Antocha (Antocha) bella Markevičiūtė & Podenas, 2019

Markevičiūtė, Radvilė, Podenas, Sigitas, Saldaitis, Aidas & Bernotienė, Rasa, 2019, A new species of Antocha Osten Sacken, 1860 (Diptera: Limoniidae) from Sichuan China, Zootaxa 4661 (1), pp. 118-132 : 120-125

Antocha (Antocha) bella Markevičiūtė & Podenas sp. nov.

( Figs 12 , 22–30 )

Diagnosis. Medium-sized brown species with light brownish-white wing, pterostigma light brown, gonocoxite cylindrical, outer gonostylus arched with rounded apex, inner gonostylus as wide as outer gonostylus, aedeagus oblong with curved apex, paramere spiral-shaped.

Type material. HOLOTYPE male (in ethanol): China, W. Sichuan, Road Daocheng / Litang , altitude 4100 m, N29°36.788′, E100°19.825′, 2016.V.11, coll. Floriani & Saldaitis ( NRC) . Paratypes: 1 male, 4 females (in ethanol), topotypic ( NIBR) .

Description. Adult, male (N= 2), female (N= 4). Body ( Fig. 22 ) length of male 7.4–7.5 mm, of female 6.6–7.7 mm. Wing length of male 8.5–9.9 mm, of female 9.0– 9.6 mm.

Head. Generally dark gray. Antenna ( Fig. 23 ) length of male 1.8–1.9 mm, of female 1.5 mm; scape nearly cylindrical, pedicel subglobular; flagellar segments fusiform, ventral side wider, apical two segments cylindrical. Rostrum light yellowish-brown; palpus grayish-brown, darker than rostrum.

Thorax. Generally dark brown. Pronotum light brown with dark margin. Mesonotal prescutum dark brown. Three longitudinal stripes distinct. Scutum same color as prescutum, dark brown. Scutellum dark grayish-brown, lighter near mediotergite. Mediotergite brown. Pleuron brown. Anepisternum and katepisternum brown, membrane dorsal to anepisternum yellowish-brown. Wing ( Fig. 24 ) light brownish-white; pterostigma light brown; veins gen- erally brownish, but yellowish at wing base. Venation: vein Sc long, reaching level of branching point of Rs; radial sector long and straight; R 2 as long as tip of R 1; cell dm comparatively small, approximately 1.5 times as long as wide; distal section of M 1+2 slightly more than twice as long as anterior margin of cell dm; veins A 1 and CuP strongly divergent; tip of A 1 reaches wing margin slightly beyond level of Rs origin; anal angle large, nearly right-angled. Male halter 1.0– 1.1 mm long, female 1.1–1.2 mm; base of stem pale yellowish, remaining part of stem and knob pale yellowish-brown. Legs: coxae light brown, just distal end of fore coxa lighter; trochanters brown, distal margin very narrowly rimmed with dark brown; femora light grayish-brown, tibiae and tarsi grayish-brown. Length of male femora: I: 5.0– 5.2 mm, II: 6.0– 6.5 mm, III: 6.6–6.7 mm; tibiae: I: 6.0– 6.5 mm, II: 5.6–6.2 mm, III: 6.6–7.2 mm; tarsi I: 5.2–5.8 mm, II: 4.7–5.1 mm, III: 5.1–5.3 mm. Length of female femora: I: 5.0– 5.3 mm, II 5.9–6.1 mm, III: 6.1–6.5 mm; tibiae: I: 5.8–6.2 mm, II: 5.5–5.7 mm, III: 6.8–6.9 mm; tarsi I: 5.5–5.6 mm, II: 4.8–4.9 mm, III: 5.3 mm long.

Abdomen. Generally brown, pruinose. Tergites grayish-brown, pruinose. Sternites yellowish-brown, pruinose. Male hypopygium ( Fig. 27 ) light brown. Tergite 9 ( Fig. 26 ) simple, without additional lobes or structures; posterior margin nearly smooth. Gonocoxite cylindrical, without extra lobes. Outer gonostylus sclerotised, slightly arched with rounded apex. Inner gonostylus covered with sparse setae, slightly arched with blunt apex. Aedeagus ( Fig. 28 ) oblong, with curved apex. One pair of parameres, twisted into spiral; tip a little below than tip of aedeagus. Sternite 9 ( Fig. 25 ) triangular-shaped. Ovipositor ( Fig. 29 ) with cercus dark gray, upcurved; tip hardened; hypogynial valve straight, wide, dorsal margin darkened at base.

Etymology. The word “bella” comes from Italian and Latin languages and means “beautiful”. This word was chosen because of parameres twisted into decorative spirals.

Elevation range in China. Specimens were collected at 4100 m.

Habitat. Small streams surrounded by mountainous mixed forest ( Fig. 30 ) dominated by various conifer trees, bushes and Rhododendron .

Distribution. Known only from Sichuan, China.

Remarks. Some features of A. (A.) bella sp. nov. morphology are similar to other species: A. (A.) streptocera Alexander, 1949 known from China and Taiwan; A. (A.) indica Brunetti, 1912 known from India, China and Malay- sia; A. (A.) shansiensis Alexander, 1954 known from China; A. (A.) spiralis Alexander, 1932 known from India and China; A. (A.) aegina Alexander, 1970 known from India. The male genitalia of A. bella sp. nov. are unique in that the paramere is twisted into a spiral and its tip extends a little below the tip of the aedeagus. Usually the aedeagus in Antocha is a more or less complicated, curved or flattened structure, but in A. (A.) bella sp. nov. it is simple, oblong and curved at the apex. The paramere is complicated structure, with the tip in most Antocha above or below the tip of the aedeagus. Similar twisted into a spiral structures of the aedeagus also occur in A. (A.) spiralis and A. (A.) aegina , but these species have differently shaped other structures of the aedeagal complex. In A. (A.) spiralis the paramere is very slender, with a subterminal spine on the outer margin that is much smaller and weaker than the lateral structures of the aedeagus. The aedeagus is simple, very slender, with lateral structures before the apex twisted into a complete spiral turn. In A. (A.) bella sp. nov. the parameres are wider than the lateral structures of the aedaegus in A. (A.) spiralis . The outer gonostylus in both A. (A.) spiralis and A. (A.) bella sp. nov. is blunt-tipped. In A. (A.) aegina the lateral structures of the aedeagus are twisted into a single tight spiral before the long terminal spine, the paramere is a long, slender, simple spine that narrows very gradually into a long point, with several pale erect subapical setulae. In A. (A.) bella sp. nov. one pair of parameres is twisted into a single stocky spiral before a short apex. The antenna of A. (A.) bella sp. nov. has oval flagellar segments wider ventrally, with apical two segments cylindrical. Similar shaped antennae are found in A. (A.) streptocera , A. indica and A. (A.) shansiensis , but these species have different structures of the aedeagal complex.

Figures

FIGURE 30. Type locality of Antocha (Antocha) bella sp. nov.

FIGURES 1–12. Distinctive features of genus Antocha in China, Sichuan. 1. wing (A. bella sp. nov., holotype); 2. wing (A. bidens, holotype); 3. male antenna of genus Antocha; 4. male antenna of genus Antocha; 5. male antenna of genus Antocha; 6. male genitalia, dorsal view (A. fortidens); 7. genital structures (A. fortidens, holotype); 8. male genitalia, dorsal view (A. nebulipennis nebulipennis, metatype); 9. outer gonostylus and male tergite 9 (A. emarginata, holotype); 10. outer gonostylus (A. bidens, holotype); 11. wing (A. nigribasis, paratype); 12. male genitalia, dorsal view (A. bella sp. nov., holotype).

FIGURES 22–29. Antocha (Antocha) bella sp. nov. 22. male, general view, holotype; 23. male antenna, paratype; 24. male wing, paratype; 25. male sternite 9, paratype; 26. male tergite 9, paratype; 27. male genitalia, dorsal view, paratype; 28. male genital structures and aedeagus, dorsal view, paratype; 29. ovipositor, lateral view, paratype.