Bradysia mastersi ( Skuse, 1888 ) Skuse, 1888

Broadley, Adam, Kauschke, Ellen & Mohrig, Werner, 2016, Revision of the types of male Sciaridae (Diptera) described from Australia by F. A. A. Skuse, Zootaxa 4193 (3), pp. 401-450 : 429

Bradysia mastersi ( Skuse, 1888) comb. n.

( Figs 17 A‒C, 3 C)

Trichosia mastersi Skuse, 1888 [ Skuse (1888): 723 ‒724, Fig. 4].

Type locality. Australia, New South Wales, Como.

Lectotype (here designated): Male. Slide bears original label data ( Fig. 3 C) verbatim ‘ Trich. mastersi / Ƌ (ink) TYPE./ F. A. A. Skuse (print)’, ‘Como/ M + S’ (ink). Mounted in Canada balsam Dec. 2015. ( ANIC; Slide No. 052-1).

Paralectotype. Female (not studied).

Remarks. Original description states “ Hab.—Como (Masters and Skuse). September.

Preservation. Flagellomeres missing, body and hypopygium slightly damaged.

Additional description. Male. Head. Brown. Eye bridge 3‒4 facets wide. Antennae missing; palpus short, 3- segmented, basal segment with sensory pit and 1‒2 bristles. Thorax. Dark brown, scutum with three somewhat darker stripes, with short hairs and a few longer prescutellar and lateral bristles; scutellum with 2 longer marginal bristles; postpronotum bare. Wing brownish; R1 = 3/4 R; R5 with dorsal macrotrichia only; C = 3/4 w; y = x, without macrotrichia; M-fork as long as M-stem; posterior veins without macrotrichia; wing membrane covered with normal long microtrichia. Haltere lost. Legs brown; fore tibia with a comb of 4‒5 bristles; spurs of middle and hind tibia equal in size, thin, somewhat longer than the width of apex of tibia; claws without teeth. Abdomen. Brown, with rather short hairs. Hypopygium brown, ventral base without lobe or patch of bristles; gonocoxite with sparse short fine hairs on the inner ventral margin; gonostylus weakly bulbous in the apical half, without apical tooth, with 3 apical spines and a few fine bristles as long as the spines; tegmen apically rounded, with a large area of strong teeth and with a rather thin ventral parameral apodeme; aedeagus short. Body length: approximately 3.0 mm.

Comments. The species is characterized by a brown body colour, sensory pit on the basal segment of the palpus, the rather small, apically rounded tegmen with strong teeth and a gonostylus with 3 thin apical spines. It is somewhat surprising that Skuse classified this species as belonging to Trichosia . The microtrichia on the wing membrane do not differ in length and density from other Bradysia species.

Distribution. Australia (New South Wales).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Images showing some of the Skuse types on cards. The scale bar refers to the specimens only. a): Sciara amabilis, showing legs that had been glued separately; b): four S. exsequialis specimens comprising three males, and a female that had been carded in copula with one of the males; c): the type specimen of Trichosia mastersi. Note the hypopygium is detached and glued separately to the card.

FIGURE 17. Bradysia mastersi (Skuse, 1888). A. Hypopygium in part; B. Apex of gonostylus; C. Wing.