Lipsothrix galiciensis, Hancock, E. Geoffrey, Hewitt, Stephen M., Horsfield, David, Lyszkowsi, Richard M., Macgowan, Iain, Ricarte, Antonio, Rotheray, Graham E. & Watt, Kenneth, 2015

Hancock, E. Geoffrey, Hewitt, Stephen M., Horsfield, David, Lyszkowsi, Richard M., Macgowan, Iain, Ricarte, Antonio, Rotheray, Graham E. & Watt, Kenneth, 2015, Nematocera flies recorded in Serra do Courel, northwest Spain, May 2012 (Diptera: Anisopodidae, Blepharoceridae, Cylindrotomidae, Limoniidae, Pediciidae, Tipulidae and Trichoceridae) including descriptions of two new species of Limoniidae, Zootaxa 3911 (2), pp. 231-244 : 233-236

Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov. Hancock & Hewitt

Description. Male with thorax and abdomen together 7.0mm long, shining brownish-black except hypopygium yellowish brown and tergites narrowly pale distally; head dark brown, lighter brown on occiput; antenna 3.4mm long, brown; coxae and legs dark brown except base of femora and apex of hind coxa yellowish brown. Wing length 9.2mm (sample size = 5); membrane slightly greyish, costal cell with a faint yellowish tinge, stigma dark brown. Hypopygium with dististyles and paramere as in Figure 8 ; aedeagus as in Figure 9 .

Female colouration not as dark as males; yellow 8th segment and ovipositor; body length 8.00mm, antenna 1.7mm, wing 8.00mm (sample size = 2).

Holotype: male, swept by river, nr Moreda, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, 26 May 2012, circa 720m, E.G. Hancock. Deposited in The Hunterian Zoology Museum, University of Glasgow, (Accession number 150629).

Paratypes: three males, swept by river, nr Moreda, 26 May 2012; one male, by Rio Lor at Ferreria Nova, 30 May 2012, E.G. Hancock; two females reared from larvae in waterlogged wood in stream near Alto do Couto, 28 May 2012, circa 1300m, E.G. Hancock, in The Hunterian Zoology Museum, University of Glasgow (Entry No. 897); 7 males and 5 females reared from larvae found in wet wood in a shallow stream, Devesa de Rogueira, 23 May 2012, circa 1200m, S.M. Hewitt, deposited in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, England (CALMG: 2013.109.1 -.6).

This species is quite different from the other western Palaearctic species both in adult colouration ( Figure 10 ) and the pupal thoracic spiracular gills. It shares the sexually dimorphic features of antennal length being longer in the male and the grey tinged wing membrane with Lipsothrix nervosa Edwards. But the latter has yellowish pleurae and abdominal sternites and females are mainly yellow. In L. galiciensis the sexes differ only in the intensity of the brownish-black body. The inner dististyle has a distinctly protuberant inner margin narrowing before an expanded apex. The aedeagus bears a ventral peg-shaped protrusion as described by Edwards (1938) for nervosa but is more sinuous apically than that species.

Etymology. The word galiciensis , means from Galicia, the region of Spain where the type locality of this species is found. The area of Galicia includes excellent wooded and montane habitat of considerable entomological potential for biodiversity studies.

Discussion. Adults were reared from larvae and pupae in sticks of less than 10cm diameter lying loose in small streams in mixed woodland. The stream beds were stony with muddy leaf-mould and the water shallow so the sticks were only partially submerged. In addition to the adult features described above the pupal exuviae allow comparison of L. galiciensis with those of the other European species ( Hancock, et al., 2009). The differences in the thoracic spiracular gill are extensive in both overall shape and the detail of the plastron structure. Of particular note is the wavy margin ( Figures 11 , 12 , 13 ) to the gill and the clusters of about 6–10 spines in discrete groups on the inner face ( Figure 14 ).

Figures

FIGURE 8. Dorsal view of right valve and paramere of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov. Scale bar 0.3 mm.

FIGURE 9. Lateral view of aedeagus of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov. Scale bar 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 10. Adult male Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov. shortly after emergence from waterlogged wood substrate.

FIGURE 11. Dorso-lateral view of thoracic spiracular gill of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov.

FIGURE 12. Dorso-lateral SEM image of thoracic spiracular gill of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov.

FIGURE 13. Inner rim, SEM image of thoracic spiracular gill of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov.

FIGURE 14. Detail of groups of setae in SEM image of inner face of thoracic spiracular gill of Lipsothrix galiciensis sp. nov.