Manota clinochaeta, Hippa, Heikki, 2008

Hippa, Heikki, 2008, Notes on Afrotropical Manota Williston (Diptera: Mycetophilidae), with the description of seven new species, Zootaxa 1741, pp. 1-23 : 2-5

Manota clinochaeta sp. n.

( Figs 1 B, 2 A–E)

Male. Colour. Face pale yellowish-brown, frons vertex and occiput dark brown, antenna pale brown, the basal segments concolorous with face but turning slightly darker brown towards the apex, mouthparts pale yellowish. Thorax pale brown, ventral part of preepisternum 2 paler yellowish, also prothorax probably much paler than main part of thorax but the character is not well seen in the mount. Legs pale yellowish, femur 3 diffusely infuscated on basal third but the character is difficult to observe and may be misinterpreted. Wing unicolorous pale brown; haltere pale brown with black knob. Abdomen pale brown. All setae brown, the thinner ones seeming pale, the thicker ones darker. Head. Antennal flagellomere 4, Fig. 2 A. Palpomere 3 of maxillary palpus with apicomesial extension, with 4 apically expanded curved sensilla; palpomere 4 with parasegment. Number of large postocular setae 9. Thorax. Anepisternum setose, with 40 setae; anterior basalare setose, with 11 setae; preepisternum 2 non-setose; laterotergite setose, with 26 setae; episternum 3 setose, with 22 setae. Wing. Length 1.8 mm. Hypopygium, Figs 2 B–E: Sternite 9 laterally fused with gonocoxa, extending posteriorly to base of gonostylus, posterior margin nearly straight, anterior margin narrowly notched, the setae similar to ventral setae of gonocoxa. Parastylar lobe directed obliquely posteriad, long and narrow, with an apical transverse stout seta. Paraapodemal lobe not observable. Dorsal mesial margin of gonocoxa simple, smoothly curved, with an apical lobe with two setae. Near middle of dorsal mesial margin of gonostylus, on a more ventral level, with a plate-like lobe bearing two obliquely posteriorly directed megasetae. Without distinct apicolateral lobe on gonocoxa. One juxtagonostylar seta present as a flattened flameshaped megaseta, which arises from a basal body which is about two-thirds of the length of the megaseta. Gonostylus narrow, apically bilobed, the more ventral lobe with rather strong but short setae on ventral side and with three strong and long setae on apical part, the more dorsal lobe non-setose except for two transverse rather short megasetae on the apical part; dorsal side of gonostylus almost non-setose. Tegmen narrowly subtriangular with base, including lateral shoulders and apodemes, rather broad. Hypoproct large, posteriorly extending as far as the apex of gonostylus, with ca. 30 setae on each half, the setae in rather distinct, more anterior and more posterior groups, the former in Fig. 2 D covered by sternite 9. Cerci medially separate.

Female. Similar to male. The infuscation at the base of femur 3 scarcely observable. Antennal flagellomere 4, Fig. 2 B. Number of postocular setae 11. Anepisternum with 74 setae, anterior basalare with 14 setae, laterotergite with 37 setae, episternum 3 with 17 setae. Wing length 2.2 mm. Tergite 9, cercus and sternite 10, Fig. 1 B.

Discussion. Manota clinochaeta is similar to M. phyllochaeta sp.n. but is distinguished e.g. as follows: 1) the seta of the parastylar lobe is at a right angle to, not in line with, the body of the lobe, 2) the ventral lobe of the gonostylus is narrow and lateral in position, not broad and mesial in position, 3) the apicomesial setae of the dorsal lobe of the gonostylus are shorter and stouter, and 4) the narrow apical part of the tegmen is longer, steadily widening from apex towards the base, not almost parallel-sided. In both species the juxtagonostylar megaseta is probably similar, but is only viewed from different angles in Figs 2 and 7 . Both these are rather similar to M. teocchi Matile , known from the Central African Republic. Matile (1972) gives a rather superficial illustration of the hypopygium from the dorsal side. The gonostylus resembles that of M. phyllochaeta in having the ventral lobe broad. In the illustration, the lobe is in a more lateral position than in my Fig. 7 C, probably because the whole gonostylus is rotated into a different position by the pressure of the cover glass. The latter probably also gives the gonostylus a more broadly triangular outline than in Figs 7 B and C. The setae on the ventral lobe of the gonostylus are short in M. teocchi , not more than half the length of the gonostylus, but in M. clinochaeta and M. phyllochaeta there are setae which are as long as the gonostylus itself. In M. teocchi the apical part of the dorsal lobe of gonostylus seems to have four setae which are similar to the other shorter gonostylar setae, whereas in M. clinochaeta and M. phyllochaeta there are only two setae which differ from the other setosity in being blunt-ended and in M. clinochaeta also conspicuously stout. Furthermore, the two megasetae at the dorsal mesial margin of the gonocoxa in M. clinochaeta and M. phyllochaeta seem shorter and broader than in M. teocchi . M. flavipes (Enderlein) is similar to all three species but is distinguished e.g. by having only one megaseta at the dorsal mesial margin of gonocoxa. For further discussion, see under M. flavipes .

The female is associated with the male because it was collected together with it and is reasonably similar. There may be no known method to distinguish it from other species. Of the females which I have described in this paper, it resembles M. edentula by having the basal segment of cercus with most of the lateral setae stout and blunt. M. clinochaeta differs by having more numerous and much longer fine setae latero-dorsally on the basal segment of the cercus.

Types. Holotype. Male, MADAGASCAR, Province Fianarantsoa, Ikongo Ambatombe, Forêt d'Ambalagoavy Nord, 21°49’39’’S 47°20’20’’E, 625 m a.s.l., Malaise trap, xi.2000, leg. Irwin & Harin’Hala. In CAS. Other material. 1 female with same data as holotype. In CAS.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Apical part of female abdomen (D) and female tergite 9, cercus and apical part of sternite 10 (A, B, C and E), lateral view. A. Manota natalensis Jaschhof and Mostovski (South Africa). B. M. clinochaeta sp. n. (Madagascar). C. M. cultrigera sp. n. (Madagascar). D, E. M. edentula sp. n. (Mauritius). Scale 0.10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Manota clinochaeta sp. n. (A, C, D and E holotype). A. Antennal flagellomere 4, lateral view. B. Female antennal flagellomere 4, lateral view. C. Hypopygium, dorsal view. D. Hypopygium, ventral view. E. Right juxtagonostylar megaseta, dorsal view. Scale for A and B 0.05 mm, for C, D and E 0.10 mm.

FIGURE 7. Manota phyllochaeta sp. n. (holotype). A. Antennal flagellomere 4, lateral view. B. Hypopygium, dorsal view. C. Hypopygium, ventral view. Scale for A 0.05 mm, for B and C 0.10 mm.