Gondwanodromia tasmanica, Sinclair & Saigusa, 2022

Sinclair, Bradley J. & Saigusa, Toyohei, 2022, A New Aquatic Associated Genus of Trichopezinae from the Southern Hemisphere (Diptera: Empidoidea: Brachystomatidae), Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 74 (3), pp. 75-98 : 89-91

Gondwanodromia tasmanica sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:BDA1682B-DEC7-490F-9C90-DFC540654001

Figs 38 , 41, 42 , 50

Holotype ♂, labelled: “AUSTRALIA: TAS: 16kmW/ Geeveston , Arve R. [43°09'31"S 146°48'25"E]/ 16.ii.1994, on rocks/ B.J. Sinclair ”; “ HOLOTYPE / Gondwanodromia / tasmanica/ Sinclair & Saigusa” ( AMS K.594167) . Paratypes: AUSTRALIA. Tasmania: 7 ♀, same data as holotype ( AMS, CNC) ; 1 ♀, 14 km W Geeveston, Arve R., 16–17.ii.1994, yellow pans, B.J. Sinclair ( CNC) ; 1 ♀, Franklin & Gordon Wild Rivers NP, Lyell Hwy, 20.ii.1994, B.J. Sinclair, ex. Nelson River [42°06'S 145°44'E] ( CNC) ; 1 ♀, Franklin & Gordon Wild Rivers NP, Lyell Hwy, 19.ii.1994, B.J. Sinclair, ex. Franklin River [42°12'S 146°01'E] ( CNC) ; 1 ♀, Rd. C 405, 12 km N of C401 [41°23'S 147°30'E], 23.ii.1994, B.J. Sinclair, ex. small ck ( CNC) .

Diagnosis. The species is readily distinguished by bare eyes, dark coloured body, swollen male mid femur, darkly infuscate wings, epandrium rounded, inflated, surstylus unpaired and cercus elongate with strongly tapered apically.

Description. Wing length 3.3–3.6 mm. Male. Head. Eye bare, without ommatrichia. Face with bluish pruinescence, narrower than width of antennal sockets. Ocellar setae long and divergent, inserted anterior to lateral ocelli; 2 pairs of shorter posterior setae; 2 vertical setae, outer seta arched over margin of eye, shorter than ocellar seta; occipital setae shorter and thinner than vertical setae. Antenna with scape slightly longer than length of pedicel; postpedicel more than 1.5× height of eye. Proboscis subequal to height; palpus dark brown, three-quarters length of proboscis.

Thorax. Dark brown, with thin blue pruinescence laterally on scutum and pleura; faintly bivittate between rows of dorsocentrals and acrostichals. Antepronotum with several pairs of short setulae. Acrostichal setae biserial more than half length of dorsocentral setae; more than 10 uniserial dorsocentral setae, anterior seta somewhat set off laterally from row, longer and stronger posteriorly; 1 long postpronotal seta and several shorter anterior setae; 1 or several presutural supra-alar seta; 3 notopleural setae, middle seta stronger and longer; 1 postsutural supra-alar seta; 1–2 postalar seta(e); 2 pairs of scutellar setae, outer pair slightly shorter than length of inner pair. Laterotergite with less than 10 short setae. Wing. Darkly infuscate, somewhat smoky about veins; basal costal seta short and slender. Halter brown. Legs. Fore coxa pale brown apically; base of fore coxa and mid and hind coxae with bluish pruinescence; apical setae pale. Fore femur swollen basally with single basoventral seta, subequal to basal width. Mid femur strongly swollen on basal half, strongly narrowed on apical third; posteroventral row of setae erect on apical third, appressed on swollen section and longer proximally. Hind femur somewhat inflated with erect dorsal setae on basal third. Fore tibia without apical spine-like seta. Mid tibia somewhat expanded subapically with rows of short ventral setae; apex rounded with brush of strong setae. Tarsomere 1 slender with dense ventral setae on all legs.

Abdomen. Tergite and sternite 6 with long dorsal setae, half-length of sclerite, setae at least twice as long as on other sclerites. Sternite 7 without posterolateral prolongation. Tergite 8 trapezoidal, half-length of sternite 8; posterior margin wider than anterior margin, bearing numerous setae, denser on lateral margin; sternite 8 as long as preceding sternite, broader, trough-like, cupping genitalia upright. Terminalia ( Fig. 41 ). Cercus strongly sclerotized, shiny, with microtrichia on inner face; elongate, narrowly tapered, with several stout preapical setae on inner face. Epandrium rounded, inflated, with stout setae along dorsal and posterior margins; without dorsal bridge. Surstylus without anterior lobe; posterior lobe long, rectangular apically with truncate apex; posterior margin with row of stout inner setae; inner face with microtrichia. Hypandrium tubular, arched, recurved and narrowed apically; gonocoxal apodeme broad, plate-like, extending beyond anterior margin of hypandrium. Phallus narrow, arched within hypandrium; apex projecting anteriorly beyond hypandrium, pigmented with narrow apex; ejaculatory apodeme broad, plate-like, similar to gonocoxal apodeme.

Female. Similar to male except as follows ( Fig. 38 ): labrum more robust; postpedicel not greatly prolonged, with 2-article stylus one-third length of postpedicel; femora slender, midleg unmodified. Tergite 8 without dorsomedial apodeme on anterior margin. Syntergite 9+10 (acanthophorites) with 2 rows of strong, erect setae ( Fig. 42 ). Spermatheca spherical.

Etymology. This species is named after the Australian state where specimens were collected.

Distribution. This species is widespread in Tasmania ( Fig. 50 ).

Figures

Figures 37–40.Australian and New Zealand species of Gondwanodromia, lateral view:(37) G. mutabilis (Collin), male habitus (abdomen dissected), scale bar = 1.0 mm; (38) G. tasmanica sp. nov., female habitus, scale bar = 0.75 mm; (39) G. thredbo sp. nov., male habitus, holotype, scale bar = 0.75 mm; (40) G. thredbo sp. nov., male terminalia, scale bar = 0.25 mm.Abbreviations: a sur – anterior surstylus; epand – epandrium; hypd – hypandrium; p sur – posterior surstylus.

Figures 41–42. Gondwanodromia tasmanica sp. nov., lateral view: (41) male terminalia; (42) female terminalia. Scale bar = 0.1 mm. Abbreviations: cerc – cercus; epand – epandrium; hypd – hypandrium; sur – surstylus.

Figures 50–52. Distribution of Gondwanodromia: (50) Australian species; (51) New Zealand species; (52) South American species.