Megagonoleon pingrupensis (New, 1985)

Machado, Renato Jose Pires & Oswald, John David, 2020, Morphological phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the former antlion subtribe Periclystina (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Dendroleontinae), Zootaxa 4796 (1), pp. 1-322 : 233-237

Megagonoleon pingrupensis (New, 1985) , new combination

( Figs. 119–121 )

http://zoobank.org/NomenclaturalActs/ 125AEFCB-9756-4DFA-AD4E-94702A17180A

Glenoleon pingrupensis New, 1985b:53 (OD); New 1996:83 (cat); Stange 2004:105 (cat); Oswald 2018 (cat).

Diagnosis. Forewing broad; body mostly orange; profemur with some short white setae; tibial spurs present; frons with large dark mark surrounding antennae; pregenital plate U-shaped in posterior view; male paramere with anterior margin visible in dorsal view.

Description. Lengths: forewing: 20–26 mm; hind wing: 18–24 mm.

Head ( Figs. 120 a–b): Labrum orange to pale; with a line of elongate setae. Clypeus orange to pale; with few elongate black setae. Frons predominantly orange to pale with a large dark brown transverse band enclosing an- tenna, but interantennal space orange to pale; set with some short white setae. Gena orange to pale. Vertex raised; in anterior view mostly orange to pale with two small transverse dark brown marks laterally, and a small medial spot; in dorsal view mostly orange with a central longitudinal dark brown line and three marks on posterior border; set with short black setae. Ocular setae absent. Antennae clubbed; elongate,> 2x length of pronotum; distance between width; with anterior surface orange and posterior brown; torular membrane orange; flagellomeres almost as long as wide at base, apical ones much wider than long; all segments set with short black setae. Mandibles mostly pale, with tip black. Palpi, maxillary and labial entirely orange, but with dark brown marks or completely dark brown in some specimens; apical labial palpomere fusiform, palpimacula opening oval-shaped, located medially.

Thorax ( Fig. 120b ): Pronotum slightly wider than long; posterior margin as wide as anterior; subapical furrow present; mostly orange except for small dark spots on setal bases (some darker specimens with a central longitudinal band on posterior half, and two curved longitudinal lines near center); beset with long black and white setae, white setae longer mainly at margins. Mesonotum colouration orange to pale with small dark rounded spots on setal bases (darker specimens with few dark brown longitudinal bands, mainly near midline); covered with long black setae, with ones at prescutum longer. Metanotum very similar to mesonotum, but with darker areas larger; set with short black setae. Pterothoracic pleura mostly orange to pale with scattered dark brown areas around margins, anterior segments with small rounded spots on setal bases; covered with short white setae; Miller’s organ present.

Wings ( Fig. 120c ): Broad; anterior Banksian line present in both wings, posterior absent; veins mostly orange, but some veins intercalated with brown spots, beset with short black setae. Male pilula axillaris present. Forewing membrane hyaline but some specimens with area surrounding some crossveins and subcostal area light brown infuscated; pterostigma light brown, but with base darker in some specimens; CuA fork located between RP origin and first fork, but closer to RP origin; three presectoral crossveins, in some specimens these veins are fused by a short longitudinal veinlet; subcostal veinlets mostly simple but with few forked in some specimens; prefork area slightly narrower than prefork area; prefork crossveins simple. Hind wing membrane colour like in forewing; MP fork located between RP origin and first fork; subcostal veinlets simple; one presectoral crossvein.

Legs ( Figs. 120 a–b): All pairs of legs, femur elongate (near three times longer than coxa); tibia and femur about same size, but longer than tarsi; tibial spurs surpassing T1 apex; T2, T3 and T4 about same size, T1 twice longer than T2, T5 about twice longer than T1; claws about half of T5 length; coxa, trochanter and femur set with many short white setae, femur, tibia and tarsi set whit short black setae and scattered long black setae; T5 ventrally with two rows of thick, long, black setae. Proleg sense hair about twice femur width; tibia with antennal cleaning setae ventroapically; coxa orange to pale with some dark brown marks, trochanter orange to pale, femur with tip and most of dorsal surface dark brown, remaining areas orange to pale, tibia with three orange and three dark brown rings, tarsi with T2, T3, T4 and tip of T5 dark brown remaining areas orange to pale. Mesoleg with same colour of proleg. Metaleg with femur, tibia and T1 slightly longer than in other legs; colour pattern similar to other legs except for tibia and femur entirely orange to pale, but tip dark brown.

Abdomen: Sternite mostly orange to pale. Basal two tergites almost entirely dark brown remaining tergites with basal halves orange to pale, apical halves dark brown. In some specimens the size of tergite dark marks is much smaller. Beset with short white setae.

Male Terminalia ( Figs. 121 a–d): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded in lateral view, set with elongate black setae. 9 th sternite posterior margin straight, in ventral view; with elongate black setae. Genitalia semi triangular in dorsal view. Gonarcus broad, arched, with anteroventral margin straight in posterior view. Mediuncus broad with tip rounded in posterior view, and acute in lateral view. Paramere longitudinally elongate, with posterior half hidden beneath the gonarcus/mediuncus complex in dorsal view.

Female Terminalia ( Figs. 121 e–f): Ectoproct posterior margin rounded, set with thin elongate setae and some cavisetae ventrally. Lateral gonapophyses rounded, about same size as ectoproct, beset with cavisetae. 7 th sternite very long with distal margin straight in ventral view; covered with short black thickened setae. Pregenital plate large and concave in posterior view. Posterior gonapophyses very small, almost imperceptible, absent in some specimens. 9 th tergite membranous digitiform process absent. Anterior gonapophyses absent. Ventral membrane gonapophyseal plates absent.

Distribution ( Fig. 119 ). Australia: NT*, QLD*, WA. Known from scattered records in western and north-central Australia.

Adult activity period. Records for September to October, and March to June; not recorded from the hottest summer months; perhaps a spring and fall emerging species.

Biology. Unknown, larva unknown.

Name-bearing type. Glenoleon pingrupensis : Holotype (by original designation), female, ANIC, examined. Type locality: Australia, Western Australia, 1.6 km W Duggan (town). From original description: “ Holotype, ♀, Western Australia, 1mile W. Duggan, 20.x.1954, J. H. Calaby ( ANIC)”. Condition: good; left proleg missing.

Additional material examined (43♂, 24♀). Australia : (1♂, ZMHB) ; Northern Territory: Banka Banka : vi.1942 (1♂, SAMA) ; Kings Canyon: ( Au 12), 19.ix.2005, IR. Miller & L. Stange (1♀, FSCA) ; Tanami Borehole : 19.59S– 120.42E, vii–ix.1971, J Hodgson (2♂, ANIC) ; Queensland: Camooweal : 4 km E of Camooweal, 19.56S– 138.09E, 12.v.1973, MS Upton & RP McInnes (7♂, 4♀, ANIC) ; Cloncurry : (1♀, SAMA) ; Western Australia: 23 km WSW of Barradale , 22.56S– 114.45E, 30.iii.1971, EF Riek (1♀, ANIC) ; 7 km N of Billiluna , 19 o 30’39’’S– 127 o 39’47’’E, 5.vi.1998, MV, JD Oswald (3♂, 3♀, TAMU) ; 17 km NbyE of Cane River homestead, 21.56S– 115.39E, 27.iv.1971, Upton & Mitchell (1♀, ANIC) ; ca 85 km ESE of Halls Creek (town), 18 o 24S– 128 o 28E, 4.vi.1998, MV, JD Oswald (2♂, 2♀, FSCA, 27♂, 9♀, TAMU) ; 40 km SW of Halls Creek , 18 o 29’31’’S– 127 o 24’05’’E, 6.vi.1998, MV, JD Oswald (2♀, TAMU) .

Comments. Megagonoleon pingrupensis was described by New (1985b) from four female specimens. He not- ed that M. pingrupensis was closely related to M. banksi based on the female terminalia, but differentiated the two species on the basis of markings of the frons and pterostigma. The discovery and description here of M. pingrupensis males corroborates New’s hypothesis of a close relationship between the two species ( Fig. 4 ). However, while we maintain the two species separate here (based on differences in body colour pattern and the smaller posterior gonapophysis in M. pingrupensis ), it is possible that future detailed studies at the population level might justify their synonymization. The currently-known ranges of the two species broadly overlap in western and north-central Australia. The four females of the type series are slightly paler then average, and the mark at the base of the pterostigma is more evident than in most specimens studied. However, the shape of the female terminalia, and the constant form of the head marks and chaetotaxy clearly group these specimens with other M. pingrupensis specimens identified here.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Strict consensus tree of morphology-based parsimony analysis of species belonging to the former subtribe Periclystina (ingroup, names in black), and outgroups (names in red). Former Glenoleon species are shown on blue branches, former Austrogymnocnemia species on green branches. Numbers above branches are Bremer support values; numbers below branches are bootstrap values (shown where>50%).

FIGURE 119. Distribution of Megagonoleon species (part).

FIGURE 120. Megagonoleon pingrupensis: a) head, anterior; b) head and thorax, dorsal; c) wings, dorsal.

FIGURE 121. Megagonoleon pingrupensis: male: a) terminalia, lateral; b) genitalia, dorsal; c) genitalia, posterior; d) genitalia, lateral; female: e) terminalia, lateral; f) pregenital plate, posterior. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.