Molophilus (Molophilus) brevifurcatus, Starý, Jaroslav, 2011

Starý, Jaroslav, 2011, Descriptions and records of the Palaearctic Molophilus Curtis (Diptera, Limoniidae), Zootaxa 2999, pp. 45-62 : 54

Molophilus (Molophilus) brevifurcatus sp. n.

Figures 21–23

Diagnosis. Medium-sized species within Molophilus . Body yellowish brown, patterned with yellow and brown, locally suffused with sparse, pale greyish pruinosity. Gonocoxite of male terminalia with thumb-like dorsal lobe and triangular lateral lobe. Both gonostyli very short, outer (dorsal) gonostylus longer than inner (ventral) gonostylus, generally hook-shaped, curved mesally, pointed at tip. Inner gonostylus conical, pale. Wing length 4.0–4.8 mm.

Description. Male. Head. Antenna short, not reaching wing base. Basal segments brown. Flagellomeres dark brown, ovoid to short-ovoid, with longest verticils about twice as long as their respective segments.

Thorax generally yellowish brown, patterned with yellow and brown. Prescutum and scutum pale brown, locally suffused with sparse pale greyish pruinosity, yellowed laterally; scutal lobe yellowed medially and posterolaterally. Scutellum mostly yellow, darker laterally. Postscutellum pale brown, yellowed laterally. Pleuron obscure yellow, with more or less distinct, sometimes diffuse, brown longitudinal stripe extending from pronotum over anepisternum sometimes as far as base of halter; lower part of katepisternum and meron also darkened. Wing tinged with yellowish brown; compared to other species fork M3-M4 very short, mostly much shorter than its petiole (M3+4). Halter yellow, slightly darker on proximal part of knob. Legs with coxae and trochanters obscure yellow to yellowish brown, bases of femora yellowish brown, rest of legs dark brown.

Abdomen darker than thorax, yellowish brown to brown. Male terminalia ( Figs 21–23 ) yellow. Dorsal portion of gonocoxite moderate in length, with conspicuous, thumb-like dorsal lobe and lateral lobe roughly triangular. Lateral excision wide and shallow. Ventral lobe of gonocoxite short, subacute at tip, extending beyond apex of dorsal lobe. Both gonostyli very short compared to other species. Outer gonostylus hook-shaped, darkly pigmented distally, curved mesally and pointed at tip. Both gonostyli extending same distance, but outer gonostylus longer due to its curvature. Inner gonostylus conical, pale throughout, its subacute apex approximately level with other appendages. Aedeagus long and very slender, bisinuous in lateral view, with tip down-curved, slightly expanded before apex, therefore lanceolate in dorsal/ventral aspect. Aedeagal plate small, generally short-oval in ventral/ventrocaudal aspect, without any spines or teeth.

Female unknown.

Material examined. Holotype 3: Slovakia, Novosad (distr. Trebišov), 19.v.1980 (J. Starý leg.) ( SMOC). Paratypes (11 3): Czech Republic: Moravia: Nové Mlýny (distr. Břeclav). 8.v.1978, 6 3 [listed as pleuralis by Starý 1998]; Brod nad Dyjí (distr. Břeclav), 9.v.1976, 2 3 (all J. Starý leg.) ( JSO, SMOC). Slovakia: Lendak (distr. Poprad), Belá valley, 29.v.1976, 1 3; Slovenský kras, Silická planina, 10.vii.1970, 2 3 [listed as pleuralis by Starý 1974, 1984] (all J. Starý leg.) ( JSO).

Etymology. The compound name of this new species, brevifurcatus , derives from the Latin brevis (= short) and furca (= the fork), referring to its unusually short fork M3-M 4 in the wing venation. An adjective in nominative singular.

Discussion. This new species and the following species treated below are distinctive in having a thumb-like dorsal lobe (see e.g. Figs 21, 24, 26 , 30, 34 ). M. (M.) brevifurcatus sp. n. is closely related to, and much resembles externally M. (M.) pleuralis de Meijere, 1920, with which it shares extremely short gonostyli and, in fact, the structure of the male terminalia in general. The gonocoxite of M. (M.) brevifurcatus sp. n. is, however, markedly shorter and broader than that of M. (M.) pleuralis , with all the appendages better developed. Overall shape of the gonocoxite is definitely a salient character. The lateral expansion of the aedeagus just before its tip does not occur in M. (M.) pleuralis , and the aedeagal plate is short-oval in M. (M.) brevifurcatus sp. n. but circular in M. (M.) pleuralis (cf. Figs 21–23 and 24, 25 ). Surprisingly, the two species significantly differ from each other externally in that the fork M3-M4 is very short in M. (M.) brevifurcatus sp. n., mostly much shorter that its petiole (M3+4), whereas, in M. (M.) pleuralis , this fork is distinctly longer, with M3 and M4 both longer than M3+4, as is usual for other Molophilus species.

Distribution. Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Figures

FIGURES 21 – 29. Male terminalia. 21 – 23 — M. (M.) brevifurcatus sp. n. (paratype; Slovakia: Silická planina), general view, lateral (21), aedeagal complex, lateral (22), and aedeagal plate, ventral (23). 24 – 25 — M. (M.) pleuralis (Slovakia: Stankovany), general view, lateral (24) and aedeagal complex, lateral (25). 26 – 29 –– M. (M.) calabricus sp. n. (holotype), general view, lateral (26), distal part of gonocoxite, ventral (27), aedeagal complex, lateral (28), and aedeagal plate, ventral (29). Scale bar 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 30 – 37. Male terminalia. 30 – 32 — M. (M.) testaceus (Spain: Casapalma), general view, lateral (30), aedeagal complex, lateral (31), and aedeagal plate, ventral (32). 33 — M. (M.) griseus (Czech Republic: Moravičany), aedeagal complex, lateral. 34 – 36 — M. (M.) suboccultus sp. n. (holotype), general view, lateral (34), aedeagal complex, lateral (35), and aedeagal plate, ventral (36). 37 –– M. (M.) occultus (Czech Republic: Jeseníky Mts, Skřítek), aedeagal complex, lateral. Scale bar 0.5 mm. aed—aedeagus; aedpl—aedeagal plate; dl—dorsal lobe; ig—inner gonostylus; le—lateral excision; ll—lateral lobe; og—outer gonostylus; vl—ventral lobe.