Gunther, 2022, New and Poorly Known Species of Crane Flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) from New South Wales, Australia, Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 74 (1), pp. 19-40 : 25

Molophilus (Molophilus) chichester sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DA2C5D33-F7F1-4A53-897F-59423E1F28E3

Fig 12

Holotype ♂, Australia, New South Wales, Upper Karuah River, Tributary of Turkey Scratch Creek off Cabbage Tree Rd (32.242°S 151.790°E), 8 Nov 2018, Z. Billingham & G. Theischinger, AM (K.394960).

Description ♂ (♀ unknown).

Head: pale whitish yellow, antennal pedicel and scape pale whitish yellow, antennal flagellum with basal segments pale whitish yellow, terminal segments darkening to greyish brown, palpus dark greyish brown. Antenna extending back to prescutal pit.

Thorax. Pronotum whitish. Prescutum, scutum, scutellum and mediotergite pale whitish yellow. Cervical sclerite and pleurites pale whitish yellow. Coxae, trochanters, femora and tibiae pale whitish yellow, tarsi greyish brown to black. Wing hyaline with veins pale yellowish brown. Halter with stem pale whitish yellow, knob white.

Abdomen: pale whitish yellow.

Terminalia ( Fig. 12 ). Hypopygium pale whitish yellow with lobe of tergite 9 wide, rather quadrate, caudal margin straight. Gonocoxite with dorsolateral lobe very small, medial lobe not prominent and ventral lobe large, largely parallel sided and apically strongly bowed mediad, ending in a strongly hooked beak. Inner gonostylus long, faintly curving laterally, when viewed ventrally the tip appearing to curve mediad, with the mesal face finely serrate, when viewed laterally the tip ventrally flanged, giving it a spatulate appearance. Outer gonostylus largely parallel sided, with apex forked into two prongs, the outer prong larger than the inner. Aedeagus thin and of moderate length, parameres fused, oval to truncate.

Dimensions. Body length 3.8 mm, wing length 4.1 mm.

Etymology. This species is named for the Chichester forest region of New South Wales whence it was collected.

Discussion. Molophilus (M.) chichester is allied to numerous morphologically similar species around M. (M.) flavidellus Alexander, 1930 (see Theischinger 1992 for more details on these species). It can be distinguished from all of these species by the curved spatulate inner gonostylus.

Figures

Figures 12–13. hypopygium,ventral view.(12) Molophilus (Molophilus) chichester sp. nov.; (13) Molophilus (Molophilus) trispina sp. nov.