Sphenolasioptera vastatrix ( Skuse, 1888 ) Skuse, 1888

Kolesik, Peter & Gagné, Raymond J., 2016, Revision of early taxa of Australian gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), Zootaxa 4205 (4), pp. 301-338 : 326-327

Sphenolasioptera vastatrix ( Skuse, 1888) , new combination

[Fig. 14]

Lasioptera vastatrix Skuse, 1888: 128 .

Material studied. Syntypes: males, females, pupa, larvae, “ Parkes district [ NSW] . Imagines began to emerge on the 5th December ”, in ANIC .

Associated gall. The types were reared from “saffron-yellow” larvae gregariously living within indistinct swellings on stems of an unidentified grass: ”Inhabiting grass-stems, generally that portion underneath the spathe. The deformation caused is a scarcely perceptible swelling, extending from an inch to an inch and a-half in length, and containing from ten to a dozen larvae, lying somewhat obliquely, enveloped in delicate white filmy cocoons. These larvae have as yet only been found in a species of grass in the Parkes district, where they prove very destructive to the pasture.”

We mounted one male, designated here as lectotype (ANIC 29-38509), three females (paralectoypes, ANIC 29-38508,10,11) and four larvae (paralectoypes, ANIC 29-38512–5) while one pin bearing a card with two wings and five legs was left intact for future DNA study. No pupa was found in ANIC. Surviving body parts of the mounted types: lectotype male: head without flagellomeres, end of abdomen with terminalia, thorax with one leg; female 1: wings, head with antennae, thorax with legs, abdomen with terminalia; female 2: wings, head with antennae, thorax with two legs, abdomen with terminalia; female 3: wings, damaged but present head with antennae, thorax with three legs, abdomen with terminalia; four whole larvae, except one missing the terminal segment.

Description. Adult. Colour (extracted from Skuse (1888)): Antennae black to dark brown with short pale pubescence; palpus yellowish brown; thorax deep brown covered with golden-yellow scales and pubescence; halteres with pale brown base, white scales on stalk, club brown, darker in female than male, with some scattered dark brown or black scales; abdomen covered anteriorly on each tergite with deep brown scales, bordered posteriorly with band of white scales in male and yellowish in female; pale brown between segments, sternites pale brown, covered with white scales; male terminalia densely covered with white scales and long hairs; female terminalia pale brownish; legs densely covered with scales appearing deep brown with pale reflexions when viewed at angle; wings yellowish brown at base, hyaline with weak cupreous reflexion, deeply ciliated on posterior border, costal vein deep brown, thickly scaled with yellowish white spot at junction with R4+5 vein, R1 and R4+5 veins pale brown. Wing in both sexes 2.27 mm long, 0.88 mm wide ( Skuse 1888). Skuse (1888) gives the number of flagellomeres as 15 in male and 14 in female. While the male lectotype lacks antennae, all 3 females have both antennae with 15 flagellomeres, agreeing with Skuse (1888), so we consider the number of flagellomeres as 15 in both sexes. First palpal segment wider and shorter than second and third, scape 1.5x wider and longer than pedicel, eye bridge five facets long.

Male terminalia: gonocoxites cylindrical beyond base; gonocoxal apodemes joined basally; mediobasal lobe subdivided, dorsal part of lobe short, hemispherical, long-microtrichose, ventral part long-tapered, closely sheathing one side of aedeagus, nearly as long as aedeagus, mostly microtrichose but glabrous apically, tipped with short setae; aedeagus as long as gonocoxites, tapered apically; cerci triangular, tapering; hypoproct bilobed, lobes round, incision between lobes shallow; gonostylus with basal third rounded, microtrichose, narrow and carinate beyond.

Ovipositor: fused, bilaterally flattened cerci with scooped setae along dorsal ridge, 20–25 of them along most of ridge, followed by 15–20 additional, smaller ones subapically, with sparse short simple setae elsewhere.

Pupa. 2.02 mm in length, brownish-yellow in colour except thorax which is paler ( Skuse 1888).

Larva. 3.04 mm in length, saffron-yellow ( Skuse 1888); head capsule hemispherical to slightly triangular, as long as posterolateral apodemes, antennae slightly longer than wide at base; spatula with 4 pointed lobes, central two slightly longer than lateral; 4 lateral papillae on each side of spatula, 2 with tiny setae, 2 without; ventral papilla without seta, closely adjacent to lateral papillae. Terminal segment with 6 short papillae.