Gondwanodromia mikae, 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 : 84-87

Gondwanodromia mikae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8872847F-988A-4ACF-A5E8-4F078204B942

Figs 16 , 19–33 , 52

Holotype ♂, labelled: “Arr.[oyo] Casa de Piedra [ca 41°08'05"S 71°27'12"W]/ 15kmW of Bariloche / Rio Negro, Argentina / 16.xi.2004 / T. SAIGUSA col.”; “ HOLOTYPE / Gondwanodromia / mikae/ Sinclair & Saigusa” ( KUMF) . Paratypes: ARGENTINA. Río Negro: 1 ♀, Arroyo Torrontegui [ca 41°15'12"S 71°27'14"W], Lago Gutiérrez, Bariloche , 18.xi.2004, T . Saigusa ( KUMF) ; 1 ♀, same data except, M. Sugimoto ( KUMF) . Neuquen: 1 ♂, Arroyo de la Estacada [ca 40°50'06"S 71°32'12"W], Lago Nahuel Huapi , 17.xi.2004, T . Saigusa ( KUMF) .

Possible additional material. CHILE. Region X (Los Lagos): 3 ♀, PN Puyehue, Rio Anticura above Salto Rio Anticura , 6.xii.2013, 40°40.268'S 72°10.215'W, 395 m, G. R . Curler, ex. riparian vegetation ( CNC).

Diagnosis. The species is readily distinguished by bare eyes, male midlegs not modified, epandrium not visibly divided, with apical surstylus and hypandrium with narrow, upright apical half forming brace for phallus.

Description. Wing length 2.7–3.0 mm. Male. Head ( Fig. 30 ). Eye bare, without ommatrichia. Frons brown. Face with bluish pruinescence; narrower than width of antennal sockets. Ocellar setae long and divergent, inserted anterior to lateral ocelli; pair of shorter anterior and posterior setae; 3 vertical setae with outer seta arched over margin of eye, shorter than ocellar seta; occipital setae shorter and thinner than vertical setae. Antenna ( Figs 21 , 30 ) with scape slightly longer than pedicel; postpedicel less than 1.5× height of eye. Proboscis subequal in length to head height; palpus pale brown, one-third length of proboscis.

Thorax. Dark brown, with thin blue pruinescence laterally on scutum and pleura; faintly bivittate between rows of acrostichals and dorsocentrals. Antepronotum with several pairs of short, strong setae. Acrostichal setae with pair of strong anterior (scapular) setae, uniserial posteriorly with setae alternating in direction, more than half length of dorsocentral setae; 8–10 uniserial dorsocentral setae, anterior seta longer, set off laterally from row; 1 long postpronotal seta and 1–2 shorter anterior setae; 1 presutural supra-alar seta; 3 notopleural setae, middle seta stronger and twice length of other setae; 3–4 postsutural supra-alar setae; 1 postalar seta; 2 pairs of scutellar setae, outer pair about half length of inner pair. Laterotergite with several short setae. Wing ( Fig. 20 ). Infuscate; basal costal seta long and slender. Halter brown. Legs. Coxae pale brown with bluish pruinescence, apical setae brown, sometimes apex of coxae and trochanters yellowish brown; remaining leg segments increasingly darker apically. Femora short and slightly swollen; fore femur with ventral seta on proximal third, nearly as long as width of femur; mid femur with row of short posteroventral setae; hind femur with short, erect, strong dorsal setae near base. Fore tibia without apical spine-like setae. Mid tibia slender with row of short anteroventral and posteroventral setae; without pair of peg-like apicoventral setae. Hind tibia with strong ventral and dorsal setae, shorter than width of tibia. Mid tarsomere 1 without row of strong setae; without erect posteroventral seta at basal fifth.

Abdomen. Tergite 6 without dorsal setae longer than on other tergites. Sternite 7 not prolonged posterolaterally into narrow lobe. Tergite 8 trapezoidal, half-length of sternite 8; posterior margin wider than anterior margin, bearing numerous setae, denser on lateral margin; sternite 8 trapezoidal, with setae longer than anterior sternites. Terminalia ( Figs 24–27 , 31–33 ). Cercus thinly sclerotized narrow, rectangular with truncate apex, bearing long setae along inner margin and apex. Epandrium triangular, tapered in lateral view with short oblong lobe along posteromedial margin; without dorsal bridge. Surstylus at apex of epandrium, without distinct separation; triangular; inner margin with short, pointed lobe and pair of long medially directed setae mounted on short tubercles, lower seta nearly touching opposite pair. Hypandrium with broad base and narrow apical half bracing phallus; gonocoxal apodeme broad, extending beyond anterior margin of hypandrium. Phallus narrow, tubular, upright beyond hypandrium, with expanded apex; ejaculatory apodeme nearly as broad as gonocoxal apodeme, articulated at base of phallus.

Female. Similar to male except as follows: scape subequal in length to pedicel; postpedicel subequal in length to eye height. Terminalia ( Figs 28, 29 ). Tergite 8 with short dorsomedial apodeme on anterior margin. Syntergite 9+10 (acanthophorites) with 1 row of strong, erect setae, apical setae longer and strong setae scattered dorsally. Spermatheca spherical ( Fig. 29 ).

Etymology. This species is named after Mika Sugimoto, who cooperated with Saigusa during field work of torrenticolous Empididae in northern Patagonia.

Distribution. This species is currently confirmed from several cascading streams around lakes Gutiérrez and Nahuel Huapi ( Figs 1, 2 ) in Argentina ( Fig. 52 ).

Remarks. Three female specimens listed above from Chile are possibly conspecific, but males from this region (G. sp., Fig. 52 ) will need to be collected to confirm their identification.

Figures

Figures 13–16.Argentinian and New Zealand species of Gondwanodromia, lateral view:(13) G.femorata sp.nov., male habitus, holotype, scale bar = 1.0 mm; (14) G. femorata sp. nov., male terminalia, scale bar = 0.25 mm; (15) G. femorata sp. nov., female postabdomen, scale bar = 0.25 mm; (16) G. mikae sp. nov., male habitus, holotype, scale bar = 0.75 mm. Abbreviations: epand lb – epandrial lobe; sur – surstylus.

Figures 19–23. Gondwanodromia mikae sp. nov.: (19) labellum, lateral view, scale bar = 0.05 mm; (20) wing, scale bar = 1.0 mm; (21) male antenna, lateral view, scale bar = 0.1 mm; (22) tarsomere 5, dorsal view, scale bar = 0.05 mm; (23) tarsomere 5, lateral view, scale bar = 0.05 mm. Abbreviations: pped – postpedicel; psdtrch – pseudotrachea.

Figures 24–29. Gondwanodromia mikae sp. nov.: (24) epandrium, dorsal view; (25) epandrium, dorsal view; (26) hypandrium and phallus, lateral view; (27) hypandrium and phallus, posterior view; (28) female terminalia, lateral view, scale bar = 0.05 mm; (29) female abdomen, lateral view. Scale bars: Figs 24–28 = 0.05 mm; Fig. 29 = 0.1 mm.Abbreviations: cerc – cercus; epand – epandrium; hypd – hypandrium; ph – phallus; spmth – spermatheca; sur – surstylus; tg – tergite.

Figures 30–33. Gondwanodromia mikae sp. nov.: (30) male head, lateral view; (31) epandrium, dorsal view, right cercus removed; (32) terminalia, lateral view; (33) hypandrium and phallus, lateral view. Scale bars: Figs 31–33 = 0.05 mm; Fig. 30 = 0.1 mm.Abbreviations: cerc – cercus; ej apod – ejaculatory apodeme; epand – epandrium; goncx apod – gonocoxal apodeme; hypd – hypandrium; lc – lacinia; ph – phallus; plp – palpus; pped – postpedicel; sbepand scl – subepandrial sclerite; st – sternite; sur – surstylus.

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

Figures 1–4. Photographs of living Gondwanodromia and habitats:(1)Arroyo Torrontegui,Argentina; (2)Arroyo Torrontegui,Argentina, with collector Mika Sugimoto; (3) female, Altos del Lircay, Chile (photograph © Steve Marshall); (4) Dead Horse Gap trail, Kosciusko National Park, Australia; November 1994.